Ayutthaya

Basically Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand (Siam) from 1351 - 1767 when it was destroyed by the Burmese. Because we knew that the place had been destroyed we were not sure what to expect from the visit to ruins. We were again amazed at what we saw. There were lots of examples of stupas - Thai, Cambodian and Sri Lankan (Ceylonese). Sadly many of the Buddha statues had been destroyed. The picture with Buddha's head has a story. Our guide told us that the invading army took all the Buddha heads away - the whole statues were too heavy to carry - understandable. Anyway this Buddha head had fallen near a tree and the tree his it and protected it, you can see how the roots grew around it but not over it - fact or fiction - you decide! We saw some elephants but remembered what Euan and Charlotte told us about how they were treated so we didn't go on one. They look lovely though but would look better roaming free.

After Ayutthaya we got back on bus and were taken to the river. We cruised down the river back to Bangkok and on the way saw lots of amazing buildings.