http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Thailand , North-West Thailand , Sukhothai en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:05:03 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:05:03 +0000 Sukhothai Thailand by PaulFrom Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand we went halfway back down to Bangkok by taking a bus trip to a town called Sukhothai.Sukhothai was the capital of Thailand from the 1200s to the 1400s. It was sort of where the ldquoThainessrdquo of Thailand was first developed and where Thailand started to come together geographically. It was also one of the largest an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-464066.html Das Haus wie schon auf dem Foto erkennbar ist eigentlich ein Schweizer Chalet. Vom Stil her. Zumindest von aussen her gesehen... Aber so unscheinbar wie es so auf den ersten Blick scheint ist es gar nicht... Leider ist es drinnen den ganzen Tag durch ziemlich dunkel. Es ist aber dafr auch immer schn khl drinnen. Auf jedenfall sind die Fotos dementsprechend dunkel...Nun habe ich 2 Schlafzimmer m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-463165.html Es interessiert euch sicher wie man so in Thailand Weihnachten feiert. Nun zuerst einmal muss man wissen dass in diesem buddhistischen Land fast niemand Weihnachten feiert deshalb haben diese Woche die Kinder auch Schule gehabt genauer gesagt sogar Halbjahresprfungen. Die Ferien fangen dann eine Woche statt. Deshalb haben wir hier auch nicht am 24 oder 25 gefeiert sondern am Wochenende davo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-463162.html Auf dem Balkon sitzend den Geruschen der vielfltigen Tierwelt lauschend und gewrmt von den Sonnenstrahlen schreibe ich euch diesen Blogeintrag.Vieles ist geschehen seit dem letzten Blogeintrag soviel dass es gar nicht in einem Eintrag Platz hat.Ich bin in einem gut klimatisierten aber eher unbequemen Bus in ca. 7h von Bangkok nach Sukothai gereist. Zu Beginn schaute ich noch interessiert aus http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-461604.html Sukhothai a dirty town with a dirty name home to us for a grand total of 1 day was a replicate of some wild west town where the latest technology was the knife and fork. Went there to see the ruins before travelling to Bangkok. The ruins were certainly impressive at the entrance but tom had spotted on the map an almost hidden ruin far away down a desolate road. As we had rented out some bicycl http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-455863.html Long day getting to Sukhothai from Ayuthaya walked across Ayuthaya river ferry to train station 4 hour train to Phitsanulok walk across town to get a bus 1 hour bus ride to Sukhothai then local bus to guesthouse But great guesthouse TR and really like Sukhothai Historical Park so big and so many Wats Spent very hot day cycling around a few and not Watted out yet http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-448921.html Remember the last blog where I said 3rd class train to Sukothai would be adventurous Well it was. It was also torturous and horrendous. We arrived at the train station to find that the next train was fully booked and the next one was three hours later. ldquoNot to worry Irsquoll have two of those tickets then pleaserdquo. As we sat down to get comfortable for our wait Michelle asked wha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-443470.html So this was to be the defining week of our stay in Northern ThailandAfter some fairly soft excursions around Chiang Mai and after the trauma of the Asa Trekking Ordeal we were heading off to Umphang for a challenging trek into the jungle on the borders with Burma. We would break our journey with a spot of sightseeing in the ancient capital of Sukhothai before travelling on to Mae Sot for an ov http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-422339.html Photos from Sukhothai. See blog previous. x http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-415313.html Day 339 Wednesday 3rd June Sukhothai Thailandrsquos first capitalWhy do I do this to myself Taking 6 hour bus journeys at 1030pm at night isnrsquot sensible you arrive at your destination at 430am a time you would much prefer to be sleeping. At least the journey on the first class government bus in more comfortable than that on the second class one. Decent suspension so you donrsquo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-404827.html So we are now in Sukhothai today we spent the day at the Sukhothai Historical park which has ruins from the 13th and 14th centuries it contains 193 ruins over 70 square kilometers It has 26 temples Although we saw only 6 of them So we started of the day waking up a bit late of course and heading of once again in the peak heat we had to catch this ghetto bus that took us to the old city once t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-402683.html Sukhothai means Dawn of Happiness and we certainly had a happy time here. For about 150 years this was the capital of Thailand and the Old City has been preserved as Sukhothai Historical Park. We hired bicycles and set off exploring the ruins enjoying the sunshine and the wee breeze on our faces. This was our second dose of temples in a week but these have undergone extensive restoration work. Th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-401395.html greetings... thought i would share these photos from a day trip i took to sukhothai... one of the first thai empires as i understand it... i rode there from phitsanulok on my scooter about 75km each way through beautiful rice paddy filled countryside... stopped on the way for a bite to eat and was handed the best menu i have ever seen... although i just had to make something up cause i couldn't f http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-398817.html So here I am now almost one week in Thailand and have had so much fun already. I spend two days in Bangkok and found a really quiet place down a small alley to stay. Away from the main tourist area but in a walking distance. I just walked around those two days relaxing from the hectic weekend before because of moving. And ofcourse I enjoyed the nice food fruit shakes fresh fried vegetables and s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-396034.html I'm back in Old Sukothai and there was a spare computer at Coffee Cup so I thought I'd take advantage as I seem to have missed a few interesting things out. I've called this blog What nots as I don't know what else to call it and also because of the name of one of the many wats I've seen today. Wat Mai. I think mai means not in Thai.I've seen it used as a question sabaidee means I'm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-394902.html I figured out how to get a taxi from the Lopburi hotel in the end. There was another way out leading to a parking area where taxis and tuk tuks congregated. Sensibly enough they don't wait in the main road.I packed yesterday morning and caught a taxi to the station. Sukothai isn't on the railway so I would have to get a bus from Phitsanulok. In fact though I was stopped by a tuk tuk man at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-394864.html 19.02.09 Arrived at Sukhothai in the evening. Despite denials to the contrary from taxi and tuktuk drivers it was possible to take a bus out to Old Sukhothai where all the temples are based. We had a reservation at a guesthouse. When we arrived tired and fed up they told us they were full. We explained we had a reservation. After a long conversation with someone on the phone in Thai and much http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-394474.html Well... Maybe Not The Kind Of City Your Thinking....Sukhothai is a bit off the beaten track being the main route between Bangkok and Chiang Mai but well worth the visit for a couple of nights. It's the ancient capital of Siam and houses some of the best ruins of the old empire I have seen. Coming recommended by the Tourism Agency Thailand TAT the government arm that all tourism and transport http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-394200.html Ancient Cities of ThailandGod Irsquom almost prolific now. It just goes to show how good a purchase a computer notepad really is Okay so I got to the British Consulate in Chiang Mai but not before getting taken around by a lady tuk tuk driver and for company her pet dog too. More worryingly she didnrsquot seem to understand my address directions of number and street nor ldquoBritish Emba http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-393244.html Our arrival in Thailand felt like we were being reacquainted with modern society. Thailand is by far the most developed country we have visited thus far and Irsquom not going to lie I did feel a little warm and fuzzy inside upon sighting my first 7eleven. Coming from Laos our first port of call was the city of Chiang Mai.Chiang Mai is pretty much THE place in Thailand to learn how to cook the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Sukhothai/blog-381394.html