Ayutthaya
Monday, October 23rd, 2006Ayutthaya was the ancient capital city of Siam for 417 years. The city is an island formed by the convergence of three rivers in a fierce race to reach the Gulf of Thailand. Due to this easily defended strategic position the city remained the centre of trade, commerce, culture and politics of the nascent Thai nation until the Burmese invasion of 1767.
After a two year siege the city fell and the invaders looted most of the architectural, cultural and religious treasures, including a 16 metre high gold buddha. Despite the rape of much of Ayuthaya’s wealth the modern city is littered with ancient and holy ruins resulting in a declaration by UNESCO that Ayutthaya is a ‘World Heritage Site’. Hence i found myself on a train hurtling from Bangkok at a frightening 30mph!
The train provided a welcome and refreshing change of transport after a multitude of long and tiring bus journeys. True the seats were all wooden benches, there was no lighting and a plump kid in front of me kept whispering “six baht” (baht is the thai currency) or standing on my foot with his pudgy feet, but none of this mattered a jot. In thailand the windows on each train slide right down and lack protective bars restricting the intellectually challenged from sticking their whole torsos out into the rushing air. So i leaned right out of the carriage along with everyone else from countries where the nanny state dominates; feeling rather than just observing the landscape. The smells, the sites, the sounds. Forget air-conditioned VIP buses, this is the more rewarding way to travel.
Past central Bangkok with its constant buzz of activity. Past the business district which resembled Canary wharf with its forest of skyscrapers. Past what can only be described as shanty towns on the outskirts of the city; ramshackle ad hoc buildings of wood, plastic and corrugated iron. Despite all the (superficial and outward) trappings of development, the plush boutiques and hotels, the flat screened internet cafes, the mobile phones stuck to every teenage ear, Thailand is still progressing along the temporal path to ‘modernity’. (Or so the dominant socio-economic narratives would have it).
Later we would pass the King. Over and over. On billboards, on advertisments, on roadside gold-framed pictures, on wide stands decorated with fairy lights and excessive bunting. Even 100ft tall, looking out on the city from the side of a building. They adore him. This year he celebrates his sixtieth year on the throne. The streets are awash with people wearing yellow shirts and polos emblazened with the royal seal as if the uniform of a communal dystopian society. Yet this is voluntary. It borders on idol worship, or at least the personality cults of various Communist states. We brits and our queen have a similar relationship don’t you think?
Arriving at the train station i was bombarded with the usual tuk tuk vultures eager for a piece of fresh, wet behind the ear backpacker meat. Luckily i am now a seasoned traveller so with a cocky smile, a deft hop into the back of a van and a five minute ride to my hostel i disembarked…and found myself ripped off to the amount of 50 baht. Live and learn, humble pie and all that.
The main city is quite dank and dirty. Most of the city conforms to two questionable architectural principles; the innate beauty of square structures and the overlooked sublime qualities of concrete. But scattered around the city, especially on the west side, where the city becomes green and pleasant rest the temples i had come to see.
I decided to stay in a guesthouse called Tony’s Place. It’s a very homely hostel, old, wooden and very welcoming. My room was nicely decorated and pleasant, but laying on the bed writing my journal i was joined by an uninvited bed-bug. Now, if you have met me since the attack of the bed bugs in Malaysia (now commonly referred to as Black Thursday – or Boring Thursday to those i’ve told the story to) you will know i’m not a big fan! Straight down stairs to complain . Luckily they got me a new room in another hostel. They really were incredibly helpful, i can’t fault them at all for their service and apologies. Some hostels just don’t want to know or insist you have brought them in, avoiding any responsibility for infestations. Not Tony’s Place. Immediately they had a spray.
Anyway the next day i woke bright and early (11 o clock) and hired a rusty hunk of metal on two wheels with a girly basket and no brakes – memories of my trusty steed in Cambridge, which also lacked the basic function to stop flooded back. I set off for a three day leisurely exploration of the city.
The Lonely Planet highly recommends a visit to the Ayutthaya Historical Study Centre to understand the religious and historical importance of the city and its ruins. The museum is architecturally modern, all clean and simple lines. It would not loook out of place on the South Bank. Likewise inside, traditional cabinet displays were interspersed with intricate models of the Grand Palace and temples, and various forms of multimedia to bring thai villages, houses, festivals, religion and trade to life – (interestingly by the sixteenth century Ayutthaya was trading regularly with the Phillipines, Malaysia, China, Japan, the Middle East and even European states. Forget the media hype, Globalisation is not a novel phenomenon).
Though impressive and informative the museum failed to provide the preliminary tutoring it was suggested i would need to explore the temples. So i settled on tackling the city without a plan.
It was impossible to see all the city had to offer so i concentrated on the main sites. From Thanon Pa Thon, the city shrine covered in hundreds of small figurines, of peple, of gods, pictures of families, relatives, of animals etc to the larger, more impressive ruins of the Grand Palace i was consistenly awed.
The main ruins are simply stunning. Majestic in size and style.
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andrewlegon