We left the hotel at 7am and headed to Ayutthaya to visit the ruins as well as the Summer Palace. Ayutthaya used to be the capital of Thailand in the 14th century but it was destroyed by the Burmese in the 1700’s (those Burmese! ☺). It was spread out over a wide area and after the bus was parked, Kong led us through the market where he explained different Thai delicacies and Thai artworks. They all looked tasty and some looked somewhat similar to food here in PH but he did warn us not to buy the market food. Okay… fine. There was a temple near the entrance to the ruins and there were a lot more locals than tourists there.

When we finally got to the entrance we had our first view of the amazing ruins. It was absolutely beautiful! I thought it was the most beautiful place I ever saw in Thailand. I mean the modern temples all looked similar but the ruins just stood out from everything. Simply gorgeous! I wondered what they looked like centuries ago… It was supposed to be one of the most impressive cities in the Orient before it was sacked by the Burmese so I guess it was probably a hundred times more gorgeous than this. There was a group of Japanese students taking pictures with super nice cameras - it was probably for a photography class or something. Kong showed us the spot where we can have our “Kodak Moment.” Haha. He was real funny! The background was the three chedis that was one of the highlights of the ruins. A small snake near one of the steps added excitement to the visit as well.

I bought a couple of Thai silk for my mom and my grandma. What amazed me was the way the vendors sold stuff. I thought they were kind of aggressive. When you ask how much an item costs, they give you an exorbitant amount and then you start to walk away and they ask you how much you want to pay. I noticed this in all vendors I came across so I thought it was kind of funny. To make the long story short, I was able to negotiate the price down to half of what it originally cost. The trick is to say no and try to walk away and then they follow you and give you lower and lower prices.hahaha.

After the ruins, we went to the Summer Palace. This was in complete contrast to the ruins we just visited. This place was extravagant in its magnificence! Really a superb palace for the royal family. The landscaping was incredible, the architecture of the buildings was a mix of Thai and Chinese and everything was well kept. We saw another giant lizard in the pond behind the Chinese-style mansion. The mansion was a gift from a Chinese merchant to the King.

After we had dinner at the hotel, I went with some of the girls to one of Bangkok’s night markets. This one was near the red light district. There were men and women rushing after us telling us to visit this and that club. They were very aggressive to the point of being scary. They followed us around and we had to tell them firmly, no. Anyway, curiosity got the better of us and some of us went to one of the clubs to see what it was all about. It had to be the worst experience I ever had in Bangkok. The female manager was the meanest and scariest person we ever came across and she was telling us we had to pay more than what was advertised. She did this to everyone else in the club and another mean woman was with her and they were blocking our way out so we had no other choice but to pay up. Needless to say, we got out of there in a hurry after that. We went around this district the rest of the night. Prostitution is legal in Thailand and I saw a lot of things I’ve never seen in my entire life nor do I have the inclination to want to see it again. For what it’s worth it was still a rather fun experience for me.