This is our final booked tour. We were met in the lobby at 7am to be taken to the river cruise terminal to catch a bus to Ayuttaya.

 

The coach was air conditioned and we headed north this time so we got to see totally different scenery. This time we passed all the rice fields, fish farms, and the areas most affected by the 2011 floods. You could clearly see the flood lines on the buildings. They are now building higher walls (levee banks) and lifting more houses onto stilts.

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 Our first stop was the Summer Palace (Bang Pa-In Palace) with history dating back to the  17^th century. There is an outer palace area for the common people and the inner place for the King and his family. We were amazed by the mix of architectural influence. Beautiful Italian statues along a bridge, Chinese temples and Spanish designs.

[tube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cXZ2KIeosQ&feature=youtu.be[/tube]

 

The grounds were immaculate and one area had trees shaped like elephants.

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Next stop was Ayuttaya (the ancient ruins from the 14^th and 15^th centuries). It is amazing that anything is left standing at all and the ground is soft and many of the towers are leaning.

 

At the entrance to the ruins there were Tuk TUks that are far more modern than the ones we have seen in Bangkok. It looked the ‘sports models/pimped up rides’ were a hit in this area so far from the city. They had fancy duco and flashing lights. The ones in Bangkok are old and well worn.

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In the ruins, the Buddha heads have been removed and placed in the museum as a mark of respect. The tree with the Buddha head was interesting and those posing for photos needed to keep their head lower than the Buddha head. I had seen many pictures of this but always thought the Buddha head was about 1,5 meters from the ground, but it is actually about 50 cm from the ground.

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As we entered Ayuttaya, our photo was taken. When we returned to the bus 30 minutes later, they were selling souvenir plates with the photos on them for 100THB.

So in the ancient ruins, technology was still very efficient.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTyMmqn9gsg&feature=youtu.be[/tube]

 

We also noted the street lights as they were so ornate. We took some photos – difficult to describe.

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Then we went to another Temple .  We were not keen on that so stayed near the elephant ride area and checked out the shops and watched the street vendors who have their carts attached to their motor bike and sell food in such a confined space.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5si7wfiegU&feature=youtu.be[/tube]

Paul was able to video a sale and the whole process was amazing. We are still worried by the meat left unrefrigerated for so long before and after cooking so we again did not try this food.

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feJTUFDCs4s&feature=youtu.be[/tube]

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To return to Bangkok we boarded the Grand Pearl River cruise boat for the 42 km (2.25 hour) trip. We enjoyed a delicious Thai buffet lunch then moved to the top deck to view the sites.

 

We passed numerous barges pulled by tug boats that transport goods along the river. The Barge worker and his family live on board in very confined quarters. It would probably be cooler than living in a house or unit without air conditioning as the breeze on the river was lovely.

 

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9HgyyiK5Ys&feature=youtu.be[/tube]

We passed many sites including the “Bangkok Hilton” jail, more temples, schools, Power factories, new condominium buildings (between 18 and 40 million baht), and then back to the city to cruise past the Grand Palace Wat Po, Dawn Temples etc that we had seen on previous days.

 

We have been amazed at the visibility of the Royal Family in huge posters, signs, statues etc. The Thai people really love their King and taxis even have Long live the King on the back windows.  On the river cruise we saw the hospital where the 85 year old King now lives.

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Due to the Songkran festivities we did not get back to Siam Square until 5.40 pm and again had to walk through the water fights as the road was closed. Lots of fun but a very long day.

 

We had a quiet night with our friends in the hotel and just ordered pizza etc in the lounge.