Ayutthaya, Thailand -- the old palace and temple and our final afternoon/night in Bangkok (May 18)

Today was one we were looking forward to (forgive the dangling preposition).  We headed to the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya, the home of Thai royalty from 1344 to 1767.  We went to two different locations, first the old palace and second to the “vatican” of Buddhism for the Thai monarchy from this same time period.  Julie was particularly interested because she has been reading the three-volume story of "The Falcon of Siam."

The royal palace buildings -- a UNESCO World Heritage site -- were in ruins, largely red clay brick, because when the Burmese overran the Thai in 1767, they burned the entire structure (wooden ceilings on the buildings) and chopped the heads off all the Buddhas, many of which had gold on them.  Over the ensuing years, several of the pillars and spires fell apart, but some remain, at least enough to get a sense of the grandeur of the grounds. Clearly visible is the use of laterite in the base of the buildings, promoting stability for the core of the structure.  Three of the spires meant to honor three kings – number 8, 9, and 10 – have been refurbished in cement so one could see what they looked like.  One could also see the style of “window” constructed when the palace was first built – largely just multiple vertical long strips of openings within the bricks.  There were also a couple of buddhas which were left (or were they added later).

The palace grounds and the “vatican” we went to was very similar in style, with the ruins in similar condition.  This location was the monastery where the Buddhist monks lived -- the ones who were the head of Buddhism in this ancient kingdom.  It is called Wat Mahathat and its history began around 1374 when King Borommarcha I erected a temple at this place (although it had another name).    The most photographed location in the ruins is the famous buddha head embedded in a tree.  Our guide, Anna, told two different stories about the importance of this head.  First that some people were trying to steal it and were almost caught, so they tossed it aside as they were running.  The tree grew up around the head, embracing it as it grew.  The second story was similiar except that it was the Burmese who tossed it aside with the sam effect – a tree grew and embraced the head.  When we took the picture, we had to kneel because no one could look at the head and be taller than the head.

Excellent lessons in Thai history and Buddhism today.

After lunch we had some free time, and a few of us toured the Jim Thompson house, filled with amazing ceramics, Buddhas, wall hangings, Chinese prints, etc. all collected by an American architect who built the house (actually he bought four teak houses and combined them) and lived in it until his mysterious death in 1967.  So goes life. . . .

Thompson's house actually consists of 6 Thai houses he moved onto his property and connected

beautiful and comfortable interiors

After this tour, we took the sky train back to the hotel, and a couple of glasses of wine, and went out to a Japanese restaurant with some other OATers -- a fitting end to the Thailand portion of our trip.