Visiting Ayutthayah with the kids

I seem to write about visiting Ayutthayah most years, so I'll try to include some extra tips in this, things visitors might try out.  That would be mostly based on what we just did, on this visit, and visiting in the past.

It will be hard to put it all in any sensible order, so I'll just go by topics.

hotels:  we only ever stay in one hotel there, the Ayotthayah.  It's close to the old temple area, pretty nice, and quite affordable, maybe 1500 baht or so, $45, or possibly slightly less.  We checked out a 400 baht per night place last year, further out, that was a lot rougher, but my wife wouldn't stay somewhere like that, so we went back to the Ayotthaya hotel.  It has a tiny pool, and no significant breakfast, so the amenities are limited.  Others could find lots of other equivalent or "better" options, depending on the trade-offs they are looking for.

the bike shop just out the "back" door of that hotel

an especially small pool, I guess still fine for cooling off

restaurants:  we tend to go to three different places most, two for boat noodles, and one for seafood, on the river there.  I would imagine there are lots of other options, for lots of things.  We had a Korean barbecue sort of grill dinner last year, at a place near the Ayotthayah, which I forget the name of (it has another Thai name).  We tend to go there for short outings, for a day and a half, so it's not really enough to explore other options all that much, and we focus on visiting old temples.

a different place, but the same cooking form

bike tour of ancient temples / ruins:  I've done this a few times, maybe three.  This past week it was way too hot, in the upper 90s F / upper 30s C, so it would've been much better to go out in the morning, but we didn't get there until the afternoon (on a one day trip outing).  The closest / most inner 4 or 5 temples are a good set for biking around and visiting, and a couple of others aren't too far.  We went to one across one river, on bikes once, and that's a bit much (the one on the east side).  Another even further out, I think more on the south, is a little more elaborate than most, which is good for visiting by car, maybe at the end of the day.

the iconic photo spot at Wat Mahadat

a trip there last year

It probably won't help others too much, but I can compare how it works out there to Sukhothai, or even Siem Reap, Cambodia, or to other old Thai temple sites.  Sukhothai is a more isolated and less developed old temple site, another 4 hours or so drive well north of Bangkok, on the way to Chiang Mai.  You could bike around there too, I suppose, but we've only ever visited by car.  The central part is fine to walk around without a bike, and we tend to stay in hotels that are further out there.  Ayutthaya developed up around the old ruins, so there are hotels, restaurants, and all kinds of shops right between the old temple sites.

I suppose it gives Sukhothai a different feel effect, that's hard to describe.  Visiting old temples in the middle of a re-developed city is fine, they're nice, and some park spaces between are beautiful, and spacious.  But having a lot of space clear for just those monuments is nicer.

a lights festival at Sukhothai

Siem Reap, in Cambodia, where Angkor Wat is located, is much bigger, more extensive, and isolated within more undeveloped space.  Angkor Wat and Baiyon are huge, and other temples are more extensive than anything that has survived in Thailand.  Maybe it's bigger than Machu Pichu; I'm not sure.

Other places in Thailand are even more limited, but they can still be nice.  We visited Si Thep last year, to a much older site than the other two in Thailand, developed during an early period when Hinduism was influential in Thailand.  As in Cambodia the different historical eras brought different religious influences, and temples were re-worked to include the "new" symbolism.  Of course Buddhism was more influential later, which is still the primary religion in Thailand today.

light and sound festival at one Si Thep monument

Ayutthaya burned, when the Burmese (earlier Myanmar empire) invaded and destroyed a lot of it.  Their hold on Thailand, or Siam, earlier Thailand, was quite short, but the destruction was pretty complete.

We don't tend to see museums about the history in Ayutthaya.  There must be more around than we encounter.  There's a pretty good earlier history museum up in Lop Buri, where there's a relatively small early period Hindu monument.  That's the small Thai town that was overrun by wild monkeys, or at least the old part was, with a newer city center developed some distance away to stay clear of their town space habitat.  Combining visiting Lop Buri and Si Thep would work well for a three or four day outing, spending a day in each, and adding a day or two for travel, even though it's only four hours or so away (Lop Buri, the closer destination).

There wasn't much around the old monuments in Si Thep identifying what it all meant, but for people who don't read a lot of museum written content anyway it would be all they expect to take in.  One monument is quite large there, and an extensive early palace grounds--I think it was that--was only uncovered and developed as parts of a half dozen different old monuments and structures.

the feel of Ayutthaya, versus Bangkok, and smaller towns:  Bangkok is already fairly pleasant and relaxed, but other places outside of the city are even more so.  The smaller the town the quieter the atmosphere and less busy the feel, to me.  Ayutthaya isn't very urban, or crowded.  You can ride bikes there with some car traffic around, even though there is only a limited amount of dedicated bike lanes, which is on the opposite scale and density of Bangkok traffic (where I'd never ride a bike).

Of course there are countless coffee shops, ice cream places, noodle shops, and so on.  Local street food places and old markets turn up, where tourists tend to stay.  It's a good place to not spend much money to experience basic but nice foods.  The range is mostly local Thai food, of course.  You might get bad pizza or Italian, if enough tourists are there to expect that, but it's as well to switch over.  I don't think there is a lot to do, beyond visiting those temples.  But there must be at least one museum, that we never get to.

distance from Bangkok / how to travel there:  we drove up, and it's not much over an hour from our house, in the older Dusit area in town (near Victory Monument).  It's at least possible to take a local train up there, which I think wouldn't cost much, maybe even under 100 baht ($3).  Or buses would run up to there, or renting a car for a day could work.  I'm not sure how well it works to have a normal taxi drive you up.  

You can rent a car for the day, with a driver, for something like 2000 baht in Bangkok, I think ($60), so if someone looked around enough inexpensive and very functional options would turn up.  Or maybe it's more now; I'm basing that on us renting vans regularly for around 1500 years back, but maybe that cost has doubled since.  Still, that would only be $90 per day, which doesn't go far for taxi fare back in the US, and that's for a van and driver.

For me driving in Thailand is no problem, but then I live here.  It was pretty rough for the first year or so, until I adjusted to it.  That road is a crowded but fairly open highway, between Bangkok and Ayutthayah.  

If you do drive there is a truly massive Thai market on the way, Talat Thai, which you would need to look up on maps to see.  It's wholesale oriented, so the best possible place to buy multiple kilograms of Thai fruits (or vegetables or meats), which could come in handy to support breakfasts or snacks.  It would be tricky for foreigners to shop there, because it's a complex of a half dozen giant buildings, but for some sorting it out would be part of the adventure.  There's a nice food court there; that could also relate to grabbing a breakfast or lunch (if you run late, in order to do two or more days in Ayutthaya).  A day and a half seems like plenty, to me, but two days at a relaxed pace would work.

We tend to stop at the Central mall on the way there or back, but it's identical to other places in Bangkok.  It's a convenient place to get a travel meal in, at a food court there, or any number of restaurants.

other themes, religious observance and restrictions:  people ride elephants near the one temple; issues related to that are worth mentioning.  It's considered by many to be unethical to ride elephants, because it's not comfortable for them to hold a chair structure on their back, and they have to live in captivity to do the work.  It's hard to be clear on that point.  Domestic elephants have been used for a long time for agriculture, and they can't really be returned to the wild.  Most people only visit "ethical elephant camps" now, and skip the elephant rides.  But it's more of a tourism theme in Chiang Mai, than in other places.

Visiting functional (modern) temples comes up; there is one main one near the other old ruins versions, and we've visited a second not far from another that's further out.  There isn't much to know, for what to do or not to do.  The main restriction is that women shouldn't wear revealing clothes, which is also true of the old temples / temple ruins areas.  My daughter wore a crop top, because it was hot, and took an extra shirt to wear into the temples.  You can donate money to temples, if you want, and there are different ways that Thais make observances, and make wishes.  

Trivial practices and restrictions include that you shouldn't step on the doorway entrance frames in temples; you should step over that door section.  Nothing would happen if you did step on it, but it's considered disrespectful.  If you want to use a Thai observance practice you can "wai" three times to a main Buddha image, like the Christian prayer motion with your hands, while kneeling (in a different leg position, if you want to copy others), and put your hands down to the ground after, as you bow low, for those three times.  This relates to paying respect to the Buddha, to the Sangha (the monkhood and practitioners of Buddhism), and to the Dharma, to the Buddhist teachings.  

Of course touching statues, sitting on them, or doing playful photo poses is not appropriate.  Monks cannot physically touch a woman, so it's best to be aware that the restriction is interpreted in an extreme form.  Women can't even directly hand a monk something; they put a small cloth down to receive anything given to them by a woman or girl.

That kind of exception, that restriction, doesn't contradict that Thai culture is open and welcoming to visitors, and quite relaxed in general.  They're generally fine with visitors getting minor cultural norms wrong, and there's only a short list of issues that won't work for, relating mostly to showing disrespect to their monarchy or religion.