A day in Sukhothai, the old capital of Siam

Ancient Temples in Thailand

Since I first traveled to Thailand I always liked Sukhothai and in the years that I am living here I did return many times. Of course Sukhothai is famous for being the first capital city of Siam (as Thailand was known until 1932). Nowadays Sukhothai consists of 2 parts, the new little city and 12km west of it the ruins of the ancient city of Sukhothai "Sukhothai Historical Park", an World Heritage Site. The modern city of Sukhothai is still a upcountry relaxed small city with not much real big buildings or shopping-malls. And that is what I still like about it. Just to walk over the vegetable market or look people in the afternoon in the small public park. There are many nice guesthouses in the city to enjoy and experience real local Thai life. Just rent a bicycle or motorbike and explorer the city and its surroundings.

Ancient Temples in Thailand
The old city can easily be reached by motorbike or public bus. Go in the afternoon or very early morning when the colors are much more beautiful. The historical park is actually very big and temple ruins are spread over a big distance, although the most beautiful ones are within a radius of 2km. Near the entrance of the park you can rent bicycles to visit the park or you can take a electric tram. It is really impressive to see how people centuries before did build all this without the modern tools we have now. If you are really interested in more historical parks like this, about 50km south of Sukhothai is Kemphang Phet Historical Park and about 30 km north is Sri Satchanalai Historical Park.

If you want to see something else, something weird then you have to go to a temple just north of the new city of Sukhothai. Here at this temple a monk with a vision has build a "Park of Heaven and Hell" to warn people what will happen to you when you do bad things in your life. It is really amazing to see how openly are shown the bad things. Actually there is much more to do in Sukhothai area like making all day biking trips along the rice-fields and farmer villages or make trekking in the nearby mountains.



🌍 Mueang Kao, Mueang Sukhothai District, Sukhothai, Thailand

Popular Posts

Another first step of the rice season 2020 in Pua

Image
When at the moment traveling in North Thailand you will see farmers preparing for the next rice season. I did write about it last week, it is that time of the year again, juist before the real raining season begins. The local farmers of Ban Hia are preparing the rice fields for the next season. The first thing is that the rice fields are cleared of the remains from the previous harvest of corn, vegetables, garlic, etc. Unfortunately most of that remains are burned. Then the rice fields are plowed and filled one time with water. Then they will plant rice that later will be replanted into a paddy with water. Now there are different ways of doing this first phase of the rice planting. Here you will see that the rice is first grown at home in containers and this containers are now put on the rice fields. And then covered with a screening. Following are more photos, all photos are made right in front of our homestay Non Na Pua. For more information about Nan province see Destination Trave…
Read more

A rainy afternoon in Pua

Image
Sorry still no real traveling photos, although inter-provincial traveling is now possible in Thailand. The month June as begin of the raining season with in the first days of June rain at night and early morning. Mid June not much rain anymore, actually the forecast for June is 11% less rain as normal. And then on a sunny & hot afternoon we suddenly had a 20min rain front passing Pua. I love the rain. So this are again 2 Balcony Photos, this time not with a sunset/sunrise but with rain. For more about Pua have a look at Everything About Pua in North Thailand.


Read more

First step of the rice season 2020 in Pua

Image
It is that time of the year again, juist before the real raining season begins. The local farmers of Ban Hia are preparing the rice fields for the next season. The first thing is that the rice fields are cleared of the remains from the previous harvest of corn, vegetables, garlic, etc. Unfortunately most of that remains are burned. Then the rice fields are plowed and some paddies are filled with water. Living near the mountains there is always water. This is done a bit early so frog will start to live in the water, what gives at night a wonderful frog concert. Of course the local farmers will eat the frog, especially the very young frogs. So you will see people with fishing nets walking thru the water. While in the meanwhile a group of farmers is working on 1 dry piece of paddy. This will stay dry and will be used to grown the first stage of the rice plants. How? Well first with a big stick holes are punched into the soil. Then a lady comes and puts a small hand-full of rice grains i…
Read more

An early morning at Non Na Pua Homestay in Pua

Image
After a comfortable night sleep you wake-up at Non Na Pua, open your window and over loop the rice fields & mountains of Doi Phu Kha. Due to Covid19 Non Na Pua Homestay closed begin February 2020 and will open its doors again at 1 July 2020. Come and enjoy the green season in Pua, North Thailand. Non Na Pua offers special promotion for returning customers, booking directly or for booking more as 2 days. You can find Non Na Pua between the villages Ban Hia and Ban Ket, just 4 km away from Pua in Nan province, North Thailand. To book directly with Non Na Pua send a message via Facebook Messenger or Line Messenger. Or send an email to Booking @ Non Na Pua.




Read more

Visiting The Signature at NaN in Nan town

Image
The Signature at NaN is located between the rice fields at the village Ban Nam Tuan, just 1 km from Nan town. And it is not only a luxury accommodation but also a Coffee Shop serving hot & cold drinks + cakes & snacks.

Information of The Signature at NaNBan Nam Tuan, east side of Nan River.Facebook : The Signature at NaNRoom rate : 1.000 - 3.000 Thai baht incl. breakfastRestaurant : Serving only cakes & snacksSwimming pool : NoPrivate parking : YesNumber of rooms : 6 standard (32 sqm) and 2 deluxe (50 sqm)TIPCheck available accommodation atBOOKING or AGODA


Read more

A dragon with money at Wat Nong Bua

Image
Temples are always a good place to make photos, like at the Wat Nong Bua in Ban Nong Bua, about 45 km north of Nan city in North Thailand. A beautiful temple with old Tai Lue murals. And at the entrance of the temple are dragons to protect the temple. And people put coins in the open mouth of the dragon, of course for good luck. Because this temple is far out of town not many tourists do visit this temple. And that is why I like this temple. Highly recommended! For more information about Nan province see Destination Travel Guide Nan province, North Thailand.


Read more

Second step of the rice season 2020 in Pua

Image
In my serie of farming this week the farmers started with the second step of the rice season of this year. You might remember the posting about the first step where the farmers plant rice on small dry plots of land. Well that was 2 weeks ago and the rice has been growing fast to small size now. So now begins the second step and that is replanting this rice on bigger plot of land that are full of water. Here that is done very carefully and the rice is planted in rows. In the early morning a group of farmers meet to first take the small rice out of the small plot of land and make small bundles of them. Then they are brought to a larger plot of land with water, most times just next to the small plot of land. And then the rice bundles are planted in small parts in a line. After one plot is done the all group of farmers move to the next plot from another farmer. Following are more photos of rice farming in Pua, all made by my wife while having a chat with the farmers. For more information…
Read more

Yes it is Pua again

Image
Photo above is route 101 in Pua town and overlooking the mountains of Doi Phu Kha. As you see there is some road construction going on. It looks like they are going to make the road in town bigger (more lanes) as they did remove a part of the trees that were between the roads. Gone are the beautiful yellow flowers of the trees that were a signature of Pua town. The good thing is that with that trees probably also the hundreds of birds sleeping there are gone. The following photos are a bit more countryside of Pua. And sorry but again a sunrise balcony shot photo. For more about Pua have a look at Everything About Pua in North Thailand.





Read more

Did the raining season of 2020 finally begin?

Image
Two days ago we had some rain and yesterday was a reasonable cool day, only 35℃. The forecast for last night was rain but that did not materialise until this early morning when the sky was dark and we finally had a lot of rain. And it looks like we are going to have more rain today. We hope that the forecast of more rain following week will true. Rain will clear the sky, stop the burning and is good for the farmers & our garden. And the views over the rice fields will be beautiful!
Read more

The Corona Crisis in Thailand

Image
Writing 3 July 2020 it seems that at some places in the world the Corona Crisis calms down. And looking to the covid-19 numbers in Thailand it looks OK here. But it have been a few months of Staying Home and we had to close our homestay for a few months. We are just opening this month again. And as Nan province is for 95% Thai tourisme we do not really notice that there are no foreigner tourists. And well I did loose a few jobs abroad, and there ain't going to be jobs for me this year. So yes we are effected also and the Corona Crisis did change our life a bit. Like ordering food, we now have FoodMan in Pua and we order many time our lunch. Very easy. And because many people became unemployed in Bangkok, Phuket or wherever also many young people came back to their hometown. Also in Pua you see now more young people and some started a new business here, like the FoodMan. And a few nice new western style restaurants. So it is not all bad and I hope the new business will succeed. An…
Read more