Sunday, May 25, 2008
Ayutthaya 2
I stayed in Ayutthaya an extra day because it was so interesting. There are many, many temples and historic sites. I spent the morning at a royal temple that had been destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. Then I walked around the public park and wound up at the local museum. It has a small museum with modern interactive exhibits on the history of the island of Ayutthaya. On the second and third floors there is an art museum. Although small I lingered for a long time, listening to the blues music being played over the internet as a Thai man painted. It shouldn't have fit the scene but somehow did. The most fascinating piece was a minature that you view through a big magnifying glass. This is a scene of a hillside flled with tiny elephants and matchstick bridges....
Later in the afternoon I went to the ruins of another Wat. This had been built in 1364. A few cavings were visible in the remnants of the towers, but the dominant figure was a headless Buddha facing west. The eternal song of birds was everywhere.
Labels: Thai culture, Thai history
