Hello again readers! After 2 days of exploring modern Bangkok, it's now time to see the ancient city of Ayutthaya. There are actually alot of ways to travel to Ayutthaya, by bus, train, taxi, boat and minivan. We chose to go there via minivan. To know more about getting to Ayutthaya, please visit this site, and to know about various ways on exploring Ayutthaya, please visit this site.

Going there by minivan is easy, from our place we rode BTS from Ekkamai Station to Victory Monument Station. We arrived at the station around 8 AM. After tapping out, just turn right towards Exit 4 and go down to go to the minivan terminal. Minivan costs 60 Baht per person and travel time is approximately 2 hours depending on the traffic condition. Some passengers may opt to alight along the way. 

We (my partner and 2 other caucasians) don't know where exactly we were dropped off by our van driver. But upon arriving, a guy (with his red tuktuk) immediately offered to take us around the major attractions in Ayutthaya. He was showing us photos of temples and showing his notebook with package quotations in japanese <he thought we are japanese...haha>... Seems we really look like tourists afterall!!! He was initially charging 2000 baht, but after some negotiations, we agreed to pay him 1000 Baht for 1 day tour.

First a brief history Ayutthaya. Its name originated from the Hindu "Ayodhya", city of the Hindu god Rama in the Ramayana. It was the ancient capital of the southern Kingdom of Siam from 1350 until 1767. Founded by King Rama Tibodi I. Ayutthaya absorbed Sukhothai, the older Thai kingdom, and destroyed much of the Cambodian Khmer kingdom. During the time of its greatness, it was known as one of the largest and most beautiful cities in the world. In 1767, however, a final Burmese invasion destroyed the city and carried off most of its treasures and population to Burma. The city was left destroyed but the remains of the temples and palaces, which are now covered in plants and dirt are restored and still looks breathtaking. 

Our Ayutthaya journey began with a visit to Wat Yai Chaimongkon. Also known as "Great Monastery of Auspicious Victory", it was built in the 1357 in the reign of King U-Thong, the first ruler of Ayutthaya. A large chedi was built in 1592 to celebrate King Naresuan's single-handed defeat of the then Burmese crown prince in a duel on elephants. We went up to see spectacular view of the surrounding area. Make sure you don't miss the Reclining Buddha, sadly in our case we weren't able to find it. We toured the place for 30 minutes and then went on to our next destination. 

Our next stop is the Ayutthaya Floating Market. On the way we passed by Elephant Village. Here you can take a trip around the area on top of the elephant for 1500 Baht per person. The main attraction in this area is the floating market which is situated in a large pond with land mass in the middle. Here we see shops selling clothes, thai delicacies, and different souvenir items. It also has massage parlours if you want to have a Thai massage. It's now 11:30 AM, time to find something to eat. Good thing this place also have lots of food stalls to choose from. We decided to try Thai food this time. 

After our delicious lunch, we have recovered our energy to explore more temples. Just a close distance from the floating market is another temple, Wat Mahathat. This temple complex is mainly in ruins and there are many impressive sites nearby that aren’t so damaged. The main attraction here is the Buddha’s head that has a tree growing around it. We walked around the area and explored the ruins which are still magnificent to look at. The place is so big infact most of our pictures are from this place. 

Our tour guide next brought us to Wihan Phra Mongkol Bophit. This place is famous for its massive seated Buddha. Entrance is free, and you need to leave your shoes outside.
Nearby is Wat Phra Si Sanphet, which according to travel guides is the main attraction of Ayutthaya with its three stupas most often featured in postcards. However, we decided to skip this place since we have reach our limit of temple ruins for the day. 

Our last stop for the trip is Wat Lokkayasutharam which features a 42 meter long Reclining Buddha. The statue is outdoor and there is no entrance fee.
Just nearby is another temple, Wat Thammikarat. We saw Buddhist monks around the temple area praying. It has a chedi which is encircled by a large number of lion figures (singh). And there are also rooster statues..
We then ask our tour guide to take us to the train station. Upon reaching we paid him the fee and thanked him for his services. 

Train going back to Bangkok is relatively cheaper at 20 Baht per person. Train departure time is 3:00 PM so we waited awhile for the train to arrive. As soon as we saw the train coming we quickly went to the platform to be able to get good seats on the train. Journey was longer compared to mini van, around 2 hour and 45 minutes to be exact. It's because on some stations the train stops for 10-20 minutes. The last stop is Hua Lamphong railyway station. 

We then took MRT going home but we made a short stop at Terminal 21 shopping mall since it is nearby Sukhumvit MRT station. Terminal 21 brings the dream of traveling the world to downtown Bangkok, with its cutting-edge concept that places several world-famous cities under one roof. Find yourself wandering around Rome (Ground floor), Carribean (LG floor), maze of shops in Tokyo City (1st floor), sauntering down London’s Carnaby Street (2nd floor), bagging a bargain in an Istanbul (3rd floor), and San Francisco (4th and 5th floor). They also have food court on 5th floor called Pier21.  It is perhaps the best food court in town in terms of price, taste and variety. We ordered prawn fried rice, fried oyster, spaghetti shrimp sauce and coke, all for only 150 baht. For more info visit this site.

Ground and LG Floor

1st floor

5th floor

Day	Time	Directions	Details	Cost (BKK)
Day 3: Tues (Nov 5)	7:30 AM - 8:30 AM	Aravinda Home Living to Victory Monument	BTS Ekkamai to BTS Victory Monument	42
	9:00 AM	Minivan to Ayutthaya		60
	11:00 AM	Tuktuk tour around Ayutthaya	1000 baht foe whole day	500
	11:05 AM	Wat Yai Chaimongkon		20
	11:30 AM	Elephant Village and Ayutthaya Floating Market	Lunch -370 baht Deep Fried Tilapia w/ Sweet & Sour - 250 baht 2 rice - 20 baht Pork balls w/ chili sauce - 100 naht	185
	12:30 PM	Wat Mahathat		50
	1:30 PM	Wihan Phra Mongkol Bophet and Wat Phra Si Sanphet
	2:00 PM	Wat Lokkayasutharam
	2:30 PM	Wat Thammikarat
	3:00 - 5:45 PM	Train to Bangkok		20
	5:45 PM	Hua Lampong Station to Sukhumvit Station		27
	7:30 PM	Dinner at Pier 21	Dinner - 150 baht	75
	9:30 - 10:00 PM	BTS Asok to BTS Ekkamai		25
			Total	1004