Thailand’s temples the star of luxury boat trip from Bangkok to the ancient kingdom of Ayutthaya
- Starting with Wat Arun, one of Thailand’s best-known landmarks, a journey on Anantara’s new vessel shows off the impressive temples along Chao Phraya river
- Disparate architectural styles are the highlight of Bang Pa-In, while temples in Ayutthaya’s old town recall counterparts in Indonesia and Cambodia
There always seems to be one too many temples on tours in Thailand. On this trip, I confess, we bowed out of seeing the final one, the searing heat at the end of the day being too much for even the marathon runner among us. But now I’m left wondering what I missed.
Thailand’s stupas, spires, steeples and statues rise delightfully out of the urban concrete of its big cities – beacons of luminescent gold in a backdrop of grey. In the countryside, shimmering peaked rooftops and ancient crumbling domes stand proud against vivid green trees and the flat expanses of striped rice paddies.
Accessing some of the most impressive of these temples is as easy as taking a day trip or an overnighter on one of the many flat-bottomed teak rice barges that ply the Chao Phraya River.
On this wide, murky-brown hydro-highway – which springs at the confluence of the Ping and Nan rivers, in Nakhon Sawan province, and flows 372km (231 miles) through Bangkok to the Gulf of Thailand – travellers can slip seamlessly between the city and rural areas, tapping into an ancient trade and travel route while immersing themselves in the spiritual and cultural side of Thai life.
Hotel chain Anantara’s new Loy River Song vessel was bespoke-built in the tradition of the century-old teak rice barges but with luxury overnight stays in mind. Its four staterooms, named for the Chao Phraya’s four headwaters – Nan, Yom, Wang and Ping – are styled in modern Thai fabrics and fittings, and have king beds, dapper ensuites, Jim Thompson bathrobes and concierge buttons.