Sukhothai – Rising Happiness

Already on the next day we went to the Historical Park in the Old City with the regular little bus on wooden seats for a price of 40 cent. Breakfast had been very small but with all the thaisigns we just gave up finding proper breakfast. So we jumped into a little restaurant where we could at least read “coffee”.

A small sandwich later and we where off to the Historical Park. Happy about the cloudy sky we rent a bike for driving around. As soon as we jumped on our bikes the clouds faded away. Sun we are coming. The park was divided into 5 zones and for all of them you had to pay a fee – for your bike as well ;o) But it was still cheap.

Sukothai was the capital of the first Thai dynasty. Some temple ruines show the influences of the former Khmer empire. First we stayed at the centre. There you can find 21 historical ruines. Wat Mahatat is the biggest one in really good conditions with some Buddha images.

In the area of 5 km around the old city you can find 70 ruines of temples. Because of the sun we decided to head to the western and northern zones where we wanted to see specific ruines. Riding through the rice fields we finally arrived at the Wat Saphaan Hin. This wat is on a hill, 4 km on the west of the old city wall. In the heat walking on big stone plates we went up. A 12.5 m high standing Buddha image was standing on the hill, heading to the city. It was really impressive and we took some pictures.

In the North there had been only a few ruines and the Wat Si Chum was a great one with a hugh buddha image. I remember this one from my first trip to Sukhothai in 2002. After 6 hours and loosing 100 lt. of water we brought back our bikes. Afterwards we drove back to the guesthouse to take a really cold shower. Than we planned our further trip. We decided to drive to Ayutthaya the next day. Another 6 hours bus tour.

The next morning we went to the bus stop and bought a ticket. Already back than in 2002 it was a little rip off. As a tourist they will kick you out on the highway 6 km away from the center. Then you have to take a really expensive taxi. Great but there was no other option. But this will happen more often when you backpack. Let’s get ready for the next chapter: Ayutthaya!

Accommodation: TR Guesthouse

Price: Baht 400 per bungalow

Comment: nice wooden bungalows