Bang Pa-In Palace

On the 29th, we took a tour of the Ayutthaya province about 47 miles north of Bangkok. Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand for 417 years with 37 kings ruling from the capital. After the fall of Ayutthaya in a Burmese war, the capital was moved to Thonburi (west side of Chao Phraya River) and then to the present capital of Bangkok.

Ayutthaya remained a favorite summering place for the current ruling dynasty. Our first place to visit was the Bang Pa-In Palace. The palace area was beautiful with an Outer Palace for public and ceremonial uses and an Inner palace for the King and his immediate family.

Reed rented a golf cart for us to tour the palace. He wanted to see as much as possible in the allotted time we were given. Also, Ms. A was wearing Reed out by having him hold her so much. Ms. A loved the little car!

She had a fun time with the animal shaped bushes and the royal raft, but her favorite was the little houses (made for the King's children) next to the Royal Residence of Heavenly Light (Phra Thinang Wehart Chamrun). The door was high enough for her, but Reed and I had to bend down to get in. She was so tickled when she saw it, but had to wait for Reed to come out from the Royal Residence, so I could go inside the Royal Residence without her (She didn't want to go in after she saw the little houses). :)

I was pretty excited when I got out to take a picture and saw a CROCODILE in the water! I snapped a quick picture before he went under the water. :) We were amazed by the detail and beautiful ornamentation of the architecture. It was also interesting to see the European influence in some of the architecture.