Ayutthaya might just be the perfect weekend getaway from Bangkok. Just an hour away, and you find yourself in the former Siamese capital. It was completely razed to the ground by the Burmese in 1767, who also plundered all the gold to construct the Shwedagon Pagoda (which is an incredible temple in Yangon, Myanmar). The Thai royalty then relocated to Bangkok and Ayuttayah became a quiet town with only ruins to show its glorious past.
The historic city was situated at a spot where the river forms a loop, with a canal created to fashion an almost circular island. The whole island is now a historical park, relatively quiet, with vast open spaces and temples to explore to your heart’s content. We didn’t visit many this time, but it’s far from our first visit here, and we still managed to engage in various activities, including feeding elephants and a private boat trip around this artificial island.
We only spent one night there, making a brief stop for lunch on the way there and back. It was a delightful weekend with sunny weather.
Our initial stop was at what appeared to be a small zoo along the main road, but, in reality, it’s a restaurant with a freely accessible park around it. It was impressively well-maintained, and the animals appeared to be in a pleasant environment.
Situed just a bit South of Ayuttayah, this café is on the way from Bangkok to Ayuttayah, and an easy stop. Despite it’s name, it’s not a café, but a large restaurant that’s inside a large animal park, with lots of different species, like a small zoo. It’s large, with ponds, and even giraffes and camels. Really pleasant. The food is standard Thai fare, slightly on the higher prices, so good.
Two restaurants we dined at were situated right on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, just like our hotel. Both offered expansive wooden outdoor seating areas, and they served the classic Thai dishes we’ve come to love. The menu featured delightful options such as cashew nut chicken, Panang curry, wing bean spicy salad (Yam Tua Poo), and barbecued river prawns, among other delectable choices.
I did my homework by checking restaurants around Ayuttayahm reading reviews since there are numerous riverside dining options around there. That one was a great selection, as the cuisine was delicious and the service was fine. Thailand is famous for food because you constantly find some good Thai restaurants such as this one. It offers a relaxed and stunning atmosphere, with a high terrace over the river, and right on the main road. We opted for the suggested dishes, including the delectable stir-fried green curry and a spicy shrimp salad, both of which were mouthwatering. The prices were reasonable, with only the River Prawn dish standing out as relatively pricey but still within acceptable range.
A charming dining spot you’ll come across on the road from Bangkok to Ayutthaya, or in our case, on the way back. It’s perfectly situated along the Chao Phraya River and offers delectable Thai cuisine in a simple yet scenic setting.
The hotel is really a great find, highly recommended to experience an authentic Ayuttayah with a historic vibe.
I don’t remember how I found out about this place, but it’s quite a small hotel directly riverside, with ancient architecture in wood modernized to be convenient with aircon and nice bathroom. Really a place like feels like luxury, the garden is very well taken care of, there’s a jetty and wood house to the river and a temple on the other side. The room is large and comfortable, with a canopy bed.
The price was not cheap but reasonable for the standing, 3-4000ish.
It was recently renamed (well same name but different latin translation) Baan Veanglhek.
We had brought bicycles in our car, we went to the Elephant camp with them. We just bought bananas and other fruits and gave them to the elephants.It’s actually quite succesful, many family would come to give food to these impressive animals.
This Elephant Riding attraction is located where the royal elephant corral was in the Ayutthaya period, when activities like catching elephants were regarded as festive events for the royal family. Elephants were an important part of the kingdom, for warfare as for agriculture.
Of course, now it’s a business targeting tourists, but the different times I went to Ayuttayah, I always felt the elephants were well treated in this place. There are a lot of elephants in this riding center, each with his own mahout (keeper), including really impressive large ones, and they are decorated like in the kingdom era. I think it’s an important part of ancient Thai culture here in Ayuttayah to see elephants as there used to be much more elephants in Thailand before, particularly at this time when Ayuttayah was a city and the capital. It is said that the Ayuttayah kingdom had more than 50,000 elephants in captivity. The number of elephants is sadly going down in Thailand among domestic as wild populations. Keeping an elephant today costs a fortune in food daily.
Rides are 500 THB, it’s also possible to feed the elephants with fruits.
In the late afternoon, we arranged with the hotel for a boat trip around the historic park. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that we would have the boat to ourselves – a traditional wooden long-tail boat. We got a pickup directly at the hotel pier (I believe we paid 500 THB). The boat ride was delightful and tranquil (expect for the engine noise) of course, with a stop at the primary riverside temple in ruins, Wat Chaiwatthanaram. What made this experience truly incredible was our encounter with some elephants and their mahouts (each domestic elephant typically has a mahout for life) as they enjoyed a bath in the river. To our amazement, these were the exact elephants we had fed just before, and we recognized their mahouts. Whether the boat driver planned this perfectly timed arrival or not, it was a chance (I tipped the mahouts 500 THB). We were in a relatively quiet area to the north of The Old Royal Palace and spotted elephants on the left bank, with some of them entering the water. Our boat driver cut the engine, allowing us to approach slowly until, at one point, we found ourselves surrounded by these magnificent creatures. Or daughter was super scared as they tried to touch us with their trumps.
