Roland's Travelog: Beautiful Buddha & Ancient Sukothai

I left Ayutthaya and took the train to Pitshanulok. Getting onto the train you had to take a huge jump up from the platform onto the train. Normally no problem for a flexible, agile guy like me, but with a rucksack on my back and a bag of food in hand, my leap resulted in tearing my trousers, badly. And at the front too! Anyway, they had lasted well for a 4 dollar pair from the 'green market' in Almaty, I couldn't complain. So, holding my bag of food in the right place to 'cover up', I shuffled to my seat and luckily being at the back of the carriage and sitting alone, I don't think anyone noticed when I dived into my bag, found a pair of shorts and sneaked into the toilets to change. Embarassing.

Phitsanulok, so what's there? you might ask. Well according to everyone in Thailand, Phitsanulok is home to the most beautiful and revered Buddha statue in the country, Phra Phuttha Chinnarat. Its home is Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat, or known more simply by its local name Wat Yai.

Left: Fruit sellers outside Phitsanulok's busy market
Right: Thailand's most revered Buddha statue in Wat Yai.

My hostel was East of the centre and had a nice outside bar with live music just a short walk away, where the staff were quite amused to see me. As usual the Thai hospitality was warm and friendly but here where tourists are less frequent and English is not always spoken it was funny to see them a little scared to serve me until one brave young girl who spoke some English decided to step up to the challenge. From the hostel to the temple was a longish walk through the town, past markets, the station packed lined with tuk-tuks and along the river, it's an OK town but nothing special. Wat Yai, though was packed, Thai families, couples, school children and visitors from all over Thailand wandering around the grounds making offerings at each altar, then inside the main temple, everyone kneeling on the floor praying and photographing. Though I can't explain exactly why this Buddha image is the most revered of its kind in Thailand, it is quite impressive and no matter what my impression is, you can be sure the Thai people will still flock from all around the country to visit.

Onto Sukothai. I thought I would be staying in new Sukothai far from the historical ruins, but luckily the lady selling bus tickets at the station suggested there was now accomodation in old Sukothai, so I took a chance. And, right where the bus droppped me off were two or three guesthouses, perfect. They also had cafes, hired bikes and were located just metres from the amazing, ancient Sukothai ruins. Sukothai was from 1257 the original capital of the first Thai Kingdom until it was overtaken by Ayuthaya. Majority of ruins are in a beuatifully designed, enclosed park, with lovely scenes, day and night. Some others are further out, in all directions from the centre, in total over 90 sites within a 5km radius, the number of temple sites is mesmorising. The highlight here is Wat Mahathat in the centre if the park, which is where I started early one morning. It took a whole day, non-stop cycling, walking and gazing, and quite some effort to see all I wanted to see. Two days would have been far more sensible and relaxed, but I saw enough, maybe around 75% of the sites listed from maps and guides. Skipped by many on the Thailand tourist trail in favour of the more accessible Ayuthaya, I would suggest that apart from a couple of gems in Authaya, overall Sukothai is a far more rewarding journey to make.