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Our Trip to Ayutthaya
On Sunday, we headed to Ayutthaya. It is a very old Thai city that has been in existents for probably at least a thousand years. The Burmese destroyed much of the city in the 1400's. From the ruins, it is obvious that Ayutthaya was quite a developed city when it was destroyed. Even then the Thais had developed the need for massive palace grounds for their kings. Seeing them reminds me of a cattle ranch in Texas. The palace grounds are as big as a Texas ranch, and the king has more wives that the rancher has cattle. I wanted to go to Ayutthaya because of the ancient temples and palaces. I thought it would be a neat place to take pictures. The ruins were quite unlike the wats that I had seen thus far.
Lucia had arranged for a car and a driver to take us to Ayutthaya. It cost us 1600 Baht, which is around $40 American. It was cheaper that what it cost us in Chiang Mai but the driver was not an official tour guide like Chai, our tour guide in Chiang Mai. Our driver spoke very little English so Lucia talked with him in Thai. During the course of the day, it became obvious what the advantages of hiring an official tour guide are. Tour guides can go into the wats and other facilities without having to pay. Our driver had to stay in the car unless we wanted to pay for his admission (which we had no particular desire to do). Also Chai had a great deal of information to better understand the places we visited. It really helped me to appreciate everything more. But on this day, we were on our own.
The driver picked us up at 9:00, the scheduled pick up time. He drove a black Volvo 940 and it was nice to ride in it. Lucia said that for the price we paying, we would get a luxury car and, in Thailand, a Volvo is a luxury car.
Our first stop was the Summer Palace. It is an obligatory place to go to since visiting any royal residences is mandatory. The Summer Palace is not far (see my comments It's not far) from Bangkok. Nevertheless it took at least an hour to get there. Our driver dropped us off at the front gate. We (at least I) had to pay admission to get in. Seems that the signs in English state there is a admission charge but the one in Thai says that admission is free. The place was crowded with people. As we entered the palace grounds, one of the guards stopped Lucia. He told her that her dress did not show proper respect. It turns out that her dress was sleeveless and sleeveless dresses are not considered appropriate attire for the palaces and wats. Lucia told me to wait and she went off someplace. After 10 or 15 minutes she returned. She had purchased a large silk scarf that she draped over her shoulders to hide her arms. It was acceptable to the guard, who let her in this time.
Inside the palace grounds, you can rent electric golf carts to see everything. I remember that it cost about 500 Baht for the first hour and extra $100 Baht for each additional hour. We decided to go for the golf cart. We got in and off we went. In actuality, there was not that much to see there. In addition, you could only go into one building. Lucia loved one of the small buildings that one of the queens of yesteryear used as her residence. It was not particularly ornate or large so she could not have been the king’s favorite queen. But it was an interesting building that was build off the ground on wooden posts. Lucia pointed out that it was build high enough so that a normal Thai person (i.e. short) could actually work and sit under the structure. There was a low table there that someone once used to sit and work. I am sure that the shade provided much relief in the summer when it is very hot and very humid.
The one building that you could go into was a former queen's residence. It was built in Chinese style architecture and everything was painted a bright red. Even though this one was the only one you could go into, it made the whole visit worthwhile. And while you could not go into any of the rooms, you walked around the perimeter and could see into the room through glass that had been installed in the doorways and windows. The residence was not occupied and appeared to be maintained as a museum. When the palace was built, the houses did not have windows. There were openings with shutters that could be opened or closed. The ceilings must have been 20 or 25 feet high. The rooms were sparsely furnished but what was there was a joy to look at.
On the grounds there were several other buildings that were built in other styles. There was one that had an obvious European architecture and off the distance we saw a church that could have come out of Europe too. It looked like a classic Catholic cathedral. I made the comment to Lucia that, while incorporating other styles into Thai architecture was understandable, constructing buildings in a foreign architecture seemed out of place. Fortunately this philosophy did not pervade the rest of Thailand. The classic Thai architecture is a wonder to look at. It is unique and reflects a tremendous attention to detail. It really does not need to be influenced by farang architectural styles.
After we visited the Queen's residence, we drove around the grounds. Lucia pointed out an area near the residence where there were two monuments. Lucia told me that they were monuments to one of the former king's favorite wife who drowned with their child. She told me that the queen's servants were not allowed to touch her and the prohibition was so absolute that they were not allowed to touch her in order to save her life. The large monument is for the queen and the smaller monument is for their child. I had a hard time accepting the fact that the prohibition was so absolute. It reflects a difference in attitudes between the American and Thai cultures. In the US, you save anyone who is drowning regardless of their status. But the Thai culture is very hierarchical in that older people have a higher status than younger people. When in a room, a person of lower status is supposed to keep their head lower than that of anyone with a higher status. When age is not a discriminating factor in determining who has the higher status, money seems to be the next determining factor. This explains why people bow down so low in the Buddhist temple. They have to keep their head below that of the Buddhist priest, who is sitting with his legs crossed. And when you are in the presence of the King or Queen, you kiss the floor.
We spend about an hour and a half touring the Summer Palace grounds. We returned our cart. The only way to leave the Place grounds is through the souvenir shop. I found it amusing that a site that requires proper attire in order to enter, forces you to go through a souvenir shop in order to leave. It reminds me of Star Tours ride at Disneyland. You exit the ride in a tourist shop. Yes it's crass commercialism at its worse. In that respect, there is little difference between the Thai and American cultures. I searched for some traditional Thai music CDs since I was on a real expedition to find some after the dinner & dance show we saw in Chiang Mai. But, alas, no Thai music CDs here. But it did joggle some of Lucia's brain cells and she remembered that the Bang Sau Royal Folk Arts & Crafts Center was 'not far' from the Summer Palace. So we decided to head to the Folk Art Center to find some traditional Thai music CDs.
We then drove to Ayutthaya. It is an old city and it proved to be one of our favorites. It was the capital city of Thailand eons ago until the Burmese attacked to city and finally were able to take over the city after about 17 major attempts. They completely sacked the city, which meant that they destroyed and levels many of the palaces and temples. The melted all the gold that adorned the statues. There is still enough to see that Ayutthaya was once a magnificent city but all that is left to our imagination. We will never be able to experience its former grandeur. The picture shows a Buddha image at a palace in Ayutthaya. It is a huge complex that is surrounded by an outer wall and there are Buddha images that are set against the outer wall every 5 feet or so. The Burmese loped the head off of every one of the images.
It was getting dark and we had to return to Bangkok but we decided to have dinner in Ayutthaya. Our driver took us to an outdoor restaurant that was right next to the river. I spotted something on the menu that looked interesting. It was a dish of fish balls in green curry. It was blazing hot and it made my face red and my nose run. But it was delicious! It started a real love for this dish. It turns out that Ayutthaya is famous for it. After we returned to the US, I found a Thai cookbook that had a really good recipe for fish balls in green curry. My version is very good. We have made several trips back to Ayutthaya but could never find the restaurant again.