The Invincible City, once a capital of Thailand and in 1700 it had a status of the biggest and wealthiest city in the East. It was the trading capital of Asia drawing merchants from Europe, Japan, Vietnam, China and Malay Archipelago. Perfect location for exchanging goods between always hungry traders. Thanks to its intense economy the city only grew stronger. It held one million citizens that were protected by city walls and three rivers floating around it. Nine temples were built under the reign of 4 different kings. Unfortunately, it was all lost during the Burmese invasion. After a few months of siege Siam finally lost the battle. Ayutthaya was destroyed and burnt completely.
Surprisingly, only in 1991 the ruins of the historic city were finally listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.
In an early morning, we hopped on the train to visit the site. In 3rd class with fans circulating the air in a busy carriage and a slight delay due to the train stopping at the red signal to let the cars and bikes cross the rail tracks (never seen anything like that before), we got to Ayutthaya. To see all the temples we had to hire a TukTuk that drove us around for a few hours. Surprisingly, the saint places were not that busy as expected. I am always surprised by tourist’s laziness. So unique place but visited only by a few. It is only over an hour journey from Bangkok but you can see so much… Well, it was better for us…
Old ruins, leaning towers, collapsing brick walls, seating Buddha statues falling apart, nature reclaiming its territory. Wherever we look we see amazing pieces of history. Standing there I imagine how it would feel to be able to move back in time to 1700 when the capital was full of life… Mixture of sellers offering the finest products brought from remote parts of the world. Markets filled with fresh foods, colourful goods, finest materials, spices and talismans. Golden temples reflecting sunlight, colourful palaces and surroundings. Kings, Queens, their servants and armies living just round the corner. Outside the city walls foreign travellers setting up camps and preparing for the evening feast at bonfires, music playing around, people dancing and telling stories brought from faraway lands…
