Wat Mahathat

Sukhothai Historical Park, a World Heritage Site located halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, doesn’t have the awe-inspiring grandeur of Angkor Wat or convenient proximity of Ayutthaya, but neither does it have the slew of tourists that visit both those sites.  Instead, crumbling temples built in the 14th century rise out of the manicured lawns, blanketing the area in an aura of peace and serenity.  To change things up, we used a sepia filter on these pictures which brings out the subdued red-gray tone of the bricks.

Buddha among trees at Wat Traphang Tong

Elephants on base of stupa

Buddha feet at Wat Mahathat

Nagas and devas carved into stone

Wat Si Siwai

Immense 15 meter (50 feet) tall Buddha at Wat Si Chum

Sukhothai Historical Park from afar

Details

We highly recommend a stay at Sila Resort/Phuaroon Resort (owned by the same family) in Sukhothai.  For 500 baht ($17 USD), we stayed in a stunning wood bungalow with air conditioning, a huge en-suite bathroom, and our own balcony.  We were within a two minute walk to the bus station and a five minute walk to the main city area.  The staff is friendly and helped us plan out our stay in Sukhothai.  The resort has free bikes or you can rent a motorbike for 200 baht.

At Sukhothai Historical Park, you either need a motorbike or bicycle to navigate around the various temples because they are spread out by a few kilometers and tuk-tuks are not permitted inside the park.   We chose the lazy man's option and decided to motorbike; as it turned out, it was a wise decision because by mid-day, the city reached a sweltering 95 degrees Fahrenheit and most of the bicyclists were turning around and heading back to avoid the heat.

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