The ruins of Ayutthaya - Part 1, Wat Chai Mongkhon

As I said in the last blog, there are many ancient Wats and ruins across the city. These can be some four miles apart from each other. There are two recommended ways to get around the city. Rent a bike and ride around with a map, or rent out a tut-tut for the day. Let's be realistic. There is no way the bikes are an option. It's like 30 degrees plus out there. I would be happy to do that if the heat wasn't so devastating! So, a tut-tut for the day.

Tut-tuts are three wheeled cabs. Compared to the UK they are seriously cheap. You should do some haggling with them because they are normally charging about double what you should pay (so 50p instead of 25p... these are still the sorts of prices you're talk

ing about). Tourists who don't know this can really get ripped off and charged western prices, like five quid for a lift. To stop this Ayutthaya have implemented a set rate for all tut-tuts. It's 150 Baht an hour (3 quid). You rent one out for say, 4 or 5 hours and you take in all the specific tourist places, go somewhere for a lunch and maybe a dinner. So to driven around in a private cab to all the different places is pretty damn cheap really. We did four hours. 600 Baht, or 12 quid, between two of us (not each). That's tasty. Plus most of the places we visited had free entry because it was the kings birthday. So plus!

The morning started early for me, I don't know why I woke up so early, around eight. That's two hours later than usual, but it's still early really. I watched a movie on the TV because I didn't want to get up. It was a Japanese movie, in Thai, with subtitles of another Language (not Thai or Japanese). I later found out it was called 'android girl' or something like that. I am ashamed to say I loved it. I was still in the missing flick mood and the film grabbed me. I want to see it again where I actually understand what's going on, and see how it ends! Since I don't know how it ends.

A western style buffet for breakfast. Not amazing. Not nice. But toast. My god toast! It's been some two weeks since toast!!

Then we begin with the tut-tut tour! The first place we visit is Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. It's dominating feature is a huge chedi, built on multiple bases (see the above picture) and all over the bases and dozens of Buddha statues. The statues are all dressed, like every Buddha statue I've seen in Thailand. This particular chedi was built by King Naresuan to celebrate his victory against the Burmese. This temple used to be known as Wat Pa Keo and almost definitely predates the Ayutthaya period. The reason for this is the discovery of two Dvaravati-period Buddha images at the site. Officially the Royal Chronicles date it at 1357. Its construction was ordered by King U-Thong.

This also housed one of the only two lying Buddha's I saw in Thailand. The second will be later today, but I wasn't in the mood to get a picture. All will be explained in due course.

From the top of the chedi you get a great view. You can see other ruins, Wats and chedi's off in the distance and around the city.

We were here for about forty minutes before jumping in the tut-tut and moving on. I don’t want to over-do the information in these blogs. I visit some four more temples in the day and I personally find the information behind them fascinating. So I’m going to leave it at that for now, and pick up the story with the next destination.