Sukhothai

The massive temple complex of Old Sukhothai is considered to be a mini Angkor Wat which the guide books says is resented by locals, whatever. I can't comment on the comparison as I'm no longer going to Cambodia due to an extended stay in China studying Kung Fu and living in a monastery... there'll be more on that later.

The temples are quite beautiful and regardless of the poor weather we had for most of the day we rented bikes to make the most of it. By far bikes are the best way to see the ruins as some of them are kilometers from the main sites. I'm not going to explain much of them as I don't know much more than that they are from the time when the Khmer empire ruled far and wide. The Khmer's are also responsible for Angkor Wat, hence the comparison. There are so much too these temples, with oft repeating themes, that you may notice a bit a repetition. To be honest, this post could have over a thousand photos and I'd still only cover a fraction of the structures, bas reliefs, statues, etc.

You could feed the fish in one of the ponds with food purchased at one of the temples, typical of the buddhist philosophy it was an honor system. Starting with a still surface, once the first pellet of food hit the surface it erupted with hords of catfish attempting to feast.

Workers clearing weeds by hand and hoe.

The grounds also serve as pastures for grazing cows, kept in check with the deadly accuracy of a sling shot I would have envied as a child... still do to be honest.

Our rides.

One of the first novice monks we saw... rocking the robe with a cigarette.

On our way back to town we passed this friendly woman collecting long grass from the side of a road. You often see many people doing the same, I think for animal food for cows but I've never actually found out exactly what it's used for. Though in Bali they collected something similar for the daily offerings, here there are no offerings.

So we heard from a taxi driver that Sukhothai is now flooded, we weren't surprised. Jacqueline took this photo when we were out getting dinner of the river level and sandbags.