Harmonie - Ancient History - Sukhothai, Thailand

Ancient History - Sukhothai, Thailand

Harmonie

Don and Anne Myers

Fri 22 Apr 2011 14:26

17:00.659N 99:42.859E

March 28, 2011 - March 30, 2011

Sukhothai lies about 120 miles south of Chiang Mai, and is generally regarded as the first capital of Siam (technically that's not completely correct, but it's easier to remember this way). Built in the mid-13th century, Sukhothai flourished as the Siam (what is now mostly Thailand) capital. The Lonely Planet states this period of time is "viewed as the 'golden age' of Thai civilization - the religious art and architecture of the era are considered to be the most classic of Thai styles." The capital city of the 'golden age' is now in ruins and nicely managed as a World Heritage Site. The small city of New Sukhothai exists about 6 miles east of Old Sukhothai. New Sukhothai has nothing of the splendor of the ancient city, but its extremely low-key atmosphere was a nice change from Chiang Mai. This is a place relatively few tourists visit as it is a bit out of the way from the usual route, and aside from the World Heritage Site (which is excellent as you'll see) there is not much else to see or do here.

To get to Sukhothai from Chiang Mai we took a bus. When we booked the bus tickets in Chiang Mai, we had visions of sitting on a hard bench in the heat with our luggage in our laps and chickens squawking all around. Steeling ourselves for the worst (we kept telling ourselves that such a bus ride would be 'an adventure!', which is what we always say when we are about to do something extremely 'native' or offbeat), we waited for the bus to arrive at the Chiang Mai station. What rolled up was a perfectly modern, air-conditioned coach with comfy, reclining seats. Just like home, only cleaner - and all for the low, low price of $7 each. Four hours or so later we arrived in New Sukhothai where we were immediately accosted (in a gentle, Thai way) by a woman who helped us book our bus tickets to Bangkok, and then guided us to a tuk-tuk for transport to our hotel. It was not the cheapest tuk-tuk ride we've ever had (certainly there was a commission paid to the helpful woman), but since nothing in Thailand approaches the costs of home (except for the taxis and wine in Phuket), we weren't bothered.

Below are pictures of our stay in Sukhothai.

This is our Sukhothai hotel. Called the Ruean Thai (Thai house), it was built to resemble a Thai temple, and is filled with antiques and artifacts from the surrounding area. Owned by a very accommodating Japanese couple, the place is definitely a labor of love. Since there were no restaurants close by, we had dinner in the tiny hotel restaurant every night with a handful of other guests. The Thai food was very good, but the highlight for us was the ice cream. We don't get it very often, not so much because it's not available, more that it'll melt before we can transport it back to the boat. Such are the hardships of our life in steamy Phuket. Speaking of hardships, during our stay at this hotel, Don had a 90-minute Thai massage (for $10). If you aren't familiar with the Thai massage style, I think the best way we've heard it described is 'yoga for lazy people'. Don said his tiny masseuse used every part of her body to stretch and manipulate every part of his. It could almost be classified as a full contact sport.

Wat Mahathat (Mahathat Temple). Or what's left of it anyway. Actually, it's pretty amazing to think this temple was originally built in the 13th century. It's hard to get a handle on the age of everything in Thailand given the short history we're used to of buildings in the US. This was the largest and most important of the dozens of temples built in and around Old Sukhothai, and today is the largest and most intact ruin. We were amazed at how accessible all the ruins are. This is a World Heritage Site, and tourists are allowed to wander at will (which we loved). The only thing we were discouraged from doing was climbing up any of the remaining walls or climbing on the Buddhas (hopefully no one would climb on a Buddha). As you can see, we had the place pretty much to ourselves. It was so peaceful. The sky was cloudy with a fine mist falling most of the day and we were just happy to feel cool, even a little chilly, while surrounded by all this history.

Originally, the entire city of Sukhothai was surrounded by a moat. The same was true for most of the temples inside the city walls. In the case of the temples, this was done not so much for security, but more to isolate the structures and keep them 'pure' via the barrier of water. The bridges, like this one, have been added. On the other side of the bridge, you can see the temple pillars that once supported a roof. The Buddha is in very good shape, and like all major Buddha images, faces east.

Buddhists still pay their respects at the Sukhothai temples.

Behind the Buddha and slightly to the left is one of 198 chedi in the area. The typically bell-shaped or lotus flower bud-shaped structures were built to house highly significant religious relics. Note the shiny gold fingernails on Buddha's right hand. At one point, all the Buddhas of Sukhothai were probably covered in gold paint or gold leaf more like the current glitz of Chiang Mai and Bangkok temples. It was really interesting to see the remains of Buddhist temples minus all the gold. In some ways, it could be said the open air, back-to-nature, stripped-down-to-its-core atmosphere of Sukhothai's temples reveals the truer nature of Buddhism than all the glam and gold of Chiang Mai's temples or Bangkok's Royal Palace (based on the tiny bit we know about Buddhism, anyway).

Doesn't this Buddha look incredibly righteous and stately sitting so ramrod straight and staring off to the east?

Don looks like such a small person in the presence of Buddha, doesn't he?

This is what we thought we would be riding in from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai. Instead, this is what we rode in from New Sukhothai to Old Sukhothai and back. Not a bad way to travel, really. There were no chickens and we didn't have to sit on the roof, but we did ride with a few locals, who didn't seem to mind our presence. Top speed was about 30 mph and the driver was happy to pick up or drop off passengers at any point along the way. The mostly open sides gave us a good view of the 15 or so teak furniture stores and wood-working shops we passed between old and new Sukhothai. Although teak logging is no longer allowed in Thailand, the teak must be coming from somewhere (Burma?).

Here's a glimpse of the less than pretty downtown area of New Sukhothai (quite a contrast from serene Old Sukhothai). These traffic cop stations topped with helmets are everywhere in Thailand cities. I just love the giant helmet. It reminds me of the giant green-lipped mussels on top of a restaurant in New Zealand and the Big Banana in Australia.

While we were off gawking at ancient ruins in Sukhothai, John and Sue were battling a major rain storm in Phuket. Torrential rains and high winds were forecast, so John called to ask if Don thought the circus tent should come down as a precaution. The circus tent is a large sun cover we put up when in very hot and sunny marinas. It's great for protection from the sun, but in a big wind it could easily turn into a parachute. Don agreed the tent should come down, so while we lazed in our Sukhothai hotel room watching the international news, poor John stripped down to his boxers and braved the torrential rain for over an hour while he wrestled with dismantling the circus tent in the dark. Sometimes it's good to have guests on board when we aren't there. : )

Next up: Bangkok.

Anne