We could have caught one of the numerous songthaews going to the Old Sukhotai (Bh20/pers) but we decided to rent a motorbike to be able to explore the countryside in the afternoon. We got an automatic for the day (12hr for Bh250) from one of the guesthouses in town. It took us 15min to drive the 12km to the Old Sukhotai. The entrance to the historical park is Bh40/pers plus Bh20 for the motorbike. The temples are in a much better stage than the one in Kamphaeng Phet but there are much more tourists...we arrived at 9am and it was already too late...we wished we wouldn't have been lazy and got up a bit earlier to arrive when the park opens. The biggest temple is the Wat Mahathat but the one we preferred was the Khmer temple, the Wat Si Savai, as it has a lot of charm and less tourists! The other temples like Wat Tra Phang Ngoen and the Wat Sa Si are quickly visited, in fact 2h is plenty of time to visit the Historical Centre.
In the afternoon we went to other nearby temples. First to the nice and quiet Wat Phra Phai Luang and the impressive giant Buddha of the Wat Si Chum that are located just outside of the walls of the Old Town (common ticket, Bh30). Then we went to the Wat Saphan Hin 4km West of the Old town (Bh30 entrance fee) but it was not really worth it. The only thing is that after climbing the steep path leading to the temple we had a nice view on the countryside. This was our last temple visit of the day as we were saturated, we had seen too many temples within the last couple of days!
It was nice to go around the temples with a scooter, but it can also be done easily with a bicycle...there are hundreds of bicycles for rent next to the historical centre.
Back at our guesthouse we had some rest before starting our exploration of the countryside. We simply drove through the narrow dirt tracks going to the rice fields and we had a great time. We saw farmers working in their fields... they all wondered how come those two girls ended up on the side of their field but they all smiled to us. All the kids were laughing seeing us, waved and said hello. Our exploration took us to a little group of houses where we stopped as Gosia spotted a "pancake man", one of those guys driving around with their motorbike to which is attached a trailer equipped to cook pancakes. For Bh5 Gosia got a nice crepe with sugar and for Bh10 Laurence got a crepe with egg...and sugar at the top! A family was playing bingo in front of their house and we could guess that they were talking about us wondering how come we ended up on the front of their house. Gosia gave them more to talk about as she nearly drove into a tree and zig-zagged in the sand with the scooter before managing to get back on the road! Well this was a fantastic experience which allowed us to discover a bit more the day to day life of the Thai people in the countryside. We saw a lot of very poor houses, but the people were all very smiley.
In the afternoon we went to other nearby temples. First to the nice and quiet Wat Phra Phai Luang and the impressive giant Buddha of the Wat Si Chum that are located just outside of the walls of the Old Town (common ticket, Bh30). Then we went to the Wat Saphan Hin 4km West of the Old town (Bh30 entrance fee) but it was not really worth it. The only thing is that after climbing the steep path leading to the temple we had a nice view on the countryside. This was our last temple visit of the day as we were saturated, we had seen too many temples within the last couple of days!
It was nice to go around the temples with a scooter, but it can also be done easily with a bicycle...there are hundreds of bicycles for rent next to the historical centre.
Back at our guesthouse we had some rest before starting our exploration of the countryside. We simply drove through the narrow dirt tracks going to the rice fields and we had a great time. We saw farmers working in their fields... they all wondered how come those two girls ended up on the side of their field but they all smiled to us. All the kids were laughing seeing us, waved and said hello. Our exploration took us to a little group of houses where we stopped as Gosia spotted a "pancake man", one of those guys driving around with their motorbike to which is attached a trailer equipped to cook pancakes. For Bh5 Gosia got a nice crepe with sugar and for Bh10 Laurence got a crepe with egg...and sugar at the top! A family was playing bingo in front of their house and we could guess that they were talking about us wondering how come we ended up on the front of their house. Gosia gave them more to talk about as she nearly drove into a tree and zig-zagged in the sand with the scooter before managing to get back on the road! Well this was a fantastic experience which allowed us to discover a bit more the day to day life of the Thai people in the countryside. We saw a lot of very poor houses, but the people were all very smiley.
