Ayutthaya,Bangkok & Pattaya!

Tallest Buddha Statue in Thailand

Tired of too much of work at office, I felt that I was slowly being trapped and suffocated by e-mails and meetings.Lending ear to everyone, everything and every where was taking me away from me....phew!!!

I needed some space and this trip proved to be a timely Total Rewind for me. Thanks to my cousin sister and my brother- in- law that I could spend the best 10/15 days in Ayutthaya, Thailand. Although I took this journey a few years back but the memory is still fresh in my mind.Therefore,the write up!! and the pictures were from my album:)

During my stay at Thailand, I visited Bangkok, saw temples and ruins at Ayutthaya and did parasailing in Pattaya. I was fascinated by a few very simple things that were peculiar to this region. Like the bus wraps, bus stands and the Wats (temples). Not to forget the beautiful lamp posts on both the sides of the road in Ayutthaya :) 

Beautiful ancient reclining Buddha statue in Ayutthaya

I loved the reflection in the water. I captured this while taking a boat ride on the 'Chao Pharaya' River in Ayutthaya

Watching an elephant trainer bathing his elephant was a treat on this river boat ride :)

This Stupa is visible while you take a boat ride on the 'Chao Phraya river'

Lamp posts on both sides of the road in Ayutthaya. I liked the idea of putting such beautiful lamp posts on road sides.  

Bangkok Zoo- I think this pic is 'the master click' from this trip ;)

Funny thing about this picture is all of them are looking in the same direction except for one:)

Enjoying sun tan in the open:)

ohh! do not disturb its our nap time;)

Bangkok,at that time impressed me with its busy life, high-rise, malls and all the shopping items that were there for display. Right from a candy to jewellery to clothing and to cars. Except for cars & the jewellery, I ended up buying a l’ll bit of the rest of the stuff. 

Buddha statue at Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon

Ruins at a Wat Yia Chai Mongkhon, Ayutthaya

Bus Wraps- I spotted a lot of beautiful ones in the industrial area in Aytthaya. Many of these depicted mythological stories from Ramayana

Spotted these statues on my way back from Wat- Muang 

Ayutthaya (which is 76 km of north of Bangkok) on the other hand mesmerized me with its Buddha statues, Wats (temples) ruins, river and elephants. The name itself suggests Hindu influence on this land. The kingdom of Ayutthaya or 'Ayodhya'( In India, Ayodhya is the birth place of Lord Rama), located on an island on the 'Chao Phraya river' was the older capital of Thailand. It was one of the biggest cities in the world and a major power in South East Asia, untill it was destroyed by Burmese invaders. A walk in the ruins & temples there reflects on you the ‘Grandeur’ and the ‘Glory’ of those times. You cannot just stop and admire the structures concentrated in and around the city. The ‘Stupas’ and temples are charismatic in Ayutthaya.

During weekends, we made a day’s drive to places like 'Wat Muang' in the province of 'Ang Thong', Monument of King ‘Naresuan’, Mini Siam, 'Chatuchak' market etc.

The 'War Memorial monument of King Naresuan'-. It is a larger than life monument, beautifully built with amazingly looking colourful & shiny rooster statues in all sizes. Some of these roosters are too huge and larger than a normal human being. Initially I couldn’t understand as to why were they built in so many numbers and in so many sizes there. Later on I found out that these roosters are suggestive of a popular legend in which the young Prince Naresuan wagered a bet with a young Burmese prince that Ayutthaya would be freed if Naresuan's rooster emerged victorious in the cock fight. Prince Naresuan's rooster naturally won the bet, and the Burmese prince was humiliated in the process. Following this legend these rooster statues appeared at temples associated with this royal prince. Thai citizens bring them from all over the country as offerings. I felt that it was something which is unique to this place only.

This place was full of rooster statues in all sizes. It is near Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon

Another reclining Buddha statue in a temple at Ayutthaya

Ruins from Ayutthaya historical park

King's Palace in Bangkok-took this one from a moving vehicle

Love this one! a beautiful small Ganesha statue that I bought from 'Chatuchak Market' 

Dragon structures on the entrance of a temple in 'Wat Muang'

A beautiful Buddha statue inside the temple

'Wat Muang' in 'Ang Thong' Province inhabited a monastery and a huge,beautifully built Budha statue. This statue stands 92 m (300 ft) high, and is 63 m (210 ft) wide. It's construction commenced in 1990 and was completed in 2008. It is painted gold and made of cement. This place again is worth visiting. The Statue probably is the largest/tallest statue of Buddha in Thailand.

Patayya- We preferred driving to the beach and the other places that we had decided to visit during my trip here, so as to capture the locals, landscapes and the people.

After taking a walk at the beach and buying some souvenirs, I decide to have some adventure!! Patayya Style ;)!

Pattaya Beach

Para- sailing at Pattaya Beach!this is me... uuuuuhoooo! 

Yes, it was para-sailing time! we walked into the beach to be picked up by a boat so as to be dropped on a huge wooden pedestal for some Para-Sailing. This wooden pedestal was the place for the ‘lift- up’ and the ‘drop-down’ of the fun experience that people call Para-Sailing. For me ! it was my ‘first ever ‘.

It was so awesome that thinking about it even today gives me the fresh 'THRILL CHILL' that it gave that day and I feel like shouting “ Uuuuuu Hoooooo” like I did that time :).

I was up in the air with everybody and everything looking sooooo small beneath me .! Ohh forgot to tell you about the safety measures. You bet they are safe! Two men tie you to the parachute ensuring that harness and everything is fit and tight. They try and explain in Thai as to how you are supposed to run and then jump. But don’t worry even if your Thai is as good as mine (‘Swadikhaan’ is the only thing that I understood;)) You can learn faster by watching the people that went before you!

You trot, take a few steps running and then you leave the pedestal (sounds so simple to do it). Then rest your weight, including your worries on the rope that’s pulling you and off course your parachute. And Up... Up... you go!.... World looks beautifully different down, below you (by different I mean ‘small’) and you feel like the “king of the World” in my case I was the “queen of the world” and you feel like shouting ‘Uuuuuhoooooo’ which I did several times. By the time you are finished admiring buildings, people, boats, water, beneath you! The parachute brings you down on the pedestal slowly and those two people who helped you to get ready to feel this adventure, now help you to come down to your actual world.

Harness and ropes off ! and you are standing back on the wooden pedestal still enjoying / and not yet out of that THRILL !!! there are other water sports as well like water scooter and banana boat etc. But parasailing for me was one 'out of routine thrill' :)

I also enjoyed taking a walk on the beach, clicking pictures of local vendors and anything and everything and that I found to be interesting.

Everybody remembers one good/fun experience from their leisure trip. Mine was this- initially chilling but later on Thrilling parasailing (flying) on Pattaya beach!!

A local vendor. I saw this lady selling beads  at the beach

Mini Siam

A huge statue of Lord Vishnu with Goddess Lakshmi & lord Brahma

White Orchids at my cousins place

Mini Siam- I thought, as the name suggests it would definitely have some thing which is miniature. And I was amazed to see what all ‘miniature’ was inside the compound. This place had the miniature replicas of all the famous places worldwide. Located in pattaya city this place also has a souvenir shop to take home some. But  I bought my souvenirs from a congested market ( very much like Chandni Chowk in old Delhi)at a much lesser price. Chatuchak was my market to buy souveniers and exquisitely carved images of Ganesha (Hindu gods with an elephant head). This market had almost everything, I also bought some rare pieces of carved wood and some lamps.

Coming back to mini Siam, it took us half of the day to simply roam around and admire all the replicas. It had famous Thai temples, Eifel tower,leaning tower of Piza .Almost every thing popular, even the famous statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore National Memorial from US.I Was amazed at the precision with which they were made. It seemed as if some one has picked the famous buildings world -wide and has compressed them by hands to make it different (shorter/ smaller I meanJ)An amazing project that started in 1985/86. My favourite here was the huge statue of lord Vishnu on his serpant ‘Sheshnaag’ and the huge Angkor Wat from Cambodia. Also amazing were the statue of the huge ‘Dwarpals’ gatekeepers.

After spending time @ mini Siam we headed for Underwater World. Underwater world- was also an amazing visit. With nothing like this in India, I was amazed to walk below the giant fishes, coloured corals and other sea creatures through a long tunnel which was approx. 100 mt long. This has the rich variety of marine life which is found around Pattaya.

Well! It was an awesome trip; I still enjoy looking @ the pictures from this trip... Since I went alone there, so I had a lot to yap with my best friend:) Whenever we talk about an adventure sport my 'Pattaya trip' by default becomes a part of our conversation ;)