Another ancient capital

Sukhothai is one of the ancient capitals of the Thai kingdom, and is located in the central-northern part of Thailand. We went there to see the ruins of the ancient temple complex, which is spread out over 3 different sections and in (again) varying states of repair. 

We found ourselves a nice resort to stay at, close to the old city section, which is about 10km from the more modern town centre. this worked out well as the first morning we were rudely awakened at 4am by a blaring automated warning from James' mobile phone with a flooding alert. Luckily it was not near us (although not so lucky for the residents of Sukhothai town, on the river). 

Our resort had bicycle rentals available for a nominal fee, and this was the best way to get around and see everything that we wanted. We had one day to do our exploration, and it was surprising to contrast the numbers of tourists with somewhere like Chiang Mai - although we shouldn't have been that surprised, as small crowds were a feature of the trip to that point. It was a hot day, which meant that taking it relatively slowly was the go, with plenty of hydration along the way. Luckily there were a variety of places to stock up on cold water. The first stop was to the local museum, which gave some history and context. It was yet another regional museum that had great exhibitions and a lot of interesting information - we had to rush through to make sure we had time to see the temples themselves. The first of these was Wat Phra Phai Luang, which was one of the main sites of the complex, although not much is left standing. From the ruins, it was clear that it was once very impressive, and from the museum we also could figure out where there was an old "mystical stairway" that wound around a statue of Buddha to end up with a view out over the countryside.

From there, it was on to Wat Si Chum, which had been restored to a greater extent, and gave a bit more of a sense of what it was like in its prime about 800 years ago. The reveal of the big Buddha inside a main hall was particularly impressive. It was also interesting to note that there are modern temples of the same name standing nearby both of these ancient complexes. We didn't bother going to see them, as they are much more "operational" and for worshippers more than tourists.

The next series of temples were further out of town and spread out over several kilometers. The heat of the day meant that we minimised the time exploring this second region of the Sukhothai complex, especially as we closed in on lunchtime. We did, however, take the time to climb up an ancient paved path to the remains of one temple on a hill overlooking the valley. Even on a blazing hot day the view from the top was worth it.

On a quiet Friday, there were few places open for lunch, but we did find a nice local place to have some pad thai before exploring the main section of the complex, inside the old town walls of Sukhothai. This was really the cause of our surprise at the lack of tourist numbers, as there are a huge number of old temple ruins, all within a reasonable distance of each other. While none compare to Angkor Wat and the biggest temples surrounding Siem Reap, there are several fantastic sites that are comparable to many that you can find in that more popular tourist destination, all substantially more accessible and less crowded. The style compares to our previous visit to My Son, in Vietnam, with construction from brick and clear overlaps in the architectural style. By then end of our day's explorations there was no doubt that this had been a very worthwhile stop on our way through Thailand.