Exploring Sukhothai’s Royal Ruins
Sukhothai Historical Park is a huge complex, something like 27 miles square. It’s split into multiple sections, and each section is 100 baht / $3 USD entry fee.
I visited the central section which is both closest to my hotel and houses the five most popular wat. I meant to take a borrowed bicycle from my guesthouse but chickened out at the last minute– I haven’t been on a bike for something like 5 years and I didn’t want my first time back on one to be in a foreign country without a helmet. ;P
The Historical Park was really pretty! It’s well maintained and perfectly developed for tourists to roam around looking at things. There are paved pathways to all the temples, and the grounds are kept trimmed and clean. Most people rent bikes and use them to get around the park, but you can also rent a golf cart (150 baht from nearby business) or take an electric tram (additional 60 baht).
Most tourists I saw were on bicycles, which makes sense as it’s a beautiful area to ride around in. And if you’re planning on visiting more than one section in the same day, taking bicycles to the other parts is a great idea.
I enjoyed walking around looking at the sites. There’s some reconstructed areas which helped highlight the differences between these buildings and the ones I saw in Ayutthaya. They also had a LOT of Buddha statues, including some absolutely huge ones in Wat Si Sawai.
It would’ve been more time-efficient to take a bicycle around the park, but I managed well enough on my two feet. I ran into a few tour groups a few times, but overall it was fairly empty and peaceful. I spent maybe three hours walking around and enjoying the park before it got too hot and I headed back to the guesthouse for lunch and rest.
Later on I met up with a German traveler I’d met in Ayutthaya and we had a delicious dinner at a local restaurant. Once again we were the only people there for over an hour– low season really is a killer here.
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