Ayutthaya Ayutthaya We went to Ayutaya on February 9. Ayutthaya, also known as a big city, is located 76 kilometers north of Bangkok. Its ruins are listed as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. This is a imperial city built of red bricks and stone carvings. It was captured by Burmese 600 years ago, leaving only the ruins of today. Leave Bangkok, a bustling metropolis, and go to Ayutaya to experience the bitterness of a declining dynasty. The weather on this day is still very hot (at least 34 degrees) and sunny. [History] AYUTHAYA’s most famous WAT PHRA RAM (Pulan Temple). And WAT PHRA SAMPHET (Wapaishi Sanbi Temple) in the ancient palace site of Ayutaya. The palace site WAT PHRA SI SANPHET was founded during the KING U-THONG period and lived for 98 years. Later, the palace moved and it became a royal temple. It is the largest ancient temple in the city of Ayutaya. There are only three pagodas built in the 15th century in the temple that bury the remains of the three emperors. Their carvings, lines and architectural skills are the most artistic representative works of the ancient capital of the big city. The ruins of Buddhist temples are praised by UNESCO as “Angkor Wat II”. There is also a 16-meter-high Buddha statue in the temple, which was built in 1500. The appearance of the Buddha statue is pasted with 17 0 kilograms of gold foil. The Burmese stole all the gold foil after the invasion. Even so, the status of the Buddha statue is still highly worshipped by the Thai people. In 1956, the Buddha statue was restored and a main hall was built outside the Buddha statue, called VIHARN PHRA MONGKOL BOPHIT. This is the ancient capital of Thailand 600 years ago. Thailand has experienced four major dynasties in its history: Sukhothai Dynasty, Ayutaya Dynasty, Zheng Dynasty and the current Bangkok Dynasty, namely Jieji Dynasty. Among them, the Dacheng Dynasty is the longest one. It has experienced 33 kings in 417 years, but in 1767, at the peak of the Dacheng Dynasty, it perished due to the Burmese invasion. Now we can only imagine the prosperity of that year from the ruins of these historic sites. In 1350, Emperor Yu Tong of Thailand first established his capital in Ayutaya. After that, the country prospered, and poets, scholars, sculptors and even business travelers from all over the country gathered here one after another, making Ayutaya the political, economic, cultural and religious center at that time. By the early 17th century, Ayutaya was already one of the richest cities in Asia. With a population of nearly 1 million, it exports rice, animal skins and ivory, which is larger than the contemporary city of London. Europeans mentioned Ayutaya in their early literature, saying with awe that there are a large number of valuable courtyards and 2,000 gold-plated steeple temples. For centuries, Burmese troops have been attacking the gate of Ayutaya. After numerous attacks, Ayutaya was finally captured in 1767. Burmese burned, killed, looted and expelled the population. In just one year, Burmese turned this prosperous city with a population of one million into a sad city with only a few thousand people. When I came to WAT MAHATHAT, the most famous one was the head of the Buddha, which was tightly held by the roots of the tree. Just like growing out of a tree, it is already so integrated with the tree. Tourists were told that they could not take photos beyond Buddha, but could only crouch down to take photos. On the wooden fence are colorful fragrant flowers decorated beautifully by believers in Buddhism. Although the awestruck Buddha head is not as tall as other Buddha statues and can only be looked up to, and there is no gold foil in the temple, I feel an unprecedented sense of deterrence when standing in front of him. My slightly open eyes look around every creature appearing in front of him and feel boundless magic power. This is a temple built during Rama I and was once the place where monks compiled Buddhist scriptures. It is the highest temple of the Mahani Kaitian sect of Buddhism. The Buddha’s head in the tree was actually knocked off and tumbled under the Bodhi tree after the temple was destroyed by the Burmese army. 600 years later, this spectacle was achieved. [Transportation] Starting from Peng Railway Station in South China, There are many trains to Ayutaya every day, which is also very convenient. It is suggested that friends who want to visit Ayutaya can choose trains and enjoy the suburban scenery of Bangkok along the way (to be honest, it is much behind our suburbs and villages in China, but flowers are everywhere, and they have to sigh the love of the Thai people for many flowers and plants). The journey: The bus recommended by me is the 8:20 a.m. Express (EXP), which takes 1 hour and 20 minutes to pass through Don Mueng Dongmuen Airport. Return trip: Personally, I recommend the 4:11 p.m. bus, which takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. There are also trains at other times of the day, basically once an hour, mostly slow trains. On the way to the railway station, you can buy tickets, 20B station tickets and 40B seats. The train is not large. There are many people on the train in peak season, mostly tourists. If you buy a station ticket, you can also find an empty seat to sit down, but when the person in this seat comes, the ticket inspector will remind you that it is time to give up your seat:). There were very few people on the return bus, so there was a seat when you bought a bus stop ticket. It is suggested to buy a station ticket and move to the last carriage (restaurant) to buy a drink, so there will be a seat, which is still very wide. Here is an excerpt from the train timable. As a one-day tour to the big city, the recommended time is just enough. For more detailed train schedules, please consult the Bangkok Tourism Bureau or the information center at the railway station. Departure: Platform 8107911 Type RAPRAPRAPEXP Bangkok 05: 2006: 0006: 4007: 0008:20 Donmuang (Airport) 6: 086: 587: 448: 268: 429:41 Return: TypeRAPRAPEXPRAPAP Ayutthaya 14: 0515: 4816: 1117: 1617:46 Donmuang (Airport) 14: 4516: 3316: 5417: 5818: 34 Bangkok 15: 4017: 3517: 5519: 0019: 25 In addition, Bangkok-Dacheng also has BUS, or you can take a taxi to it. However, comprehensive comparison shows that the train is still convenient and affordable. [Car Rental] Rental of Motorcycles is strongly recommended! Rent a car after crossing the river! Seeing many self-help tourists renting bicycles, think about that hot and poisonous day. It was really hard for you to ride bicycles under the scorching sun and high temperature. Moreover, some historic sites are scattered and it will be very hard to ride down in one day. Renting a motorcycle (provided you can ride it) is a good choice. Attention, you can see many car rental shops as soon as the railway station comes down, so don’t rent them here. Because the front is crossing the river. Please rent a car after the transition. Otherwise, it is said that there will be a charge for the transition with the car. Transition 1 person 2 ~ 3b. After the transition, walk straight into the town and ask the local people about the car rental point. Walk for more than 10 minutes to find a road, which is full of westernized cafes, hotels and car rental shops. Most of the motorcycles here are manual, 150B a day (remember to cut the price), and they have to show their passports and sign an agreement with the shopkeeper. The procedures are very formal. Before you hit the road, you must ask the shopkeeper how to use the motorcycle. The starting, gear shifting, handbrake and foot brake of these cars are different from those in China. Remember to take the safety helmet and remember that Thailand is driving on the left. Safety comes first. The boss will give you a photocopied map with the names of each historic site marked on it. However, it is very vague, so I suggest that I make a clear one myself. [Play] 1 You can consider staying in a big city for one night. The historic sites at night are lit and are said to be very beautiful. It is said that it is best to see the historic sites from 3 to 5 pm. First, the weather is not too hot. Second, the historic sites reflecting the sunset are very beautiful. However, we must have a good grasp of the time, because the historic sites selling tickets are usually not allowed to enter from 5: 30 to 6: 00. However, you can still visit historic sites that do not charge tickets. Compared with Bangkok, the English level of the people in big cities is generally very low, and it is difficult to eat and ask directions. We can only rely on gesticulations. If you do not use motorcycles, you can get off the ferry and take the moto taxi (20b) to the monument, or take the TUKTUK bus (40b/person). In fact, the historic area is not, it will arrive soon. You can also choose to charter a car and let TUKTUK show you all the scenic spots. Tickets 30B for scenic spots that charge tickets can be purchased at the ticket office of the scenic spot. The instructions of the scenic spot are all available in English. Look and know what is worth seeing in the scenic spot. Remember to wear sunscreen. There are many historic sites in the seven big cities, but they are the same. It is suggested that 3 or 4 of the best should be enough according to the time, and it is similar to ride around other points that do not charge tickets. Returning to Bangkok from the big city, Chinatown is opposite the railway station as soon as it comes out. It is very lively when you have time to go and have a look. However, it should be noted that no shops opened during the Spring Festival, and everyone went on vacation.