November 2016 arrived and with it was my planned return to Thailand. I’d had so much fun the previous year that I was determined to return and see some of the things I’d missed 12 months earlier.
Top of the list for my first few days after arrival was to visit the ancient city of Ayutthaya. Situated a couple of hours to the north of Bangkok, it was the ancient capital of Siam until it was sacked by the Burmese in 1767.
Like the previous year, I booked a trip with Isango which was a full day guided tour taking in several historic temples. I had one big wish, which was to see the famous Buddha head entwined in a Banyan tree roots. I eventually got my picture of it, though I did have to queue for a while as clearly I wasn’t the only one with this thought!
Walking around Wat Phra Si Sanphet I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. It was utterly magnificent and an incredible sight. I just wonder what it looked like several hundred years ago.
On the way back we had a bonus stop off at Bang Pa-In Palace (Summer Royal Palace), which I hadn’t realised was included in the tour. It was hugely contrasting to see such a plush place straight after the seeing the ruins of Ayutthaya. Even more so to see so many European influences in the surroundings.
We then slowly made our way back to Bangkok … much too slowly for my liking as I had a photoshoot booked in for that evening! You can see that in my next post!
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