Sunburn, bike rides and temple ruins

We chose to stop at Sukhothai on our way to Bangkok one because it was near enough in the middle but also because of the historical park it has. The park holds Thailand's oldest temples and stupas in the country and with that in mind we were shocked by how little tourists there were there. We wondered how the many small shops and food places stay open with hardly any people visiting the area let alone customers who want their services or goods. After a 15km tuktuk ride we found out that unlike Angkor Wat tuktuks are not allowed in the park so instead we hired bikes to ride around on. It was already very hot so after visiting the main temple we went to a cafe to have a drink and some snacks as breakfast. The temples are very ruined but they also have the strong feeling of being reconstructed and there's no stone flooring conecting all the rooms or areas but instead grass with a stone path made for visitors. It feels more structured than other ruined temples we have been to. After a short break we carried on and visited the other main temples on this inside site. We decided we needed lunch by this point and with the weight of the sun bearing down on us we went to a food place that we probably wouldn't go at all normally. We stuck to vegetarian so fingers crossed we'll be alright. Upon looking at the shops we saw a postcard with a huge Buddha on it and using the name on the card managed to find it on the map. Armed with this location in mind we set off for the North outskirts of the site. It was a little bit cheeky that you have to buy another ticket to access the North section and same again for any other section that isn't central. It was worth it for the giant Buddha that greeted us upon arrival though. It seemed like visitors had rubbed the hand with gold leaf as we had seen worshipers doing before in Chiang Mai. There was only one other main temple to visit on this section and after this point we felt like we were burning in the sun so we decided to head back to town. We managed to get the bike hire woman to call us a tuktuk and after eating at the same restuarant as we did last night, which is actually called Poo Restuarant, we headed back to pack and to catch up on the latest Britain's Got Talent. We know how to live! The sunburn is appallingly bad. Our Vietnamese factor 60 suncream has failed us and now lives in our lovely guesthouse bin.Read more