about We are Akila and Patrick. Our minds (and waistlines) expand as we travel, cook, and eat our way around the world with our two dogs.
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sukhothai in sepia
filtered ruins

Wat Mathatat

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 in trees

Buddha among trees at Wat Traphang Tong

Wat Mahathat Buddha Buddha at Wat Mathatat
Serene Buddha at Sukhothai Buddha at Wat Mahathat
Buddha at Wat Mahathat

Elephants on post

Elephants on base of stupa

Buddha at Wat Mathatat Buddha feet at Sukhothai

Buddha feet at Wat Mahathat

Moldings at Sukhothai

Nagas and devas carved into stone

Wat Si Siwai at Sukhothai

Wat Si Siwai

Wat Si Chum Buddha Wat Si Chum Buddha hand
Wat Si Chum hand Wat Si Chum Buddha

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

Sukhothai from afar

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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We are not the sort of folk who try to pat ourselves on the back but . . . . we are excited to be featured as Travel Blog Site of the Day over at TravelBlogSites.com .  Louise does an amazing job putting together a collection of great travel blog sites around the 'net and I recommend checking her site out.