With our passports returned it was time to move on. A few hours away by bus and we arrived at the ancient city of Sukhothai, considered the first independent Thai kingdom, emerging in the 13th century as the Khmer empire was crumbling.

It was great seeing the temples in their original form, we'd seen plenty of Buddha statues across Thailand but nothing with this much history. The maze of crumbling ruins was a sight to behold and also offered plenty of shady places to stop and take it all in. Most of the temples were surrounded by water that only helped to add to the spectacle. Both cameras were in constant use clicking away as new photo opportunites appeared in front of us.

We spent a happy two days exploring the numerous ruined temples by rickety bicycles, drinking fresh fruit shakes to revive us in the heat. The ruins were surrounded by lush countryside, paddy fields and water lily filled moats. You could cycle between the different Wat's or temples taking in the landscape as you went.

The next step of our journey was going to be very different, we were headed off to help out at an orphanage for Burmese children on the Thai border.