On our second full day in Thailand, we drove a bit more than an hour to visit the ancient capital of then Siam, Ayuthaya. 33 Siamese kings from 4 dynasties ruled from here. Thailand has had four capitals, I think, and this was the capitol from 1350 to 1767 when the capital moved to Bangkok. At its peak in 1700, Ayuthaya boasted more 1,000,000 inhabitants.

In 1765, Burma invaded Thailand and destroyed Ayuthaya ... and everything here including temples, manuscripts, religious sculpture. Most of the gold statues and domes were melted down for their gold. Burma held the capital for only two years at which time it was recaptured by the Siamese.

It is mostly in ruins now, but some parts have been repaired/restored.

The day we were here, it was really hot ... possibly in the 90's F and the humidity was really high ... possibly 90% - 100%. As a result we were uncomfortably hot. After standing and walking leisurely around the grounds, we were literally drenched in sweat. And this is the dry season!

These photos were taken inOctober 2008 mostly with a Nikon D3.