Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya  Thailand, Oct - 2018

Ayutthaya, full name Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, is an ancient capital and modern city in the Central Plains of Thailand, 85 km north of Bangkok. Founded around 1350, Ayutthaya became the second capital of Siam after Sukhothai. Throughout the centuries, the ideal location between China, India and the Malay Archipelago made Ayutthaya the trading capital of Asia and even the world. By 1700 Ayutthaya had become the largest city in the world with a total of 1 million inhabitants. Merchants from Europe proclaimed Ayutthaya as the finest city they had ever seen. All this came to a quick end when the Burmese invaded Ayutthaya in 1767 and almost completely burnt the city down to the ground. Today, only a few remains might give a glimpse of the impressive city they must have seen. Its remains are characterized by the prang (reliquary towers) and big monasteries. Most of the remains are temples and palaces, as those were the only buildings made of stone at that time. The great cultural value of Ayutthaya's ruins were officially recognized in 1991, when the Historic City became an UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Source: en.wikipedia.org)

In 2018, I went with my wife to visit my daughter who is a teacher in Bangkok. One of our travel destinations was the old capital Ayutthaya. In the morning, we went to a bus station with a taxi and from there we got on the minibus that would take us. You can visit the old city in a few parts. The ticket you buy to enter the first one does not pass on the other. You have to pay a price for it again. The economy in Tayland is based on tourism.
What remains of the city is a beatiful examples of the Khmer civilization that dominated the region hundreds of years ago. In addition to the Buddhist sculptures, it is possible to see the symbols of the ancient Indian gods in the towers that remain intact.