Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand is located about 76 km from Bangkok. There are more than a couple modes of transportation to reach Ayutthaya including by boat, train or road via highway. When I was in Thailand recently, I had underestimated the historical park exploration of Ayutthya from the information we gathered. It seemed that we could cover this ancient capital in half-day trip but I was totally wrong. Nevertheless, before making the same conclusion for your exciting trip, please be honest to your personal preference. If you love ruins and history (like Angkor in Cambodia), most probably you will love Ayutthaya Historical Park too! Another factor, if you love photography, there are plenty of interesting spots to capture. Standby with spare batteries and memory card! I had fun with my finger clicking good!

Though Ayutthaya Historical Park is not as huge as Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap, it offers reasonably more than 50 interesting sites including wats, stupas, chedis, museums and monuments.

First thing first. Upon arrival at Ayutthaya, we went straight to Tourist Information Centre to obtain a free copy of 'Ayutthaya Tourist Map'. It is available in 3 languages i.e. English, Thai and Japanese with some snap shots as below.

Next, rolling out the plan for our visit as time was not at our side. At first, we intended to get a bicycle but it was hardly available in the Ayutthaya Historical Park. We spoke to a local at Elephant Palace ticketing counter and she suggested we get the bicycle from market. Wow..it is quite a distance from where we were so we decided to outsource to our feet for the rest of our exploration effort in Ayutthaya!

If you wish to try elephant ride, the cost is about 600 Baht per person for 20 minutes ride.

Alternatively, there are mini vans to take you around too.

Or a luxurious horse carriage? We spotted a horse carriage at the entrance of Wat Mahatat

Cool on bicycle, how we wish we were her!

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