Ayutthaya - the lost kingdom

I wanted to visit Kanchanaburi in June, but due to limited time factor, I keep the idea for next trip.

I was in Bangkok in June this year, attending a Thai wedding. During my stay in Bangkok, I had one day which was free with no activity.

Go to Kanchanaburi also not right, don't go to visit any place and stay in the hotel also not right. So in the end, I decided to go to Ayutthaya, at the same time can fulfill my sweetie's wish too.

I didn't know that Ayutthaya was the former capital city of Thailand!

Just like NanJing actually the former capital of China, not Beijing, I think not many people knew about this. But if you actually know, please share with us more about the history yeah! Cause I never been to Nanjing le...

Ok, to go to Ayutthaya from Bangkok, the price can be very cheap. If you engage taxi, it can cost you more than RM100.

I wanted to take a boat ride via Chao Phraya River to visit this old kingdom... But because of some reason, I have to drop the idea, and ask a driver to take us there. I miss that boat ride~!

After 1 hour plus of sitting in a car, trying to sleep but cannot ... Suddenly you see this thing in front:

WooHoo~~! Here I am! At Ayutthaya~!

Honestly, when you come to this place, you have to add a little of imagination... Imagine how glory the city was... How the people live a rich and famous life...

And now...it only left some ruins ...

You can find lots of information about Ayutthaya, how great and well developed it was, I think I don't have to repeat the story here... But what I want to say is, it is really sad to see the city became so quiet and it's like doesn't match it's past glamorous status!

I was being hurried, that's why didn't really spend much time in Ayutthaya :( So in a no-choice situation, I choose the biggest ruin to see.

Here's the Pagoda in one of the biggest monastery in Ayutthaya - Wat Yai Chai Mongkol. It was built by King U-Thong in 1357 A.D.!

It was such an old monastery~! Oh man... No wonder the Pagoda also start to lean, due to the bricks underneath corroded. See the straight line suppose to be? (the red line I draw one :) ) It lean so much that I think it is more lean than the Pisa tower in Italy!

Should I say "Ko-Kum-Ka"? Or "A-mi-tuo-fo"? Heh...

This Monastery was build for the use of the monks.

Main entrance of the main Pagoda...See the tiny white shirt guy on the left of the Buddha statue? So, can imagine how big is the buddha statue?

My sweetie and the long staircase. See the red line in the photo? The stairs end there. So high right?

And the stairs is so old, I'm sure it was being stepped by millions of people, until the steps sink in so much (arrow pointing).

Can you imagine how grand the temple was once?

The next place to visit is Wat Mahatthat, because it has a famous buddha head in between tree roots:

This is the buddha head. *close palm and bow*

Just type "Wat Mahathat" in google, you will see lots of information about this place.

How the buddha head can end up in between the roots? I don't know. I only know that lots of looters dig this monastery for treasure, chop off the statue head to sell for antique...

If you are fond of buddha head and wanted to have one to put in your house for decoration, please please please, don't do it... Regardless of our religion, and whether anyone acknowledge that the statue is a buddha or not, we should have respect for every being. So, respect the buddha, don't keep the buddha without a body... please...!

Buddha was giving dharma talk? But the statues at the side had no head already~! So sad...

Some people will take photograph of this head-less statue by putting their head on top and snap the picture... Well, please please please don't do it also, as a respect mah.

Can you spot a buddha head?

I left the place with full of sorrow. In this world, nothing is permanent, even the most prosperous kingdom, that had last for 417 years, can became a ruin... ... So what is there to fight?