An Oldie's Adventure: A visit to Ancient City

I found out about Ancient City from a guide book and what I read made me determined to visit. It's a 320 acre site devoted to 1/3 size replicas of the major landmarks in Thailand, and it's only about an hour from the centre of Bangkok so not much of a trek to get there. Like many places in Thailand it has this annoying system that as a foreigner you pay a much higher entrance fee but since the alternative is not going then you either cough up or avoid the place. If you want to be able to cheat about where you went in Thailand then just visit Ancient City so you can tell family and friends that you've covered the whole country, even if you never got further than Bangkok and its outskirts.

At least the 700Baht entrance fee entitles you to the loan of a bike for the duration of your visit (but judging by the condition of many of them you should be paid for agreeing to risk your neck by using one!)

But it is a wonderful day out, and having made the effort to arrive almost as it opened I had the pleasure of having the whole site virtually to myself for most of the morning.

Just to warn those of you who suffer from a lack of patience: there are a LOT of photos to follow, and I have culled well over 75% so you don't get bored.

Below photos of the most striking monuments, with name tags when I can remember them:

Above: can't remember the name of the building, but the bike is Clementine, Clemmie for short, and you can tell she's mine as my backpack is resting in the front basket.

The above photo is a virtual replica of the front cover of the latest DK guide book on Thailand. I was so impressed by the building that I visited it again at the end of my tour so you'll see more photos later.

And below the replica of the original Grand Palace in the old capital of Ayutthaya:

On to the gardens, must stop drooling over the magnificent buildings.

Lots of sculptures everywhere, not all of them interesting, but the one below is.

It's some battle or other (there are lots of battles in Thai (Siam) history, usually against the Burmese

Below: replicas of the Royal Barges included mainly to showcase the lovely gardens

Below: some Godess or other!

Above: a fountain (obviously)

Below: couldn't work out the logic of this area but thought it was pretty so photo below it

A fair number of random unexplained photos to follow, but worth looking at.

Below numerous photos of one of my favourite areas of the park with the explanatory poster above:

Had a great time going back and forth over the stepping stones!

Back to the sights, and the photos.

You can tell how quiet it is in Ancient City as I'm the only person on deck!

And how great that they have designated bike routes. London, take note!

Time for a sit down and a drink of by now warm water, found a shady pavilion in which to relax:

Everywhere you look there is something to see:

Re the above and below: I saw the originals during my trip to Sukhothai.

Beautiful gardens everywhere you looked:

With the occasional Buddha overseeing roceedigs:

And everyone's favourite: The Floating Market:

Complete with a group of monks enjoying their lunch:

Back to terra firma:

And inside this impressive monument, the inevitable:

But it's not all peace and harmony in the land of the Buddha:

More eye catching views:

Climbing up the steps takes you to what this temple is all about:

Supposedly the imprint of the footprint of the Lord Buddha.

But at least the views from up here are superb:

And the view of it from a distance is also striking:

Loved this sculpture on a small waterfall, photographed it from several angles to fully appreciate it:

And now on to the theatre to take some photos for Fiona. Shame it's one of the few monuments they are renovating so it was difficult to get any decent shots of it: