Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai, via Sukothai, by road.

Tony Eagle Eye left us and York, our next guide and driver 'Sunset' (Sunrise a possible better option?) picked us up, at the slightly more civilized time of 9 am. Of to a good start we thought.
Ayutthaya was an earlier capital, before the Bangkok was drained and canalled and the better port attracted the development of the present capital. Prior to that, boat traffic from abroad approached Ayuthaya by river and it was a vey major far east trading centre. In the 13th century an island region in the city was built as an imperial enclave, and filled with riches and the greatest of the architectural heritage at the time. Wonderful courtyards, soaring stupas and prangs (constructions with a religious or cultural purpose, such as housing a relic of the Buddha), and magnificent Buddha statues, enormous, stone and plaster constructed and originally gold covered. This imperial site was ransacked by Burmese invaders who smashed what they could but often leaving the Buddhas, except for lighting fires around them to melt off the gold. Once abandoned the site was overcome with vegetation until cleared and opened as a world heritage site, in recent times. A tremendous thrill to walk through this wonderful old city, some parts relatively intact others almost leveled to the ground.

We drove to Sukhothai, further north, and the next day visited a similar location - about a 13th century city centre, protected by moat and wall and being a royal precinct and a working Buddhist temple complex in it's day. We say Buddhist but it's much more complex as Thailand was a melting pot of incoming influences and seemed to us to be some incomprehensible amalgam of Hindu, Buddhist, Khymer and pagan superstitions. Wonderfully colorful, rich and exotic! Sukhothai, unlike Ayutthaya, has not been physically smashed by invasion so only the ravages of time had eroded it to it's current state. Valuables had been looted and gold burned off the statues but otherwise it felt more intact and we adored wandering it's atmospheric, powerfully structured, formally laid out buildings and grounds. Not many people about and a treat for the camera!

The final drive north was through increasingly hilly terrain, with family sized plots of rice fields and other produce. We drove into the northern city of Chiang Mai, with two days available before the next National Park trip with Tony and Aoy was to begin.