My drive from Chiang Rai south was thankfully, uneventful. There were reports of flooding on part of my route through Phayao so I considered briefly taking the long way through Chiang Mai. Good thing I looked at the radar online though before leaving because Chiang Mai was getting pounded. I took my chances with my original plans and made it to Sukhothai with no problems. On the news were lots of pictures of Chiang Mai flooded with water and mud. I even recognized a couple of the temples I visited there sitting in two feet of water. I can’t believe I’ve been able to avoid all the damage. I’m knocking on wood right now as I write this.

While Lanna was the dominant kingdom in the north, Sukhothai was thriving further south. Today, the modern town of Sukhothai revolves around the very extensive ruins of the ancient one in Sukhothai Historical Park. When I say extensive, I mean extensive.

The park is divided into five sections, western, eastern, northern, southern, and central. I spent a solid two and half days in the inhumane heat on my rented motorbike exploring every inch.

Most of these structures here were built in the 13th and 14th centuries. It still amazes me that they can still be standing with many of the decorative elements still intact.

My first day in Sukhothai I had to return my rental car in Phitsanulok about an hour away and then ride the bus back so I only had a half day to explore. I started with what looked like the easiest option which was the southern section. I read that the central section was the premier section and the rest were not as great. I was super impressed with that “not as great” southern section though. Holy crap, I can’t wait to see the great parts!

Day two I got up early and rode to the central section. The old Sukhothai is about eight miles away from New Sukhothai where I’m staying. I stopped at the Ramkhamhaeng Museum first, named after Sukhothai’s famous king.

Going to the museum turned out to be perfect timing thanks to the brief rainstorm that passed overhead. It was a pretty big museum and had a lot of stuff from all over Sukhothai. I won’t post everything here, but this ancient Buddha footprint is worth it. It’s really rare to see something like this in such good condition.

The central section was really awesome, but I’m not sure if it was more awesome than the rest. It was also the only section that you can’t take the motorbike in, so I started walking. There’s a nice big King Ramkhamhaeng monument to get you started.

Probably my favorite temple in the central section was Wat Si Sawai with its still standing three towers and lots of intact stucco work.

The main attraction is without a doubt Wat Mahathat. There’s a lot going on here. Many standing chedis, many ancient Buddhas, and lots of cool artistic details. This was the center of ancient Sukhothai life.

The heat here now that the sun is shining in full force can not be overstated. I am soaking wet and filthy at the end of every day, especially after walking around that central section most of the day. Luckily in the other sections I get to zip around on the motorbike and air dry once in a while. That wind feels incredible! I spent the next two days exploring the northern and the remote western sections, eating pad thai for lunch every day and masaman curry for dinner every night. Yummm!

How all those hefalumps at Wat Sorasak survived almost 700 years I’ll never understand. But I’m glad they did.

I love that so many of these Buddha’s are left where they are and not all moved to museums. The one at Wat Si Chum was gigantic!

A lot of the statues don’t have heads. This standing Buddha at Wat Phra Yun at least had part of his head nearby on the ground.

The western section felt really remote. It was super quiet and I didn’t hardly see anybody all day. This place reminds me of visiting all the Khmer temples in Cambodia once you get away from Angkor Wat. This area is really fantastic!

Several of these temples in the western section involved short hikes up the hillside to get to them. The hiking wasn’t bad, but seriously, in this heat it only takes about three seconds to be drenched! Wat Saphan Hin is the best in the west.

I also found a friend at Wat Saphan Hin. There’s really not much wildlife to speak of, at least not that I’ve seen. I did see a massive monitor lizard cross the road in front of me though. He was a much much larger version of this guy seen below. He was so big, in fact, that I thought he was a crocodile at first. He ran a bit too fast for me to get a picture, but wow!

Hopefully you’re not sick of the ruins yet. I never get sick of them. If I could just climb around on ruins non stop for the rest of my life I would. Anyway, next up, and about thirty miles north of Sukhothai are the ruins of Si Satchanalai.

Si Satchanalai was part of the Sukhothai kingdom and where the crown prince, heir to the throne was expected to rule until his time came to be king. It was the northern outpost of Sukhothai.

Maybe it was just the remote setting and the peaceful quiet of the place, but I liked Si Satchanalai even more than Sukhothai.

I liked Si Satchanalai right up until I came upon these steps of doom. Haha! They don’t allow motorbikes here either, so I was already sweaty. Now this!

The steps of doom turned out to not be that bad. There were a couple of neat temples with Buddhas up there. This is also a good time to mention what I call the ghostly ones. I often see the stone or brick frames of statues that have lost their stucco details. They’re kind of haunting, but I like them. Si Satchanalai had quite a lot of them.

Si Satchanalai has a huge central section. After walking around I cooled off and dried out over some pad thai at the restaurant. Then I headed out on the motorbike to see the outer temples and enjoy the motorbike wind.

Here’s another ghostly one at Wat Khok Singkharam. Thankfully and surprisingly, the mosquitoes haven’t been a huge problem here either (I’m knocking on wood again as I write this). I’ve gotten a few bites over the past few weeks, but nothing crazy.

Finally, I arrived at the last temple on this Sukhothai adventure, Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat. It’s in the village of Chaliang and was modeled after Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai. The main chedi has clearly been restored. It’s quite a sight!

The best part, and the scariest part, was being able to climb about halfway up for a bird’s eye view. The steps up were very big and VERY steep, and the railing was not helpful down at knee level either, but the view was definitely unique.

Thirty miles isn’t that far really, but on a little motorbike it sure seems far. On the way back to Sukhothai I got to experience my first real taste of the flooding in Thailand, albeit in a minor way. I took a different route back. First I have to cross this rickety old bridge over the Yom River which is just bursting at the seams.

I hit some road blocks on the main highway heading back into Sukhothai. Road closed due to flooding. All the locals were just going around the roadblocks, though, so I decided to just go with the flow (pun intended) and see what happens. One side of the street was now a river with people wading and kids having a swim. The other side was mostly clear. I had to ride through a couple of flooded parts, but the locals weren’t having any problems, so why not?

And with that, another leg of my Thailand adventure is finished. I still have a loooong way to go though, so don’t worry. Now I get to take the bus back to nearby Phitsanulok to pick up another rental car and off I go to the next stop…