The second of our temple-site visits in Central Thailand was in the town of Sukhothai, about 6 hours north of Thailand. Despite its development relative to some of the other countries around it, Thailand can be pretty difficult to get around by bus, especially on the popular routes. The main reason is that you can't book tickets in advance (unless you board in Bangkok), even for their expensive VIP buses. It means you have to get to the bus station ages in advance and then you're faced with the possibility of a long wait.

Another quick moan (I know, I know, I go on a bit): we were staying in a nice guesthouse, but it appeared to be located next to some sort of zoo. In the evening there were dogs barking, birds squawking, lizards making some sort of noise I never even knew lizards could make and insects chirping. It made for a less-than quiet night!

Sukhothai, like Ayutthaya, is home to a historical park with Khmer ruins. Unlike Ayutthaya, they have been restored and are in a better condition. The best way to get around is by bike. We'd had a couple of less-than-comfortable experiences on bikes so far on this trip, but it was definitely 3rd time lucky! The weather was much cooler, the terrain flat and paved and nothing was too far away! We're lazy huh!? There are loads of temples all within different zones and you pay depending on how many zones you visit. The most impressive were in the central area so we decided to concentrate our self-termed "Wat-Hopping" there.

Wat Mahathat was easily the most impressive and intact of the temples there. The lotus-bud chedi is typical of Sukhothai architecture. The Wat used to contain as many as 198 chedi as well as various chapels and sanctuaries. A lot of the other temples were surrounded by moats for protection as well as inspiration. The whole area was really quiet and kind of mystical, it had a real atmosphere about it (apart from two Scots racing around on our bikes, singing songs and bumping into each other)... hehe.

-B