After Bangkok, we decided it’d be interesting to have a completely different change of scenery and visit the ruins of Thailand’s former capitals. Ayutthaya, the capital of the Siamese Kingdom from 1350-1767, is located about an hour and a half north from Bangkok. According to UNESCO, Ayutthaya was one of, “the world’s largest and most cosmopolitan urban areas and a center of global diplomacy and commerce.” It was destroyed by the Burmese and rather than rebuilding it, the capital was moved to what is now Bangkok.

Ayutthaya today is a small town with sites of the ruins interspersed with contemporary life. We stayed in a guesthouse on the other side of the river, so we had fun renting bicycles and ferrying them across to the ruins on what must be the world’s shortest ferry rides (I’d estimate it took us not much more than two minutes to get across.) From there, we easily cycled around the ruins.

After we spent a day in Ayutthaya (which is all you need to see the place), we made our way 6 hours north to Sukhothai. Sukhothai was the capital of the Kingdom of Siam in the 13th and 14th centuries. Although older than Ayutthaya, the ruins are much better preserved in Sukhothai.