Day Trip to Ayutthaya

About a week ago, as part of Just for Fun* tours, I organized a group of teacher friends to go north to Thailand's second capital city.  It was the capital for over 400 years and was finally sacked by Burma in the late 18th century.  Many of the ruins are in good shape and you can walk among the stupas, statues, and temple complexes!

Stunning Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol.

It was super bright and sunny when we visited Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol, about 5K from Ayuttayah.

There is a Buddha statue head in the roots of this tree.  The head must have fallen off and the roots grew around it.  It is considered a sacred site.

You don't always see the profile of this statue, just the close up of the front.

This brick and stone structure is about 700 years old.

I took some time to do a watercolor sketch of Wat Chaiwatthanaram   You can see it below.  By taking a few moments to really look at the structure, I noticed birds who had made nests in the towers, small bushes growing in the crevices, and the details above the entry.

It's hard to judge the scale, but just imagine that the doorway in the center is twice as tall as a regular door.

These are entrance halls where marriage ceremonies or religious rites are performed.

The staircase looks Mayan, no?

By showing a postcard of this reclining Buddha to our driver, he was able to find it (after asking a few people on the side of the road).  It is a stone carving and about 50 yards long (about 45.72 meters).

I sketched this with a pen at the site, then painted it on the van ride back to Bangkok.
I'll do another version of it in oil, perhaps.

The specks are the birds.  While I was painting this, a 5-year-old boy was fanning me.  I pretended to be blown back by the wind, almost broke the chair I was sitting on, and he spit all over himself from a burst of laughter.  This went on for about 5 minutes, so excuse the unfinished sky.  Thanks, kid.

*Just for Fun Tours was the name we came up with and some day we will have a fleet of buses, ships, tuk tuks, and a helicopter.  We are working on a logo with the help from Krave of Kraveart.com