The Ancient City

Golden Erawan

I wasn't sure whether to include this in my blog or not because strictly speaking it is a museum rather than a walk or cycle ride.  However I have done so on  the basis that the route around the museum is 10km and I performed it all by bicycle.  The Ancient City (Muang Boran in Thai), also known as Ancient Siam was the brainchild of the eccentric millionaire Lek Viriyaphant and opened to the public in 1963.  It is billed as the world's largest outdoor museum and is arranged in an approximation to the shape of the country of Thailand.  The museum features over 100 replicas of the most celebrated buildings in Thailand, either ones that are still in existence or ones that have been lost to history.  There are a few that have been moved here and reconstructed. Each of the buildings are located in approximately the same place in the museum that they appear in real life. Originally the idea was that this museum was to have become a golf course with miniatures of the buildings.  He changed his mind when he realised that many of the buildings he wanted to portray were neglected, ruined or had been destroyed.  It now functions mostly as a place of education.

Golden Temple

In order to explore the Ancient City there are three options; one can go by electric tram (perhaps the most popular option), by bicycle or walking.  The latter isn't popular because of the length of time it takes to get round and most Thai people don't like walking for extended periods, which is understandable given the tropical heat.  It is a much easier place to get to now as the Sukhumvit BTS (Skytrain) line now reaches to Kheha, only a short song thaew ride from the entrance.  It takes approximately one hour to get here from the city centre of Bangkok.

The Buddha Image of Dvaravarti Period

Despite the warning from the lady at the counter that it was 23km right round (it isn't - just over 10km is a more reasonable estimate) I chose the bicycle option - the museum is entirely flat and there is a marked cycle route around the museum.  The bikes are pretty old school - most have a shopper basket on the front (useful for my camera case) and no gears.  They look like the traditional bikes that I always imagined Communist-era Chinese people to have used.  Anyhow the one I chose went quite well in spite of its limitations.  I entered the museum across what was effectively the Malaysian border at the southern end of the country.  This end of the museum is free to enter and if you are unsure whether it is the place for you it might be a good idea to look around this thin southern section before committing to buying a ticket as it is quite expensive to get in (there are deals to be found online, or you can get a discount if you live in Thailand).

Sanphet Prasat Palace Ayutthaya

Perhaps the first place you will want to linger is the old market town which is also the first place you can find places to buy things, whether they be souvenirs, drinks or snacks.  There were lots of vendors eager to sell to me but it was a bit early so I merely smiled sweetly and carried on, taking a sharp left on my way out to head over to Buddhavas of the Substanceless Universe temple over the bridge and just off site.  This magnificent golden temple really shone in the sunlight and I took my time to have a good look around.  This was one of only two places I saw an appreciable number of people in the whole museum.

Prang Sam Yod, Lop Buri

Outside the temple was the stupa of Phra Maha That in Ratchaburi, one of a number of similar structures throughout the museum.  Perhaps it was because it was the first of its type that attracted my attention.  The original stands in a suburb of Ratchaburi, a town to the south-west of Bangkok and dates from the 13th or 14th century.  It was just beyond here that my 'ticket' was checked and I entered the paid for area.  I say ticket but it was actually just a green sticker - hardly fraud-proof but it satisfied the guard who smiled and waved me on.  As I continued onwards I was a little confused about which way to go and this would be a recurring theme as I went around.  I initially took a left turn only to realised shortly afterwards that I appeared to be going against the flow and so u-turned and continued round to the right at the turn.

The Courage of the People of Bang Rachan

I was greeted with replicas of the royal palaces of Bangkok - places I have yet to visit.  They are very ornately presented and apart from the fact that they are smaller than the real thing they are incredible facsimiles - a lot of attention to detail has been done.  I took a look inside the 'Dusit Palace' - the paintings inside were exquisite and I would never have known that they were mere copies.  Further on and the Ramayana Garden caught my eye, showing a tableau of an ancient Indian epic that was originally housed at the nearby city of Ayutthaya and destroyed by the Burmese when they ransacked the place in the 1760s.  I am not sure how true to the original it was but it was a fascinating scene with mythical beasts aplenty among an artificial waterfall.  The myths and legends depicted in the tableau are too lengthy and complex to reprise here but essentially are a kind of soap opera of love, banishment, retribution, the fight of good versus evil and a few mythical creatures thrown in to spice things up a bit.  It made for the most fascinating set of stories that really brought it to life.

Pavilion From Kamphaeng Phet

The next monument that caught my eye was a little to the north and was a tribute to the men and women who put up a brave fight in Sing Buri against the Burmese Invaders.  They repelled the attacks seven times before the Burmese eventually took the fort by tunneling underneath the wall.  The piece is a fairly graphic show of strength by the locals even if ultimately it was all in vain.  A little further on and I reached the floating market, which is one of the showpiece items at the museum.  It was approaching lunchtime and the woks were getting going for the few visitors there were around and I availed myself of some lunch on one of the houses on stilts in this area.

Floating Market

Feeling fortified I continued on my way looping around the Sukhotoi Palace and passing a very fine bronze bare breasted woman riding a peacock that was surely not life sized.  It was as I looped around this part of the museum that I began to realise the sheer scale of the place for it had opened out in just the same way as Thailand does to expose a huge hinterland with an astonishing array of buildings, gardens and monuments.  To say that the place is finished could not be further from the truth - there are still new projects in the process of being constructed to fill in gaps.  As I got further round the track it also became obvious that there were more people tending the gardens than visiting.  I felt sad about this but also realised that I was there on a weekday and although during peak tourist season it is a bit further afield than most visitors would want to come.  That is a shame because I was blown away by the place - its audacity and attention to detail was quite remarkable.

The Grand Hall of Wat Maha That, Sukhothai

I soon came upon the large water feature to the west of the museum.  In the water was a whole fleet of royal barges lined up and looking like they were ready to receive any royal visitor that came their way.  My pathway led between lakes for a short stretch and off to my right was a large fish sculpture below a temple on an island that begged to be investigated further.  It turned out to be the Ananda Fish, one of the seven cosmic fishes living in the ocean.  Ancient people believed that a wriggle of the tail could cause an earthquake, an explanation that seems quite reasonable long before the theory of plate tectonics gave us a different explanation in the 20th Century.

Sumeru Mountain

I could see off in the distance another good looking sala on stilts in the lake next door to a Chinese junk but my instincts told me that I was supposed to turn right when I got to the further extent of the road and sure enough I found myself in an area known as the northern Thai village, which was supposed to be a replica showing what you might expect of you visited that part of Thailand.  I won't know until I come back next time though for the village was overrun with a huge group of scouts on a day trip.  I didn't linger!

Thai Junk

I looped around the northern perimeter road until getting to the far east of the country.  Sadly here I wasn't able to go up to a temple built on a massive artificial cliff as it was in the process of being refurbished.  I had to make do with being at the bottom looking up but even from below I could see it was quite impressive.  I did a double take as I looked at the watercourse below for one of the statues started to move!  I quickly realised that it was a real water buffalo and not a fake one as I had initially taken it to be.

The Garden of Phra Aphaimani, Rayong

As far as bicycling was concerned I was getting a little weary of stop starting and parking up the bike ever few moments.  If the site had been not quite so large I probably would have been tempted to probably cycle around twice with the first lap to get me acquainted with the place and the second to stop and look more closely.  The heat precluded that idea although I think I could feasibly have walked it.  My highlight out east was probably the Phanom Rung Sanctuary at Buriram - it looked stunning built from red sandstone and flanked on most sides by bamboo.

The Ramayana Garden

Slowly but surely I found myself drawn back towards Bangkok - that is probably how many travellers view Thailand.  Having already looked once before I didn't linger this time but stopped short of the royal palaces to visit somewhere I have been in real life - the palace at Bang Pa-In (see my earlier blog entry for details of that visit).  The facsimile was good but not a patch on the real thing and so apart from taking a look at the peacocks that were living here I moved on to head out to the far west this time.  I'm not sure that the cycle route is the best circuit of the place - there seemed to be several overlaps along the way.

The Great Battle of Yuthahathi

In the far western corner of the museum I came upon the Pavilion of the Enlightened.  I think this is a vision of a building rather than one that actually existed but I would forgive the artistic licence in this astonishing golden building on stilts and demanded a good look around.  Strangely it was far better looking from the shore than it was looking around inside - there were parts of it that looked a bit tired and other parts that were being used to store chairs and all rather disappointing.  The next place was much more interesting - a rendition of Bodhisattva Avalokitesavara performing a miracle - it was an awesome sight with water seeming to come out of the mouths of more than a dozen serpents as the Buddha looks serenely on in the centre of the piece.

Rainbow Bridge

Next to this piece was some botanic gardens being beautifully cared for by an army of Thai gardeners very sensibly covered so much from the sun that it was barely possible to see any bare skin whatsoever.  Some of this area was off limits though - it looked like a new display was going to be put there.  By now I was wearying and getting hot myself and sensing that I had seen most of the exhibits I decided to head back towards the exit stopping to look at the Chinese Junk, the sala next door and some of the other buildings that I had missed on the way round as I returned to base. 

Bodhisattva Avalokitesavara Performing a Miracle

It took about three hours for my tour round and by now I had a pretty good feel for the place even if I felt like I had barely scratched the surface in terms of what was on offer.  If I had taken the audio tour and read all the signage on the way it would have taken days.  On that basis there is plenty of scope for another visit!  If you find yourself in Bangkok for a few days I highly recommend a trip here especially if you are planning to head to other parts of the country or merely seeking some inspiration on where to go next.

Mondop of Boddhisatva Avolokitesavera