After nearly 20 hours of travel, we arrived in Ayutthaya, the old capitol of Thailand. The city was one of the largest and wealthiest in the east prior to being leveled by the Burmese in the 18th century. We spent a good majority of the day walking around the different ruins and historical sites. Wat Mahathat is probably the most memorable with the Buddha head surrounded by tree roots and its large prangs.
We happened to be in town during the annual celebration of the city’s declaration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The two week long festival includes nightly performances, miles of food and craft stands, and even a garden show (yes Kevin… tons of orchids!). We did our best to eat our way through the festival, but exhaustion from our long day of travel finally caught up with us.
Our hostel in Ayutthaya was run by a lovely bunch of women. The main host (Somsie) was a bucket of energy and took a particular liking to Sebastian. He promised to pack her away in one of our backpacks as they said their goodbyes at the train station.
