Friday 10 December 2010

Suffering Sukhothai !

Sukhothai
The image that launched a thousand postcards

Sukhothai (a name I can't actually write without hearing Yosemite Sam in my head) means rising of happiness. The Kingdom was established in 1238, and ruled for exactly 200 years (when Ayutheya became the Thai capital). 

The historical park covers almost a hundred ruins:

There are the well known ones (where you'll be fighting to keep other tourists - and visiting monks - out of all your photographs):

Wat Sa Si, Sukhothai, Thailand
Wat Sa Si

And there are the out-of-the-way sites (where the only thing sharing the ruins with you will be a contentedly grazing cow):

Wat Chetuphan

To get to Wat Chetuphan, it's an easy cycle (about 2km from the central ruins) past the blue tarpaulins of farmers drying their rice harvest on the road.

At the end of a long day sightseeing (by bicycle, a mode of transport I haven't used in almost 20 years), I returned to New Sukhothai to eat "Sukhothai-style" noodles (with green beans in a sweet, peanutty broth) at one of the hawker stalls, and dream of warm baths, to easy my aching seat.

More days like this, please.



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