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an Asia that you won't be reading about in the guide books...

The historic Ayuthaya lies about 90 KM north of Bangkok and is easily reached by road or rail. To walk round this UNESCO listed site is to step back in time when war was fought on the backs of elephants and kings were god like

This picture looks from the strategic Phet Fort commanding the southern approaches to Ayuthaya. Back in the day, despite it's in land location, the city was at the heart of a maritime trading empire that far predates ASEAN or the EU or the USA. The temple on the opposite bank is Wat Phanan Cheong while just to the south lay the Portuguese Settlement.

The main prang, a bit like a gherkin, of Wat Rajaburana. This temple was built in 1424 by King Borom Rajathiraj II followed some tasty internecine warfare where brothers and rivals for the throne following the death of their father converged on Ayuthaya, fought and died leaving the way open for the third brother who had somewhat further to travel from Chainat. Anyway, he built this temple!

Wat Mahathat was built in 1374 and lasted pretty well until 25th May 1904 when it collapsed for some reason.