Blogs from Sukhothai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 3

From Ayutthaya we took a 5 hour train journey north to the city of Sukhothai, which is spilt into the new city and the old city. We stayed in the new city and caught a tuk tuk at 7 a.m to the old city to beat the happy snappers to the spectacular views of the national park and temples. To get around the park we hired a push bike (check the pics man!) and rode around stopping off at each area of the park to get some great shots of the the different Buddha statues, I even found a new effect on le camera for taking some black and white mix shots, take a look :) From Sukhothai we took a mini bus at 120km an hour!!! through the mountains of Thailand toward Mae Sot. Once ... read more

Budicek 6/30,na chodbe stretavam talianov,umyvam si zuby,beriem bagel a smer bus do komplexu s chramami.V 711 si davam hambaca.Ten si robim sam.Dostavam zemlu s masom,prilohy si tam davam sam.Kupujem este vodu. Vonku stretavam 4 anglicanov.Idu tim istym smerom.Chytame bus,5 osob za 100b. idem gratis,anglanka to za vsetkych zacvakala. Cestou nas na riksi dobiehaju taliani. Chceli aby som siel s nimi ale to som nechcel,v komplexe ich este par krat stretavam,ale vravim im ze si to chcem prejst sam. Poznaju slovensko vdaka Hamsikovi,su to fans neapolu. Po vystupeni z busu si poziciavam bicykel za 30b,za 20b nechce dat.Dostavam aj zamok,vraj aby mi ho neslohli. Bagel nechavam v obchode u majitela bicyklov. Dostavam mapu,instrukcie kam mam ist. Vraj si mam najskor omrknut vonkajsok co je zdarma a az potom mam ist dnu.ja to robim naopak,bo je este skoro ... read more

Today was mostly a travel day with about 6 hours total on the bus. We stop to visit with some rice farmers along the road. They can get $400-500 twice a year with each crop, assuming no floods like last year. This is tough work but their families have been doing it for generations.. Sukhothai is the first capital of Thailand (Siam) from 1238-1362. The ruins of the original city's temple ruins, Wat Mahathat, are supposedly the best preserved in Thailand, and they were spectacular. We saw so much here it's hard to get started. It's World Heritage Site so there is a lot of protection of the current remains. There are 2 standing Buddhas there that are original to the site. There is also an original bronze Buddha but it was removed to a museum ... read more

After all the ruins in Ayutthaya, I went to see even more ruins in Sukhothai. This was a long 6 hour train ride (supposed to only be 5 hours) followed by an hour bus ride to get to. I was also cheap on the train and opted for just the fan and open air train instead of the air conditioned. This is a great way to experience life with the thai people, but not for the comfort factor as it is pretty warm and you have people walking up and down the train constantly selling food, beverages and other things. Once at the bus station I planned to walk to my hostel. I had gotten directions on google before hand and it said it was only 15 minutes to walk. Well, I have no idea what ... read more

Last night - before meeting our group for the obligatory meet up with our tour leader (who is adorable and has the most amazing sense of humor) Noelle and I went on a search for a few temples. I have yet to really figure out if they are temples or monasteries. I think they are a combination of them - as most of the ones we've been to are more like complexes of many different buildings, some of which are for the upkeep, the cooking and eating of meals, and the housing of the monks. So far, it seems the temples housing the buddha images are in the center of the complex. They have all been labeled as "wat" - so I will continue to refer to them as such. So, Noelle felt her trip to ... read more