If there’s one thing I’ve learned while traveling it’s that it pays to know people. I did things in Brazil last year that I would have never experienced had I not known Mariana.
Here in Thailand, Cody Mckibben has proven to be my contact, and in less than a week he has shown me incredible ruins, secluded beaches and introduced me to some awesome people.
After arriving around midnight last Thursday I was determined to take Cody up on his invitation to visit the Ayutthaya Ruins the next morning. It’s a really strange feeling to wake up after about an hour of sleep, hop in a cab in a foreign place and have no clue where you are going. When the cabbie dropped me off, I could have sworn he took me to the wrong place. Maybe it’s because the street name was spelled nothing like it sounds.
45 minutes later I was cruising down the freeway with Cody, his sister who is in town, and some of his other friends on our way to the ruins. I really had no concept of just how big Bangkok was until I started driving down the freeway for an hour.
For those of you who haven’t been here, just know, it’s big…
My First Visit to Ayutthaya Outside Bangkok, Thailand
I’m not gonna lie, before last week I’d never heard of Ayutthaya.
he city was founded in 1350 and King U-Thong proclaimed it as the capital of his kingdom. At its peak in the 18th century the city had nearly 1,000,000 citizens, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time. The union collapsed in 1767, however, when the Burmese army stormed and destroyed the city.
To this day you can see hundreds of headless Buddha statues from where the Burmese cut off their heads in the rampage.
This place is truly incredible, I really haven’t ever seen anything like it. The ruins are spread over a huge area, and you pay a 20-50 baht entry fee for each one. I believe we went to 4 different sites, the most interesting of which, in my opinion, was Wat Chai Wattanaram. Seeing the sunset behind the river and the massive Wat was one of the cooler travel experiences I’ve had.
Wat Chai Wattanaram at sunset
If you ever find yourself in Thailand, I would highly recommend taking a day and coming out to Ayutthaya. It’s an easy day trip from Bangkok, and is one of the largest tourist attractions in Thailand.
On a separate note, something I’m realizing is that I don’t necessarily think I’m a great travel blogger/writer.
One of my goals over the coming months is to increase the quantity and quality of travel related posts. Both in terms of good narrative, and high quality photos. I’m still definitely in the learning about best ways to integrate photos in blog posts (funny considering I’ve been doing this for a while now), so if you have any thoughts I’d love to hear them. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the posts regardless!
Notice the headless Buddhas on the left
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Sean Ogle
Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.Join over 40,000 people who have taken our 6 part freelance writing course. Sign up below and let’s do this together.
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15 comments on "A Day at Ayutthaya Ancient Ruins"
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All you travelers gotta stop… You’re making me itch for an adventure of my own. 😛
As for the pictures, I like seeing them worked into posts like you have here. One suggestion would be to either center them on their own line, or work text in next to them. Otherwise, just have ones that are interesting and add something to what you’re saying, which should be obvious I think!
Otherwise, just dropping by to say thanks for being another source of inspiration for me. 😉 I like knowing that people go against the grain… It helps me remember I want to do it too. (And that it’s possible!)
Looks like you had a great time.
I went there on my last trip to Thailand. I happened to be there during the Loi Kratong festival which was amazing. At night they had traditional Thai music and dance performances amongst the ruins. And people let hundreds of those floating lanterns up into the sky.
I think you take good photos and write good travel posts. What I’m interested to read and see is what a place is really like and how the writer is experiencing it. Often I find people have a fixed idea of what things are like and try to present it that way.
For example how many photos do you see of the StarBucks they’ve apparently built into the Wall of China, the hundreds of tourists crawling through Ankor Watt or the ATM built inside a Watt in Chang Mai. It doesn’t match people’s fantasy of what it should be like so it gets left out.
Can’t wait to make my way to Thailand. No idea when it will be, but until then I’ll be able to live vicariously through all you smart chaps who chose to live there!
Keep the photos coming!
Once again…I am jealous….
Keep sharing the pictures….You should set up a flickr widget like cody has over at thrilling heroics so we can see all your pics.
David Damron
LifeExcursion
Keep doing what you’re doing, man. Thailand is quickly being added to the oh-so-long list of places I need to go…
Great shots Sean. I know what you mean about having someone you know to show you around. We stayed with friends and couch-surfed our whole trip through Europe and it was an amazing time compared to what we would have had if we’d just hung out by ourselves in hostels and hotels.
Keep the good stuff coming. Those photos are really nice and I think you did a great job integrating them into this post.
What an absolutely fantastic place to visit on your first full day!
As I have a baby due in March I’ll be living vicariously through you nomadic types.
Can’t wait to read about what you get up to next!
love the pictures and the commentary. Did you use the point and shoot or the big camera?
I used the big camera for those shots. I have been trying to take with me wherever I go, the difference in quality is amazing.
So awesome to see you come from where you do and continue going where you are! Would love to hear about how you’re covering expenses! Cheers!
Just found this blog…..I am loving it! Makes me want to go! I am itching to find a new place to explore!
Love this! Thailand has been on my list of places to visit for far to long!
I’m so glad youor experience is even more than you’d hoped.
Take Care,
Jill
Good stuff! Enjoy all the great food, and don’t forget to learn some of the language while you are there!
Learning the language will really open up your mind to a whole new world!
To bad I missed you so closely, would have been cool to have joined in on that excursion.