[tom]

yusamile,

I went to Ayutthaya on 1 Jan 2007. The night before we had gone out to The Hard Rock in BKK for my birthday and to celebrate New Year but it was the night of the Bangkok bombings (about 30 mins after the first pic was taken one of the bombs went off at the other side on the intersection) so it seemed a good idea to take the trip and see if Buddha couldn't see if it was within his powers to keep us safe during the new year.




We (myself, Deluxe (one of my regular freelancers) and her sister) set of from The Somerset on Soi Tonson (behind the Yank Embassy) for the comparatively short drive up to Ayutthaya (or it would have been a short drive if the town wasn't absolutely packed with folk with the same idea.



The first place we came across was loads of folk paying homage to ............ a load of cuddly toys.



After that it was the usual temple stuff ....... loads of Buddhas of various sizes, all wrapped in the saffron robes ..........






















Luckily there were plenty of places to chill out nearby .........




On the way back, we stopped off at a place called Bang Pa In which was the residences of Rama 4 (or 5 ........ ?). A lot less people and, all in all, probably the best part of the day.














All said and done, it was a good break away from the city in the middle of a manic holiday period but I still much prefer Sukhothai to Ayutthaya for getting a feel for Thai history.