Thailand Trip day 4 - Ayuthayya's Mae Nam Pa Sak Temple

Ayuthayya, the city of ruins. Bombed and ransacked by the Burmese army. Stone statues of Buddhas beheaded. It was once the grand capital city of Siam, now what's left is just a reminder of what it once was.

Aisehh.. the introduction. =p

Used a boat to cross this river across from the train station. What have we brought ourselves into?

Rayyan and I reached Ayuthayya with nothing but a Lonely Planet book about Thailand. We were dubious on what to find once we reached there as it was the first time for both of us. Somehow we started following a couple from France to a supposedly backpacker's area. And then we ended up riding a boat to cross a small river and later walking aimlessly to what end, only the couple knows. (Later I found out that we could've easily avoided this by taking a tuk-tuk and pay only 60 baht per ride. LOL) The French couple kinda ignored us and we were getting very tired due to dehydration and hunger. So we started stopping by nearby hostels to ask for prices.

None was cheap.

We walked some more. Perspiration fell down our foreheads and back as the sun scorched us from above! Rayyan couldn't take it anymore and hailed a tuk-tuk. Not knowing where to go, he just asked the driver to send us to a cheap hostel. And that he did though we didn't take his hotel suggestion.

We actually scouted the whole streets while on the tuk-tuk to find some suitable places to stay. Once we were stopped at some fancy hotel (assumed cheap), we quickly walked to the place we spotted before. And so the hunt for cheap hostel room begun! The first one we checked was suspected unsafe and scary (as Rayyan recalled) and opted for the second one. A guesthouse right above a restaurant bar for 100 Baht per person a night. How cool is that? (Details of the guesthouse is found here, pictures included.)

Rayyan was basking with happiness when he'd be sharing a room with a cute Japanese guy named Masaya. I on the other hand slept alone this time. Sigh.

We quickly settled in and signed up for the sunset tour of Ayuthayya via boat!!! Tour started at 4pm with a tuk-tuk coming to fetch us along with other tourists! Yosh!! Excited!

The mode of transport on the Chaophraya river. Boats range in sizes to cater the group of people they carry.

First stop : Mae Nam Pa Sak

Entrance fee - 20 Bhat

Spotted some crafting in the first building where they hand sculpted Buddhas' statues and carve out decorations.

What piqued my interest the most was spotting a group of young monks sitting near one of the doorways. They were chatting amiably among themselves and so I entered the room without much thought and started taking pictures. A local man looked at me and smiled. We asked him about the kids though and this is what we found out as seen below.

Since the education in Thailand wasn't cheap, young children were sent to the monasteries to get a free education, be trained to be a monk and purify themselves, from inside out.

We were also told that these children upon reaching the mature age of 20, will get to choose whether they'd want to stay as monks or resume their normal lifestyles. ^^

Not far from that room, we also chanced upon the biggest Buddha that I've ever seen in my life!!! It was humongous!

Seen here is the cute Masaya of Japan and Rayyan.

Moving on....

Second stop : ..........will be on my next post as it involves a LOT of pictures!!!

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