That's it. That's the view that bring the throngs of culturally-minded tourists to the Sukhothai Historical Park.
Having been here before, I was much more into bicycling around and enjoying the dry day than I was interested in seeing each and every Wat. Here a Wat, there a Wat, everywhere a Wat-Wat. Still, the old city is a treat. There are three zones, with a separate admission fee for each. It's 100 baht per person, so less than three bucks. Although I have been here previously, I have never been to the other zones. Most folks visit the central zone and skeddadle back to Bangkok or on to Chiang Mai for a cooking class. I guess I fell into that category as well. Shame on me. It was years ago. I've changed, really I have.
But here's a link to the Hammy Tourist doing the bike ride through the Old City:
Sukhothai was the Capitol city of the first empire historians identity as "Thai." There are a plethora of ancient empires that lived here, farmed here and fought here. Sukhothai saw the emergence of a Thai people and a Thai language. The city itself ws rather short-lived, hit by conflict and disease. It was abandoned by the 14th century and left mostly alone until the 1950's. There are a great many historical resources about Sukhothai if you are interested, many of them online.
Trusty-Rusty model XX. I've lost count of the crappy rental bikes.
Having completed our required tour of the central zone, we headed into the western zone. From groomed cultural park we entered into rice fields and small hamlets interspersed with ancient ruins. Why hadn't I been here before? We pedaled about, virtually alone save for the Thai folks working on the rice harvest. Every few hundred meters there would be the ruin of another Wat.
The newly harvested rice drying in the sun. The tarps are laid out on the roadway, so mind where you are riding.
A Chedi sliding slowly backi into the earth.
The road to enlightenment can be steep and rocky.
Far above the road, on Buddha image called to us. The long rock trail was soaked in a blazing afternoon sun, but nevertheless, nevertheless.
The road to enlightenment:
Pedaled out and hungry, we found a friendly cafe and ordered up some grub. Despite the tourist traffic, this place managed a very respectable Som Tam with pickled fish. Perhaps because this is not standard tourist fare, it was flavorful and spicy. Just as we finished our meal, there was a loud popping noise and a weird screech like a bottle rocket. The front tire on My One's trusty-rusty had exploded while sitting still in the shade. Crazy stuff! Not only did the tube explode, but it took the tire with it.
Pop goes the weasel.
Little Pink goes back to the stable.
This is a great vignette of how things work in Thailand. A Thai customer and the Thai waitress get together and find the phone number on the wounded bike. They call the shop and the guy says he will bring another bike. This is all amidst laughing and smiles. We sit back down, sip a cool drink, and in fifteen minutes our guy is there with a new bike. He is all smiles as well, no troubles. It's a love-fest over a punctured tire. Back on the road again, we were all smiles as well.
Good Karma all around.
The mighty TL lock, impenetrable and unbreakable. When it has to be locked, lock it with a TL!
Cultured out, a last view of the Old City.
A long hot day bicycling in the sun and we were all cultured out. We left the bikes with our smiley shop, grabbed a quick ice cream from the ever-present 7-11, and jumped aboard the Jumbo for the lumbering ride back to New Sukhothai. There it is Freinds and Neighbors, a real tourist day doing real tourist things. Voila'. As for the rest of it, that is the stuff of another post. May your sag wagon always be close at hand. Ciao for Now!
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