Ancient City~ Muang Boran

I decided I needed a mid-week adventure to get the "stink blowed off me!", as my mother would say.

I had heard about the Ancient City park just on the outskirts of Bangkok and looking on Google, it would be a straightforward ride on the BTS and a taxi trip to get to!

The park was created by Lek Viriyaphant and occupies over 200 acres in the shape of Thailand.

As Bangkok was still in lockdown I wanted to make sure I would actually be able to go into the structures and not just outside, like Erawan. I decided to call. Apparently, an English speaker scared them as I was promptly hung up on 3 times. I got the brilliant idea to use my laptop computer and Google translate to ask if the buildings would be open, in Thai, but please respond in English. After the 5th attempt, I was assured that the buildings were open and you could go inside.

Early the next morning I was off! The BTS goes a fair distance outside of the city limits, like going to Pickering or Ajax from Toronto. The scenery outside the train windows certainly gave the impression that one was in the suburbs. At the final station stood a line of taxis and motorcycle taxis awaiting customers. Within minutes I had been whisked away and arrived at the main entrance to the park.

I was greeted at the ticket booth and told that I needed to show my passport and if I lived in Thailand I could get the reduced rate. I said that it hadn't worked at Erawan the previous week, but then I said, in what I hoped sounded like a feeble, ageing pensioner voice, "Don't you have a rate for old people?"

Apparently, that worked, as I pointed out my O-A Visa and was told it was 400 baht, not 700baht!

Now I could walk the park(200 acres) or I could wait 30 minutes for a golf cart tour or I could rent a bicycle for 150baht and use it all day. Bike it is!

There are 3 types of structures.

1. Actual replicas that are at a 4/5ths scale to the original.

2. There are recreations that have been taken from written accounts and descriptions of the buildings.

3. Artists' imaginings of what the structures look like in their minds' eye.

Following are pictures of the temples and structures I found most interesting. I did not get all of the descriptions/names of each, my apologies. (there's always Google)