Ayutthaya

 Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam from 1350 until 1767.

JB and I have very fond memories of an afternoon spent here some years back. With that in mind, we booked in for a couple of nights of dreamy reminiscing.

Imagine our dismay, then, on arriving at our hotel to find ourselves in a place that was slightly worse than Hartlepool.

On early closing day.

In a recession.

Ayutthaya is, you may be alarmed to hear, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (You know the drill by now. Ruins. Ruins. And a few more ruins)

We set off fully prepared for a day's marvelling . (See below)

Keep calm - Don't lose your head...

He's seen the root of the problem.

JB and I discussed exactly why the Thais upped and left these buildings. He reckons it's to do with the pesky Burmese coming in and giving the city the good news from the back of  a few war elephants.

I maintain that the upkeep of the buildings was just too expensive.(white emulsion might be cheap, but they'd have needed gallons of the stuff). 

The canny Thais  realising that they'd saddled themselves with what was essentially a money pit, took the sensible option and slung their hooks.

And to prove my point, here IS the very money pit.........

I rest my case.

The next day, we hired the services of a tuk-tuk and called in at a few more temples.

The tuk-tuk was a marvellous pink one, bringing to mind Lady Penelope's car.  

If she'd gone around in an ex-dodgem-turned-motorised-van type thing.

Sadly, the driver's name wasn't Parker.

In fact, he insisted on being called 'M' (not a patch on Judi Dench to my mind, but there we are)

He took us to see some good stuff though. Including:

The Buddha 5-a-side team

A leopard-print/camouflage Buddha

This monk, who blessed me and JB by whacking us on the head with a wet stick.

And finally, a temple dedicated entirely to all things  of a rooster persuasion.  (Desperately trying to avoid the obvious word)

So, there you have it. 

Ayutthaya.  Ruins and cocks. (It had to be said)

Incidentally, I've decided to run a competition.  

In the picture below is (allegedly ) a Throne Room.

Using your skill and judgement mark its position with the UNESCO World Heritage symbol.

Closest entrant may win a prize....