Family visit: visit to the heart of the historical park of Sukhothai – 10th day – Trip April April 2012
For this day we were waiting for the visit of the historical park of Sukhothai, a park that I had just visited with Jitima last July, that didn't stop me from taking a whole bunch of photos... We also opted for the visit by bike, despite the heat of April it remains very practical and fast enough to go around it in the day, including the parts outside the main enclosure, a good day of walking!
We will visit among other main temple, unmissable if you go there, the Wat Mahatat. This temple is the largest in the park, with its 200m by 200m surface area roughly, this one has beautiful remains for a temple whose current form dates from 1345. This complex allows to get a good idea of the buildings that made up a Buddhist monastery at the time.
The exterior design is quite unique…
The restaurant is just opposite (but breakfast not included in the overnight stay)
The reception is a few meters before on the same street where their massage service is located opposite, basically they are buying up the whole neighborhood as they go along and setting up a new thing there...
Apart from the sky which is different, I have a little trouble being original in order to have photos that are different from last time.
The park is rather quiet this morning.
I'm not sure what this guy was doing in the water (cleaning?? fishing??)
Thinking games.
Another temple, another Buddha.
We can see the scale better here.
Overview of the park's main temple, Wat Mahatat.
Even today, Thais come to pray in these temples.
Many Thais come to visit these places.
The park is very well maintained.
In full preparation for the Songkran festival.
Wat Mahatat from outside the compound.
The park is well wooded which allows you to escape the heat a little, especially by bike it is even more pleasant.
We arrive at Wat Si Sawai, which has the particularity of being in a Khmer style.
A cute little puppy but I won't touch him because he didn't look very clean...
Tree roots cover some remains.
Little puppy bis.
The park is not only visited for these monuments, it also serves like any other park, well almost, I don't think it is possible to have a picnic there but it is quite possible to sit down and rest, be in peace, spend time with family etc...
At Wat Traphang Noen.
One thing that is quite annoying is having to pay to pee...
The chedi of Wat Chana Songkram.
We are now at the statue of King Ramkhamhaeng, still venerated today, this king had a long prosperous reign in the 13th century of almost 40 years, considered to be very attentive to his people (any subject could ring a bell to speak with the king) he is especially known as being the one who initiated the Thai alphabet from the ancient Khmer alphabet.
From a very young age, children are “encouraged” to pray by imitating the rest of the family.
With family.
And always with a smile.
(Re)passing in front of Wat Mahatat.
Orange hair is very trendy as Songkran approaches.
Last part of this day in the historical park of Sukhothai, in this case after having visited the northern part the day before, the main part this day until early afternoon we headed towards the eastern part at Wat Si Chum, after a stop at Wat Sorasak and its elephants at its base. The entrance being paid (separate ticket from the main park) I will not enter Wat Si Chum since I had already been there last time too. We will also visit Wat Phra Phai Luang (which is almost opposite the small road leading to our guesthouse) whose entrance is included in the ticket of Wat Si Chum, no one having checked any ticket it was a free visit for my part… It was the only big temple that we had not seen the last time with Jitima, that's done (at least for me)
The trees in bloom are beautiful, there are plenty of them along the route throughout northern Thailand.
Wat Sorasak. Similar but smaller to Wat Chang Lom at the Sri Satchanalai historical site where we will go the next day.
At Wat Si Chum and its famous Buddha well known from postcards.
Thailand, country of ladyboys, they still represent 2% of the population.
Guardian of the herd of cows.
Just opposite Wat Phra Pai Luang is an information center and a temple.
The pond surrounding the temple.
Overview.
Here the statues are some very damaged, here we can make out the remains of a standing Buddha.
Here we see a little more.
The chedi is falling into ruin.
This temple was a large monastery in the 12th century when Sukhothai was part of the Khmer kingdom, hence the style, which originally featured 3 towers similar to those of Wat Sri Sawai in the main park.
After this last temple it was still mid-afternoon, which left us time to visit the surrounding countryside. After taking a look at the map to see the possible options we took the car towards the south of Sukhothai towards the Ramkhamhaeng National Park also known as Khao Luang. Along the way we followed signs indicating caves or waterfalls, in this way we landed at the end of a road leading directly to an unknown temple.
The "cave" in question is actually just a space under a converted rock.
No need to look for waterfalls in the area, the small streams are dry...
No way out…
In the nearby countryside, pottery is still made in the old-fashioned way.
We arrive at the national park, where we will first have to pay the entrance fee. If the park is apparently worth a look since there are quite a few things to see, don't do like us, when we arrived at 16pm, at the end of the afternoon…
No time to see even the first stage... Given the distances, you need at least a good day to do the circuit (the route is in the middle of the forest and uphill from a certain point).
Here flows a stream normally…
Already back.
The summit can be distinguished from the viewpoint.
Back to our guesthouse (as I don't think I've said yet, it's the Baan Rim Klong Resort).
Overview of the charming bedroom.
The bungalows.
Although all the bungalows have been renovated or appear as new, you can see from the peeling paint on the structure with the white posts that the hotel is not so new.
Our neighbors behind. Only house in the immediate vicinity.
The small retro-style TV.
Feet very dirty after this long day.
Night walk to go to the restaurant especially. Given that the hotel was a little out of the way, it was necessary to take the car to reach the village where the historic park and the few restaurants are located.
