Travelling from the U.K. and Hong Kong, the TravellingMuse went all the way to Bangkok, Thailand, spending one week in this spiritual and busy city, exploring its rich history and culture.
We booked the Ayutthaya Historical Park Small Group Tour – Full Day through TripGuru, the booking process was easy and smooth, incredibly, it’s only USD 32 for the small group full day tour!
As we gathered at 08:00, our group had 4 members, including TravellingMuse, a mother and her daughter. Our tour guide, Bonnie, was funny and a very good photographer. Although her English wasn’t perfect, she was very entertaining and made sure we were all comfortable during the trip. Overall, the trip was very comfortable with a small group and nice private car. With a knowledgeable guide and flexible itinerary, we were all very pleased with it. SO…let’s start!
Bang Pa-In Royal Palace
Our first stop was Bang Pa-In Royal Palace, it was about 1.5 hour drive from starting point. On the way, you pass lots of local streets and see local village life. They have the King portrait everywhere, Bonnie explained to us how the king is an old man but his advisor had an image of him erected from his youth so that he feels young and full of life. Bonnie explained many interesting stories as we travelled which kept us intrigued. The twists and turns of her stories just like the crazy turns our driver made! After arriving at the Palace, they checked if you had dressed appropriate at the entrance. Both sexes must cover their shoulders, body and legs.
Bang Pa-In was named after the king “Bang Pa” & his beloved woman “In”. The story is mysterious and no one ever knew the true name of In. Bang Pa built the palace for In and decided to keep this memorable. It was named Summer Palace because it’s always sunny.
If you want the details I suggest you have a word with bonnie. She tells it better!
It sadly fell into disuse and became overgrown in the late 18th and early 19th century.
It’s lovely inside the palace. It was a sunny day and we walked a circle while our Bonnie explained the interesting history about the king’s many consorts, how he had wooed them and built great houses in their honour. Apparently King number 5 supports democracy and he’s like no other king. He introduced freedom and joy to the city and that’s why he is so loved.
The Ancient Capital of Ayutthaya
From Bang-Pa In Palace to Ayutthaya was 30 mins drive. There are many ruins and temples. At here, we learnt from our knowledgeable guide Bonnie better how the monks live very restrained lives and how the locals respect them. They don’t even believe in having preference with their food. Given a choice, as long as it doesn’t harm an animal, they mix the choices together and eat the results! The pacifism of the monks is also great for the fish which grow to tremendous sizes around the temples.
After that, we visited a number of Wat (Temples) in Ayutthaya; namely Wat Mahathat, Wat Mongkol Borpit, Wat Phrasri Samphet and Wat Chaiwatthanaram. At every temple there were many huge pagodas which are large ornate buildings which contain the remains of buddhist monks or the royal family. They are very important focal points in the temples. There was also a statue of buddha in every temple. They had often been abandoned and restored many times over the centuries.
Ayutthaya Floating Market
At this tour, you can choose to pay 200THB per person to take a boat ride around the Ayutthaya Floating Market dropping you right in the centre. Disclaimer: this is not an authentic floating market, it’s a newly built floating market. You’ll have around 1.5hr for lunch in this market. It is full of many random things for you to buy and many street food stalls for you to choose from.
We loved the pad thai and fried tofu dish! Drinks – raw coconut and a mixed fruit smoothie. A wonderful lunch at the market 🙂
Wat (Temples)
At the last stop, Bonnie guided us to the grass, we sat down and listened to some interesting stories about her clients and tourist rumours. She said that some of the clients found the stories terrifying. We all found them interesting 🙂 Understanding the spiritual aspects which are on the next level and beyond our control, we should be careful whenever we would would like to take something from the ancient site back to our home countries…the spirits may follow you back and make you sick!!
If you’re interested in joining a day trip in Ayutthaya – join this well-organised tour by TripGuru 🙂 credit to our wonderful guide Bonnie! More photos:
