After a 6.5 hour trip in a bus, I am in Sukhothai. The bus trip wasn’t too bad. It had A/C and more leg room than most economy seats on a plane. And it stopped part way through the trip for an included buffet meal. All for only $10! Amazing.
The hotel where I am staying. The Ruen Thai Hotel. I think it is an old hotel that has been mondernized. My room has shutters that cover the windows. No glass at all. So if you have the A/C on and the shutters closed to keep the cool in. There is no natural light coming in. It’s a nice room. With antique furniture and a marble bathroom. $36 a night.
Fit for a king?
This is how you lock the door. Seems to work fine. The windows lock the same way.
All of the rooms face the pool.
Instead of watch dogs they have watch rabbits. This one is on a break.
Sukhothai is a city in it’s own right. It is also home to the Sukhothai Historical Park. Designated a Unesco World Heritage site. Built in the 1200’s. Some of the Buddha images have been restored in the past. It has been well thought out as a tourist attraction. There are bicycles to rent, an electric bus you can hop off and on, small personal electric vehicles for rent and information accessible by cel phone for each major site. The walled city is approximately 4 square miles. Hence the need for transportation of some kind to get around.
A closer representation of an Indian stupa (“Chedi” in Thailand) than later Thai examples.
Before restoration.
After restoration in the 1850’s.
Pre wedding photos of the bride and groom.
Rental car.
Or maybe a bicycle or two. Or 500!
This stupa was originally Hindu and was later modified to include Buddhist iconography.
In all of these sites these pillars would have supported a wooden roof and sides. Making them either a monastery learning area or a worship center.
Thermoplastic kettle truck. It appears to me that this newly striped road was completely done with hand liners. And they do the layout the same way as I saw in Bhutan. Lay a rope down and follow it. Skip lengths appear to be marked with chalk. And all of their line work is amazingly straight and all curves are smooth.
Metal incased reflective marker. And a leaf!
No need to translate.
I am flying to Myanmar tomorrow via Bangkok. More to come in a couple of days.
Peru - The Amazon 