Sawadee -part 2

blogger finally forced me to change to the new setting. i find the new log in very annoying.

anyhow, moving on my short trip to bangkok, the next destination is Ancient City.
we went on a private rental limo that the hotel concierge arranged for us. as it turns out, it is a Volvo :P


Ancient City (Muang Boran in Thai) is located in Samut Prakan , which is outside the Bangkok CBD. The park/area (approximately 320 acres) is actually made up of the shape of Thailand and has replicas in smaller scale most of Thailand's important buildings and placed on the spot as on the real Thailand. Some buildings are reconstructions of buildings that no longer exist.

One of the replica temple...i have forgotten the name.

one of the carvings the people were working on.
i was impressed with the level of details..

water lily plant that attracted my attention.. the leaves are so huge.





Pretty ceiling in one of the temple. was amazed by all the detail ...imagine the restoration work involved, having to look up the ceiling the whole time the restorer paints it.



The throne or rest of the king in one of the temple. Ooops, or was it for the Buddha. Excuse my bad memory. Either way, it's an important throne, and it shows the opulence of the Thai in their construction.


One of the replica temple in Chiangmai ( I took the exact same pic in 1987 in my first trip to Chiangmai, Thailand).

The area also has domesticated deers panting for water. I also see buffalo grazing...(pics not uploaded)

This is a replica temple at the Cambodian border.

This is a musuem as the backdrop.


The Kuan Yin..according to the literature on site, the Kuan Yin is the female version of BUDDHA. ie they are the same thing. But all the while I tot Kuan Yin is another deity.


This temple has many Laughing Buddha in it. I also recognise it as the venue for the finale episode of America's Next Top Model Cycle 6 where Danielle Evans and Joanie Dodds have to walk on the extra long runways.

The traditional floating village/market...Jake checking out the village..thought the floating market was very well constructed ...there's even generator to generate the noise of the streams.

All in all, I do recommend visiting Ancient City. It's like seeing the whole of Thailand in one day. having said that, be prepared to be exhausted from the walking. We were fortunate we pay for our driver to drive us from one site to the next. Even then, it is still really hot...
and walking is still needed to climb up stairs etc..