Ayutthaya, the Former Capital

For more than four centuries Ayutthaya was the capital of the kingdom of Siam and one of the largest cities in the world. Founded in 1350 at the meeting of three rivers, it held a million inhabitants in the seventeenth century and hosted Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese and French trading posts. The Burmese army destroyed it in 1767. What remains, listed as UNESCO World Heritage, can be seen in a day from Bangkok.

The circuit takes in the main sanctuaries. Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon lines up its orange-draped Buddhas at the foot of a massive chedi. Wat Phra Mahathat holds the most reproduced image in the country: a sandstone Buddha head held in the roots of a fig tree that grew around it over the centuries. Wat Phra Si Sanphet, within the old royal palace precinct, still raises its three chedis in a row, and the neighbouring Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopit shelters a seventeen-metre bronze Buddha.

The start is early, between 7am and 7.30am, with the return around 3.30pm. Morning light is best for photographs, before the heat settles over the ruins, which offer little shade. Covered dress is required in the sanctuaries still in use.