We have somehow made it this far through Thailand without visiting any famous temples. In a land where Buddhism is everywhere, the absence of these famous temples in our adventure is really surprising. My desire to see 'ancient' Thai cities and temples only increased after our horrible trip to Ayutthaya, where we departed having seen nothing but deceit!
The city of Sukhothai is very similar to Ayutthaya. The main difference is, as far as I have poorly understood and re-twisted my daily Wikipedia history lesson, that the Khmer empire had a seat of power in Sukhothai whereas it didn't in Ayutthaya. Other than that, the two seem to be sister cities. Both were founded roughly around the same time in the 13th century. Both formed the foundation of the country of Thailand. Both have some pretty cool ruins. Same, same but different.
Sukhothai is a much nicer city than Ayutthaya. The ruins are quite spread out, so you can opt to rent a bike to see them more effectively. I have no idea what happened to my bike riding skills but I completely got smoked on the bicycle by Pallavi. This bicycle defeat didn't just come while we were at the ruins. It came also both nights we were there, when we borrowed bicycles from our guesthouse to bike down the street to get dinner. As I was riding the bicycle, which looked like something straight from my Grandma's 1960s cupboard, I kept thinking, it's not me, it's got to be the bike. No, it's not the bike, Sarah. Okay self, well, maybe it's that the seat's too low, so I can't get effective momentum to propel myself at great speed. No, it's not the seat, Sarah. Okay, I've gotten more pathetic in my bike riding since my old POS bike (may she rest in peace) from college. It's just as sad a story as that.
The ruins were different from ones I'd seen in the past. Like many old cities, the religious structures were the only remnants; however, I'd never seen so many Buddhas. The main temple must have had a minimum of 5 Buddhas and there must have been at least 6 temples in the main area alone (there were at least 3 areas). The Buddha adds just a different mystic to the ruins. Plus, as Pallavi added, where did people live among so many temples?
Ancient temples in Thailand. Check.
The city of Sukhothai is very similar to Ayutthaya. The main difference is, as far as I have poorly understood and re-twisted my daily Wikipedia history lesson, that the Khmer empire had a seat of power in Sukhothai whereas it didn't in Ayutthaya. Other than that, the two seem to be sister cities. Both were founded roughly around the same time in the 13th century. Both formed the foundation of the country of Thailand. Both have some pretty cool ruins. Same, same but different.
Sukhothai is a much nicer city than Ayutthaya. The ruins are quite spread out, so you can opt to rent a bike to see them more effectively. I have no idea what happened to my bike riding skills but I completely got smoked on the bicycle by Pallavi. This bicycle defeat didn't just come while we were at the ruins. It came also both nights we were there, when we borrowed bicycles from our guesthouse to bike down the street to get dinner. As I was riding the bicycle, which looked like something straight from my Grandma's 1960s cupboard, I kept thinking, it's not me, it's got to be the bike. No, it's not the bike, Sarah. Okay self, well, maybe it's that the seat's too low, so I can't get effective momentum to propel myself at great speed. No, it's not the seat, Sarah. Okay, I've gotten more pathetic in my bike riding since my old POS bike (may she rest in peace) from college. It's just as sad a story as that.
The ruins were different from ones I'd seen in the past. Like many old cities, the religious structures were the only remnants; however, I'd never seen so many Buddhas. The main temple must have had a minimum of 5 Buddhas and there must have been at least 6 temples in the main area alone (there were at least 3 areas). The Buddha adds just a different mystic to the ruins. Plus, as Pallavi added, where did people live among so many temples?
Ancient temples in Thailand. Check.
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