After spending the day in the bus I finely arrive in Sukhothai. I am not alone as I joined Valérie and Kenzo I met at the Ayuthaya guesthouse. They had a reservation already in Sukhothai so I decided to follow them and check for availability at their place. Great, they have spare rooms, and we even had rooms next to each others on the first floor of a bungalow with a large terrace just for us.
It is raining like hell so we decided to stay there chilling out for the rest of the day drinking Singha’s ….
Next morning it is time to discover what was the first capital of Siam after being part of a khmer empire until beginning of the XIII century.
The weather is dry but still covered. I take the local bus that goes from the new town where we are staying at the guesthouse to the historical park and the old city. The historical park is a “closed park” that was previously the city surrounded by walls. It counts not more then 21 historical sites inside the walls, and even more in the surroundings. To be able to see it all I decide to hire a bike at the entrance of the park to easily go from one to the other.
I am impressed already at the first sight. It is in such a good conservation, everything is just beautiful. I must say it is probably better then Ayuthaya. Also the way it has been preserved within a closed district with only the ruins and nothing else gives a total different atmosphere.
During my tour I came across Valérie and Kenzo who also hired a bike.
After a few hours in the park I decide to go. It looks like they are organising an event for the evening so I will come back later.
In fact I did not came back that evening. I decided to relax and find a nice place for dinner. As the main event is the next day, I rather come back in late afternoon and stay for the evening in the historical park the next day.
Back at the guesthouse, I join my two Belgian friends on the terrace where we chat about the day and our feelings compared to Ayuthaya. In fact we all agree it is much better and that we are more impressed by this site.
As I decided to go in the afternoon, i chilled out during the morning and took the opportunity to write a few words for the blog.
Round 4 Pm I go back to the historical parK with lots of illusions. The evening light is beautiful, it has been a wonderful sunny day, and I am looking forward to see the temples, Buddhas again with the evening coming down.
I was not wrong the light was perfect, and the event added more colours to the site. The evening coming down after the sun had disappeared and the artificial lights tuned on to lit up the ruins created a magic moment.
I was so amazed and could not stop to look all around me.
Once dark had covered the site it became a coloured painting with light as main subject. Candles everywhere, people letting their candle in the water as a prayer. It was a magic moment. Also a choral started to sing, all holding candles, surrounded by flames in front of the big Buddha all lit with candles. I felt so privileged to live this moment and be part of it.
After a few hours walking around I decide to go out and have dinner in front of the Historical park in a local restaurant. As I am eating my Pad Thai I receive a message from Axelle and Amandine the two french backpackers I met in Ayuthaya one evening on my way back to my guesthouse. “Hi Tristan are you in Chiang Mai already?” Well it changed completely my plan for the evening and the night…
