The Ruins of Old Sukhothai

We decided in a somewhat spur of the moment fashion to head out of Chiang Mai which we had enjoyed so much, and move on.

I had spent a large chunk of the time we were there rather sick, with a fever and shockingly unhappy stomach. Despite that we had a lot of fun, saw some beautiful places, had some good adventures, and generally quite liked it.

Regardless, Jake was flying out that afternoon, and we were ready to continue our adventure, so we checked to see if we could find a room in our next town (check!) a bus to the next town (check!) and if we weren't too late to check-out of our current one, as it was already 11:45 AM. Fortunately, even though it was clearly stated that check-out was at 10:00, the wonderful proprietor at Rama Guesthouse where we were staying, said if we could be ready by noon, it was no problem. (check!)

Next thing we knew we were settling on a bus for the 6 hour ride to Sukhothai!

It was after dark by the time we arrived in Sukhothai, a situation we prefer to avoid. Fortunately however Tuk Tuk drivers were waiting on hand, with a list of potential destinations that included our Ban Thai Guesthouse. We hopped right in and headed off. It took just a moment to realize however that this was no ordinary Tuk Tuk like we had been using. Instead of a contraption resembling the front of a motorcycle with a wagon welded in place of the back wheel, and open at the back (our typical Tuk Tuk) this was something like the opposite. It was the rear wheel and seat of a motorcycle, with a sort of shopping cart welded on as the front, which seemed to be driven the same as a shopping cart. The front was completely open, so it seemed like at any bump you may just tumble out forward, and immediately be run over by your own transport.

Despite this new sketchy Thai contraption we happily made it right to our new home. The next morning after breakfast we rented a couple of old-school single-gear bicycles, and set out for an adventure!

It was 14 kilometers (about 9 miles) each way to the ruins of Old Sukhothai, and we were very excited. It is often described as a "City within a city", the seat of an ancient Thai king it is walled and moated. If memory serves it was at the height of its splendor in the 13th century.



Today what's left are some magnificent, but crumbling cheddi, wats (Buddhist temples - Wat Si Sawai, Wat Mahathat) and various other building remains that would have supported those facilities.