Ayutthaya and the largest market ever
Hi Everyone,
We don't have all that much time right now; we are going to be taking the bus to Krabi in southern Thailand (not in any of the dangerous provinces though). It is an 18 hour ride, but its our next to last long bus ride (the only one left will be the 16 hour ride from phuket to Bangkok).
I just wanted to tell you about the few other things we have been doing here.
The day after Muay Thai we got up early to go on a day tour of Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam. For centuries, Thai kings ruled out of this city, and built many wats, palaces, stupas and monuments. Most of the architecture in this area was either Burman, or Thai although at least one of the temples was Khmer. There are too many sights to see in the area in just a few hours, so we ended up sampling just the most impressive of them all. Some of the more interesting things we saw were a giant gilded seated Buddha, a very large reclining Buddha, a very tall stupa, and the Buddha head in the a tree.
It really was an interesting tour, but I think that we would have enjoyed it more if it had been at the beginning of the trip as opposed to the end.
After the temples we went to the summer palace. It has only been open to tourists for 1 year, but it is over 130 years old. Most of it was based on European style, though they do have a few Thai and Chinese buildings. It would seem that almost everything that was used to build the place was shipped in too; that is, the Chinese buildings were built with Chinese materials, and the European style buildings were built with European materials and decorated with European statues and furniture.
It was a pretty impressive place. It was a palace in the true sense, with luxurious buildings, rolling lawns, ponds, bridges, and gardens. It will be closed again in June or July while heads of state from around the world come to visit Thailand. Receptions will be held here and anyone (any head of state) who wants to stay a night there is welcome.
Yesterday we went to the weekend market. This was the largest market you could possibly imagine, and in fact the largest in the world. It covers something like 28 acres and has over 8,000 numbered stalls and many more unnumbered stalls. They say if they don't sell it here, then they don't sell it in Thailand...and I would bet this is the truth.
Some of the sections are meant specifically for tourists, but the majority are there for everyone else. Table wares for example, you can buy anything from the cheapest of cheap 20 cent plates to very expensive porcelain, and in just about any style.
One of the most interesting and sad sections was the pet area. They mostly sold kittens and puppies here, but squirrels were probably the third most common animal. All the animals were well cared for, but because of limited space many of them were crowded into boxes. They seemed to carry just about every breed of dog we have seen, and several we haven't. The Siamese cats were also really neat, although there weren't as many there as you would expect. According to our guide book there is also an endangered wildlife section somewhere there, but we never found it.
We spent a lot of time exploring, but didn't end up getting much. We will probably go back once we return from Phuket, and get a few last souvenirs before we come home.
That's about it for now,
Tim
We don't have all that much time right now; we are going to be taking the bus to Krabi in southern Thailand (not in any of the dangerous provinces though). It is an 18 hour ride, but its our next to last long bus ride (the only one left will be the 16 hour ride from phuket to Bangkok).
I just wanted to tell you about the few other things we have been doing here.
The day after Muay Thai we got up early to go on a day tour of Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam. For centuries, Thai kings ruled out of this city, and built many wats, palaces, stupas and monuments. Most of the architecture in this area was either Burman, or Thai although at least one of the temples was Khmer. There are too many sights to see in the area in just a few hours, so we ended up sampling just the most impressive of them all. Some of the more interesting things we saw were a giant gilded seated Buddha, a very large reclining Buddha, a very tall stupa, and the Buddha head in the a tree.
It really was an interesting tour, but I think that we would have enjoyed it more if it had been at the beginning of the trip as opposed to the end.
After the temples we went to the summer palace. It has only been open to tourists for 1 year, but it is over 130 years old. Most of it was based on European style, though they do have a few Thai and Chinese buildings. It would seem that almost everything that was used to build the place was shipped in too; that is, the Chinese buildings were built with Chinese materials, and the European style buildings were built with European materials and decorated with European statues and furniture.
It was a pretty impressive place. It was a palace in the true sense, with luxurious buildings, rolling lawns, ponds, bridges, and gardens. It will be closed again in June or July while heads of state from around the world come to visit Thailand. Receptions will be held here and anyone (any head of state) who wants to stay a night there is welcome.
Yesterday we went to the weekend market. This was the largest market you could possibly imagine, and in fact the largest in the world. It covers something like 28 acres and has over 8,000 numbered stalls and many more unnumbered stalls. They say if they don't sell it here, then they don't sell it in Thailand...and I would bet this is the truth.
Some of the sections are meant specifically for tourists, but the majority are there for everyone else. Table wares for example, you can buy anything from the cheapest of cheap 20 cent plates to very expensive porcelain, and in just about any style.
One of the most interesting and sad sections was the pet area. They mostly sold kittens and puppies here, but squirrels were probably the third most common animal. All the animals were well cared for, but because of limited space many of them were crowded into boxes. They seemed to carry just about every breed of dog we have seen, and several we haven't. The Siamese cats were also really neat, although there weren't as many there as you would expect. According to our guide book there is also an endangered wildlife section somewhere there, but we never found it.
We spent a lot of time exploring, but didn't end up getting much. We will probably go back once we return from Phuket, and get a few last souvenirs before we come home.
That's about it for now,
Tim
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on Sunday, March 19, 2006 at 2:07 AM.
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