DAY 7 - AYUTTHAYA - Our 3rd Wedding annniversary.

Today was our 3rd anniversary,  And this Ayutthaya cruise trip was perfect for the occasion. Previous day itself we had arranged for  Cake, and had booked for Ayutthaya one day trip from travel agent in hotel.It costed 1750bahts for person.


Pick up was at 6;15am. We got call from reception that  travel bus is waiting for us. After our pick up, bus went to couple of hotels and picked up more people. Around 7;00am bus started to  Ayutthaya. There was a English speaking guide.


Ayutthaya is named after the city of Ayodhya in  India, the birthplace of Rama in the  Ramayana (Thai Ramakien).The Ayutthaya historical park is the ruins of the former capital of the Kingdom of Siam by Burmese invaders.. Ayutthaya park is listed in UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES..

Destination 1: Bang pa Palace:

Bang Pa-In Royal Palace , also known as the summer palace formerly used by the Thai kings. Palace is located on the Chao phraya river bank in Bang Pa In district of Ayutthaya Province...

Palace is spread in huge area with beautiful parks, encircling the waterways.Palace houses amazing  European statues and monuments . 

Stroll in battery car in Royal palace.

Guide gave some instructions and told we can either use Battery car (2 couples can share a battery car) or walk . He gave us two hours to come back.. Place looked huge covering several acres, it was definitely not feasible to walk and cover everything in 2hrs. We decided not to share the battery car so we can stop on our choice of points...This 2hrs was amazing stroll in a battery car in luxurious palace of Thai royals..

All set to drive in beautiful palace.

Aisawanthipphaya-At Pavilion

First thing we came across was a  pavilion that is designed in the Thai architecture, placed right in the middle of the pond. I told Ramesh, those royal King/Queen are really lucky to have lived in this palace :)...

Aisawanthipphaya-At Pavilion in middle of pond

Close shot of Aisawanthipphaya-At Pavilion

Withun Thasana Hall.
This was constructed in the form of a tower. It is a three-storey building having a spirit staircase leading to the top floor hall.

Wow all buildings/towers is in middle of pond

I dont remember what building this is..

Destination 2: Ruins (Wat Mahatad)

Ayutthaya ruins covers the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya. The city of Ayutthaya was captial of country until its destruction by Burmese Army in 1767. In 1991, a part of Ayutthaya Historical Park was declared a Unesco Heritage site as an excellent witness to the period of development of a true national Thai art. 

 

It was very very hot, as roamed in the ruins, we were given a hours time, we roamed around clicked few pics and were back..

Ruins included huge Buddha idol and Buddha in the banyan tree sculpture.

 

                        

Destination3: Wihan Phramongkhon Bophit

Phra Mongkhon Bophit is one of the biggest bronze Buddha images in Thailand.In 1767, Burmese invaders destroyed much of the Wihan and the image head and right arm were broken. In 1956, the image was repaired and the Wihan was rebuilt.

 

This temple was quite big, and had few elephants, we saw a baby elephant it was very playful..After this we had a cruise to reach Bangkok.

                       

 

 

Destination4: Grand Pearl Cruise 

After this we boarded a cruise to Bangkok.. It was journey with a  a wonderful view of Wats and other buildings.. Lunch and Tea was served in the cruise.. We spent next 2hours enjoying the cool breeze crossing Chaopraya river..

             

               
 
             


DINNER @ HOTEL 

We reached room, freshened up.. Then collected the Cake which we had ordered previous day, and went to hotel's Restaurants.. Luckily there was no other guests in restaurant.. We did the cake cutting and had our dinner... Our 3rd anniversary came to an end with this... 


                                 

                                 

Day 2: Dest 2: ALCAZAR SHOW (Pattaya)

Address:

78/14 Pattaya 2^nd Rd,
North Pattaya, Naklua, 
Banglamung, Chonburi 20150 
For more info http://www.alcazarpattaya.com/

Whole evening nothing went smoothly, but finally we enjoyed the show, Read on to know what all we had to go through:)..

We relaxed couple of hours in swimming pool, Show was at 8pm. we had planned to start @ 6;30pm and totally forgot timing enjoying in pool and got Late :)...We then took shower and rushed  at 7pm..

Enjoyed ourselves in this pool, and got late :)

We walked to main road, and got tuk-tuk after waiting for 10mins, tuk-tuk left us 1km away from Alcazar show, saying hes taking right turn for different route..We waited for other tuk-tuk nothing turned up, we dint even get cab, then we started walking, as we dint want to miss show.(We had already got tickets online)

We some how managed to reach the Show at 7;50pm.. Moment we reached, power went off There were so many people rushing towards the gate, I  missed Ramesh in that rush, i was so scared, OMG i was lost in other country, where they dont even understand English!! Phew that was longest 5mins, i was about to cry, by then Ramesh found me. I was never that happy to see Ramesh:)...

Entrance of Alcazar show, (Before power went off :)

Then came one more patience test game,  We were then struggling to explain them, that our tickets are booked through a agent. (Unfortunately agent did give us any Receipt, and told us to just say the Agents name and we will be let in, they dint understand a word we said, nor recognised our agent).. Finally there manager came, and recognised the agents visiting cards. It was already 8;15. Show starts @ 8;00pm. We rushed immediately inside theater, luckily, since power had gone, show was delayed 15mins late...  We finally settled in our seats to enjoy 1.5hrs show...

                                         

 

Alcazar Cabaret's theatre features 1,200 seats and a  team of  male and ladyboy artists who give dazzling and fantastic performances including impersonation, comedy and other delighting performance..Not only the unique performance that will entertain, but well designed backdrops, lighting, sound and embellishing outfits.

Jazz music...

This is single person, wearing pant on one side and frock on one side, 

 

Japanese dance..

American style

 

Cambodia traditional style

Everyone at the end...

 Next 90mins, it was a treat to eyes, and a  mesmerising experience. Ladyboys wonderfully performed to different dance items of different countries, with that countries traditional attire,  including Thailand,Japan,U.S,India,cambodia,Russia and many more countries... It is wonderful show with Amazing lighting, and mind blowing costumes . The costumes are grand and the sets are breath taking.

Collage of different performance.

After the show, Ladyboys who performed show waits 15mins outside the theatre interested people can take picture with them,they charge 100bhats,i took a picture with them 

with one of the perfomer.

We then had dinner at near by restaurant and went back to hotel.. Took a tuk-tuk returned back to Hotel, Went to bed early,as we had  to travel  to Bangkok next day morning..

Had dinner in a near by Restaurant.

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DAY 5 - Dest 2 : SIAM NIRAMIT SHOW (Bangkok)

Address:
Niramit Co. Ltd., 19,
Tiamruammit Road, 
Bangkok 10320, 
THAILAND.

We got late shopping in Lalai sap market, and reached room by 5;00pm, Immediately freshened up and rushed to sky train station..Today we took Day pass, as we decided to use sky train everywhere.. It costs 120Bahts per person.


We took skytrain from Sala Daeng to Siam station, and  from Siam station to Asok skytrain.. We then walked to sukhamwit MRT station, From sukhamwit station  it's the 3rd stop ie, Thailand cultural centre....

MRT Map we used

Siam Niramit show has organised bus for every 15mins from 6pm to 8pm From Thailand cultural centre to Siam Niramit show...

We reached  Thailand cultural centre at 7;15pm.  But bus had just left, Next bus was at 7;30pm, so we went to  Eleven/Seven and bought some eatables and came back to stop.. We reached Siam niramit show at 7;45.  Ensure you reach  here atleast by 6;30pm, because there is lot of entertainment available, buffet dinner, and Thai model village, artificial river and boating, and  Performers will take pics with you.... We had missed all this, but was luckily on time for show...

Entrance of siam niramit show

                       
They started letting people in around 7;45. Many girls in traditional thai dresses, were welcoming visitors. They guided us politely to the ticket center. We bought tickets, it is 2400 Bahts for two of us. Camera is not allowed,we deposited the camera in safe and went in.

Thai girls, welcoming visitors

Toy display opposite to ticket counter

It is a grand theatre, which can have 2000 viewers at a time, 60% of seats were filled.. The show  consists of three parts. The first part showed historical scenes of different parts of Siam (Thailand’s old name)

Show representing hut and villagers

Show representing vendors coming from other country in Ship..

The second act showed heaven and hell. This part was amazing, performers are let down in thin invisible rope, they look like they are flying in the sky. Amazing costumes, i loved this part....

let down in thin invisible rope, they look like they are flying in the sky

watch this 5mins video of Siam Niramit show 

After the show ended, we came out of the hall and took a walk in the model village.Most of them had closed down,we  took pics of couple of things only..

Traditional thai people

Model village house

With one of the perfomers..

It was already 9;30pm.. We then took some pictures at entrance of Siam niramit show, and took bus that drops us back to  Thailand cultural centre station. From there we came back to silom. 

                               

                                     

 And from silom square station, took train to  Sala Daeng, once and reached Station near to our hotel. It was already 11pm. We had dinner and by then it was 11;30pm. We then walked back to our hotel....

This was 11;30pm, and we could see many women around

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AYUTTHAYA

We were planning on a International trip from Long time, it was postponed due to lot of constraints..Finally we decided a trip for our 3rd year wedding anniversary. We discussed about  couple of places and zeroed on Thailand.

DAY 7 : AYUTTHAYA  

 

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BANGKOK

We were planning on a International trip from Long time, it was postponed due to lot of constraints..Finally we decided a trip for our 3rd year wedding anniversary. We discussed about  couple of places and zeroed on Thailand.

Below are the places we visited in Bangkok.
 

DAY 3 : BANGKOK WATS TOUR

DAY 4:  SAFARI WORLD

DAY 5 - Dest 1: SIAM OCEAN WORLD

DAY 5 - Dest 2 : SIAM NIRAMIT SHOW

DAY 6 - ERAWAN MUSEUM

DAY 8 - ANCIENTY CITY OR MUANG BORAN 


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PATTAYA

We were planning on a International trip from Long time, it was postponed due to lot of constraints..Finally we decided a trip for our 3rd year wedding anniversary. We discussed about  couple of places and zeroed on Thailand.


Below are the places we visited in Bangkok. 


DAY 1 THAILAND (Pattaya) 

DAY 1 : Dest 1: SANCTUARY OF TRUTH (Pattaya) 

DAY 1: Dest 2 : MINI SIAM (Pattaya)

DAY 2 : Dest 1: CORAL ISLAND (Pattaya)

DAY  2: ALCAZAR SHOW (Pattaya)


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DAY 1: Dest 2 : MINI SIAM (Pattaya)

Address:
 387 Moo 6Sukhumvit Rd
Pattaya City
Tel 038 727333 038-727666
(Landmark:Bangkok Pattaya Hospital)

We started from "Sanctuary of truth" at 4:30pm. There were lot of cabs near the Entrance gate of Sanctuary of truth.When asked a Cab driver to take us to "Mini siam" he told it would cost 350Bahts. I was not ready to pay 350B for 5kms. (Distance between Mini Siam & Sanctuary of truth is 5kms only). We decided to walk to main road to take a tuk-tuk to our next destination. After 10 mins walk, we reached Main road, and we got a tuk-tuk which charged us 40B each. When we reached Mini Siam it was around 5:00pm.We got tickets(500B per person) and walked inside. First thing which caught our eye was  grand image of  'Guardian Spirits'  to the left and  Lord Vishnu sleeping on his Shesha
with his consort  Lakshmi in the right.

There is a  mini restaurant, where we got some cold drinks, freshened up ourselves and started walking in the Mini Europe section first..Mini Europe is a replica park that has scale models of Important places from Europe and some selected places from other parts of world.

                                          


                                          

Mini Europe was a great place for Photo shoot, and provides an opportunity to see Miniatures of many famous places of the world. (Not sure if i can visit all this places in lifetime:).  Below are some of the things we visited in Mini Europe Section.

THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE : FRANCE 

Triumphal arch at the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle, where twelve avenues converge. Completed in 1835, it has become a central landmark  of Paris and one of the best-known monuments in the Western world.

                                                    


EIFEL TOWER : FRANCE

Wrought-iron tower in Paris, a landmark and an early example of wrought-iron construction on gigantic scale. It was designed and built by the French civil engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel for the Paris World's Fair of 1889. The tower, without its modern broadcasting antennae, is 300 m (984 ft)

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Johann Strauss : AUSTRIA

Johann Strauss  was an Austrian composer of light music particularly  dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles,and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, he was known as "The Waltz King", and was largely then responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century

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Tower Bridge: ENGLAND

Tower Bridge (built 1886-1894) is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London,  from which it takes its name. It has become an iconic symbol of London. The bridge consists of two towers tied together at the upper level by means of two horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sidewards of the towers.

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The Cologne : GERMANY

 Cologne is a Roman Catholic church in cologne, Germany. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a  World Heritage Site. It is Germany's most visited land mark attracting an average of 20,000 people a day.

                                              
                                              
                                                  

Trevi Fountain : ITALY

 The Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy. Standing 26 metres (85.3 feet) high and 20 metres (65.6 feet) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city
and one of the most famous fountains in the world

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PIETA: ITALYThe Pieta  is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in Sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ,  a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ. When Christ and the Virgin are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, the subject is strictly called a Lamentation in English, although Pietà is often used for this as well, and is the normal term in Italian

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CATHEDRAL GROUP OF PISA : ITALY
Pisa of course, famous for its Leaning Tower –a bell tower, or campanile, within the medieval Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) cathdral complex. The tower began leaning when only three of its eight storeys were finished. Pisa is situated at the mouth of the Arno River.

                                                

COLISEUM/COLOSSEUM : ITALY 

The Coliseum was built during the reign of Emperor Vespasiano c.72 AD and dedicated in 80 AD by his son Titus. The Coliseum over 160 ft high with eighty entrances, the coliseum could hold upwards of 50,000 spectators. Public events such as gladiator fights,mock naval battles and wild animal hunts were held at the Coliseum.

                                                     

ABUSIMBEL : EGYPT 

 Abu Simbel , site of two temples in southern Egypt, on the Nile River, south of Aswon. This temple was dedicated by Ramses II to the chief gods of Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes.The facade of the larger temple has four sitting statues of Ramses II, each more than 20 m in height. Smaller statues of Ramses II, Nefertari, and their children adorn the facade of Nefertari's temple.

                                                 

                                                

                                                    

THE OPERA HOUSE : AUSTRALIA 

 The Sydney Opera house situated on the harbor in Sydney and took 19 year for construction. It was designed by Jorn Utzon. It’s famous sail and shell-like roofs were inspired by palm fronds.

                                                   

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY : U.S.A.

 The Statue of Liberty built in 1886 stands on Bedloe's Island of New York Harbour, U.S., that commemorates the friendship of the peoples of the United States and France. Built by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. Standing 302 Ft high, It is cl added with over 300 sheets of copper.

                                                      

                                                      

ANGKOR WAT : CAMBODIA

 Built for King Suryavarman II in the 12th century . The complex, built of both sandstone and laterite It was constructed to serve both as a sepulcher for Suriyavaraman II, whose regime had adopted some aspects of Hinduism. Taking more than 30 years to build, the layout of the complex was conceived as an architectural allegory of the Hindu cosmology . At the center of the complex stands a temple with five lotus-shaped towers, a larger central tower, and four smaller surrounding towers.

                                              

Merlion park : SINGAPORE

Merlion Park is located near Marina Bay ,Singapore.  Two structures of the Merlion (mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a  fish used as a mascot and  national personification of singapore) are located here and it is a major tourist attraction and a landmark of Singapore.

                                                    

Totem : COLUMBIA

A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family , clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor , if clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem. Normally this belief is accompanied by a totemic myth. Although the term is of Ojibwe origin in  North America totemistic beliefs are not limited to Native Americans.Similar totem-like beliefs have been historically present in societies throughout much of the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and the Arctic polar region.

                                                      

Kremlin  Palace: RUSSIA

The Grand Kremlin Palace  also translated Great Kremlin Palace, was built from 1837 to 1849 in Moscow, Russia on the site of the estate of the Grand princes,  which had been established in the 14th century on Borovitsky Hill. Designed by a team of architects under the management of konstantin thon,  it was intended to emphasize the greatness of Russian autocracy Konstantin Thon was also the architect of the kremlin Armoury and the  church of christ the savior..

                                                 

ZONE OF MINI SIAM:

After a long stroll in Mini Europe we walked towards Mini Siam, the miniature model village which celebrates the heritages of  Thailand with replicas of the most famous monuments and historical sites..

Below are some of the sites we visited..

WAT PHRA KAEO : BANGKOK

The Grand Palace  is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok,. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Thailand since 1782. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year.The Royal chapel, WatPhra Kaeo, which is in the same compound, houses the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred Buddha image in Thailand..

 PHANOM RUNG HISTORICAL PARK : BURIRUM 

 The Panomrung Stone  Temple in Burirum province is actually an extinct volcano and is the most valuable piece of in the north-east in the 12 TH C.B.E. It is a walled-in enclosure, with both the door frames and walls carved in beautiful design of Lopburi Period style with Khmer influence. It is thought that it was originally built as an idol temple according to Brahmin belief. Within the Prasat, or castle, is a thorne hall built in the 12 th century A.D.

WAT ARUN (TEMPLE OF THE DAWN) : BANGKOK
Located on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River . The most attractive structure inthis temple is the 79-metre-high-pagoda or “Phra Prang” . Wat Arun was restored during the brief Thonburi period to be the Royal Chapel of King Taksin. Despite its name “Temple of the Dawn” ,the most beautiful view of it is from the Bangkok side of the river at sunset.

AYUTTHAYA PHRA THINANG AISAWAN THIPHYA-ART

 Thai-style pavillion with four porches and a spired roof built by King Chulalongkorn in the middle of an outer pond in 1876 . It is a copy of  the Phra Thinang Aphongphimok Prasat in the Grand Palace, which was built by his father, King Mongkut, as a pavillion for changing regaliabefore mounting a palanquin. King Chulalongkorn named this building Aisawan Thiphya-art after King Prasat Thong’s original pavillion. This pavillion now houses a bronze statue of King Chulalongkorn in the uniform of a Field Marshal which was set up by his son King Vajiravudh (Rama VI).

Anantasmakom Hall ( The Marble Throne Hall ) BANGKOK 

 This official building as the foreigners known well in the name of The Marble Throne Hall, located inside Dusit Palace in Bangkok. The construction of this throne hall started in 1907 A.D. in the reign of King Rama V, and was completed in 1915 A.D. during the reign of King Rama VI. The Marble Throne Hall is in the Italian Renaissance Style. The building is decorated with carved marble imported from carrara, Italy.The dome-shaped ceiling displays 6 large frescos murals, related to important incidents during the reigns of King Rama I until King Rama VI.

WAT MAHATHART : SUKHOTHAI 

A sanctuary lies to the west behind the Royal Palace compound. It is Sukhothai’s largest Wat and a customary main Chedi in lotus-bud shape, and a ruined Vihara. At the base of the Chedi stand Buddhist disciples in adoration , and on the pedestal seated Buddha images. In front of
this reliquary in large Vihara formerly containing a remarkable seated bronze buddha image of Sukhothai style, which was cast and installed by King Lithai of Sukhothai in 1362.

VICTORY MONUMENT : BANGKOK VICTORY MONUMENT

Victory Monument  is a large military monument in Bangkok.  The monument is located in Ratchathewi district, northeast of central Bangkok, at the center of a traffic circle at the intersection of
Phahonyothin Road, Phaya Thai Road, and Ratchawithi Road.. The monumentwas erected in June 1941 to commemorate the Thai "victory" in the Franco-Thai War.

Few other monuments we visited, (I am sorry am not able to recall names of this monuments)

It was  6:30pm, and we were done with longggg walk passing through all miniature..  We then decided to return to Hotel and walked towards the gate.... @ Entrance of the gate we saw  2 Localites dressed in some traditional dance costumes  taking pics with travellers(20Bahts per  pic).  I also took below snaps :)..

There is MC Donalds @ entrance of Mini Siam, we grabbed a Burger and waited for tuk-tuk to reach Hotel.. Many tuk-tuk passed by, but we dint find anyone who was going  to Soi Naklua (Place where we stayed).  We waited 15mins and  we were getting impatient... Atlast we got  an tuk-tuk and reached room in next 15 mins... Freshened up and  walked to main rood to have dinner.  Had dinner in near by smal restaurant.. And returned back to room....


PS: This is an attempt to share my travel experience to friends/relatives, and for fellow travelers to help plan their trip. Feel free to leave your comments or queries if any...