Advertisement
Published: January 8th 2013
After 2 weeks of Thai beaches, partying, eating and drinking far too much, we felt it was time for a change and so left Koh Phangan and headed up north. First we had to contend with a long 14 hour overnight journey back to Bangkok consisting of a rocky ferry and the most uncomfortable seats we have ever had on a night bus – we were stuck right at the back on hard seats which didn’t recline and you felt every bump so didn’t get much sleep. When we finally arrived into the southern bus terminal in Bangkok we got a mini-van to the northern bus terminal 45 minutes away then jumped on a local bus bound for the city of Ayuthaya, approximately 2 hours north of the city.
Ayuthaya used to be the former capital of Thailand when it was known as Siam in the 14th century and so is famous for its old ruins and temples. It was the capital for over 400 years until the Burmese invaded the city and stripped it of its position, looting it and leaving its buildings to crumble in the process. Over the years the temples have turned to ruins but in
the 1950's a restoration project started and in the 1990's Ayuthaya was named a UNESCO world heritage site as the ruins were preserved. When we arrived we could see straight away that there were a lot of Japanese inspirations here which we didn’t expect, from the amount of Japanese tourists to the books and Manga comics in the shops around the town. There was also randomly a Hello Kitty shop and Japanese food on menu’s which took us back to our time in Japan a few months ago. We soon found a cute guesthouse with a lovely owner and although we were tired and hot we wanted to make the most of our time here as we only had one full day, so hired some bicycles and headed off to see some of the sites around the city. Most Wats and ruins could be seen from the road but we paid to enter a couple which were quite impressive, especially Wat Phra Mahathat which had a stone statue of a Buddha’s head embedded into a huge old tree, but no one knows how it got there. We rode around for a couple of hours which was good fun and outside
of the main roads the route was pretty scenic and very quiet which made for a nice ride – I only had one near miss on my bike with a Tuk Tuk (which was driving far too close to me) - and we saw some huge elephants as well but they were being led on elephant rides with tourists on them which we never like to see. We stopped for a bit of lunch and to hide from the sun before riding back to our guesthouse in the afternoon for a well-earned rest. Aside from the ruins there isn't a whole lot to see or do in Ayuthaya and it isn't the prettiest of places so we decided to just stay for one night. We had a bite to eat that evening (not many options in this town and our meal wasn't great) and we were so tired from the sleepless bus journey the night before we went to bed at 10pm and slept right through until 8am.
The next morning we went to the bus station and got a local bus bound for Sukhothai, 6 hours further north and also a previous capital of Thailand (Siam) way back
in the 13th century, before even Ayuthaya. The journey was quite long but as we left early we got to Sukhothai in the afternoon and soon found a lovely little guesthouse for the night, complete with swimming pool, which we didn't waste any time jumping in to to cool off. We were told it was colder up here, really?! That evening we went for a walk to find something to eat and came across a great selection of street food stalls, something we had been missing the last few days, so tucked in to some delicious yet simple food, including a speciality of crispy pork and rice, for less than 80p each. On the way back we even had change for a jam pancake. We got cosy in our lovely little room and watched a few episodes of Homeland on the laptop until we fell asleep at the rather late time of 11pm...
Our main aim in Sukhothai was to explore the old city and its much talked about ruins in the Historical park. We were staying in New Sukhothai so we took a 'bus', which was more of an open sided cart, the 12km into the old part
of town and the entrance of the park. We hired bicycles and plotted out a route which would take us through the 'zones' (north, east, central and west) that the many temples, wats and ruins are split into. We rode for a few hours but stupidly didn't get any water before we set off and as it was really hot we got off to a slow start, but soon got into it. The roads were really quiet and cut in and out of the park so it was a very scenic ride which we enjoyed, and the first few sites were nice but just a taste of what was to come. When we got to some of the more famous sites we had to buy tickets for 100 Baht each to go into them, but we found them truly amazing, especially Wat Si Chum which housed a 15 metre high Buddha with huge gold leaf covered fingers in the north west corner, Wat Mahathat, the largest Wat in Sukhothai with many Buddha's inside surrounded by a moat believed to represent the outer walls of the universe, Wat Si Sawai which featured three Khmer temples in the style of Angkor Wat,
and Wat Sa Si, a classic ruin containing several ruins and a large Buddha statue.
Everything looked so old and authentic yet quite well defined, even though bricks had discoloured, fallen down and eroded over the years, the many Buddha's, wats and statues throughout the parks were very impressive and we spent hours riding around then parking our bikes and jumping off to explore these ruins. The grounds of the parks which these were in were also picturesque, and what made it even better was that even though it was a Saturday, everywhere was so quiet and even where there were a few people gathered you could easily find your own corner of solitude from which to enjoy the ancient atmosphere from. We had a great day here and would highly reccomend a visit to Sukhothai if heading up north.
That evening we took advantage of the free bus being offered by the nearby TAT tourist office and went to a locals food market which is only held on the first Saturday of the month for something different (and we love a market). The market was further than we thought and as we hurtled down the highway for
30 minutes we wondered what it would be like. It was a really nice experience, a bit like the British equivalent of a small county fair/farmers market, with around 40 food stalls set up each selling a different delicacy and various dance and music shows being held by children and adults alike. After we passed the first couple of stalls we couldn't resist the yummy looking food any longer and gorged on home made chicken satay skewers, a pad thai served in bamboo leaves, sticky buns and fruit, all for less than £1! We wondered around the various stalls and people watched for a while which was interesting, especially as it was all locals, the only tourists being us and a few others who had come on the bus, before heading back to Sukhothai.
We had a really good time in Sukhothai and it exceeded our expectations so we were pleased we had stopped there for a couple of days, it was well worth it. On Sunday we were up really early to catch a bus further north to one of our favourite cities, Chiang Mai.
S&V's Travel Info & Tips: General Info: Approx 48 Baht to £1.
Transportation: We took a mini-van from the southern bus terminal in Bangkok to the northern bus terminal which cost 35 Baht each and took about 45 minutes. Then we took a local bus to Ayuthaya for just 56 Baht each (2 hours). Bicycles around Ayuthaya can be hired for 40 Baht per day. To Sukhothai we booked onto the local bus ourselves to save the comission the guesthouses charged so it only cost 275 Baht each for the 6 hour journey instead of 400 Baht each. Bicycles can be rented at K hire in the old city in Sukhothai near the park entrance for 30 Baht per day. The bus between the new and old town costs 40 Baht each. Food: Nowhere to reccomend in Ayuthaya but great food options in Sukhothai. Lots of cheap and tasty pad thai and rice stalls in the new city for 30-40 Baht as well as pancakes stalls for 10-20 Baht. In the old town near the historical park there were also many food stalls for similar prices. Accomodation: In Ayuthaya we found a nice room at PU guesthouse off Soi 2 for 600 Baht. It was more than we wanted to pay but after travelling for over 18 hours we needed a nice bed. In Sukhothai we had a great stay at Pai resort for 500 Baht a night - it was only a small guesthouse but lovely clean a/c rooms with great pillows and a swimming pool plus helpful staff, right near the 7/11 in the new town.
Other observations: x) As mentioned lots of Japanese influences and tourists in Ayuthaya, we asked locals about this but they couldn't tell us why. Also lots of dogs! xx) We saw a lot of very overweight Thai people in Sukhothai, something we have never seen in Thailand before, especially not in one concentrated area - must be all the yummy food options...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.194s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 34; dbt: 0.1114s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Linds
non-member comment
You guys are looking far to healthy and bronzed.....
Avidly following you guys in my fat house bound state, your both looking far too glowing. Glad that you are having a fab time, enjoy....Vics thought I'd let you know DDay is 23rd unless 'fat boy' decides to come early, yes he is a big one apparently....keep you posted. Xx