Sukhotai, Birthplace of Thailand

It's amazing just how lazy some tourists can be. The old city inside the city walls is packed with temples, all close together and all have the attractive feel of a city park. There are throngs of Western tourists along with throngs of Thai tourists. Well, I had rented a bicycle, and at one point ended up outside the city walls by accident. Blessing-in-disguise #2. I was starting to think I had left Sukhotai when I saw more rice paddies than temples. Then when three children yelled "Hello" and started waving and laughing, I knew I had left the tourist trail. So I got my Moon Guide to Thailand out of my back pack and tried to figure out where I was. I ran across a passage that read, "A bike ride along the [road] is a wonderful experience... Children wave and suddenly you feel light-years away from the commercialism of historic Sukhotai." Okay, so I was still in the Sukhotai region. Having read that I peddled on and soon came across several ruined temples. They were fascinating. I could wander all around them, with nothing to stop anyone from exploring. And yet, not one Western tourist in sight! As I rode through the checker-board of rice paddies a 60-foot high, 11th century chedi came soaring into view. Now, there had to be tourists there, I figured. Wrong. As I peddled down the access road I passed one solitary tourist, an elderly Thai lady on a motor-bike. The chedi was all alone, while not more than two kilometers away were huge crowds of tourists. I did see some Thai tourists at a few of the temples, but that was it. The effort in getting there was not great, and the ride more than made up for it. It was a wonderful ride through rice paddies, jungle, and tiny villages. Children waved while men herded water buffalo. Just outside the walls of the ancient city, life in rural Thailand continued as it has for centuries. Well, except for the fact that one of the buffalo herders was listening to the radio.

Ruined chedies and temples.

East of the walled city there are several temples at the tops of hills. They mostly had crumbling stairs to the top which made it more rock scrambling than climbing. One climbs through moderately dense jungle, then, all of a sudden, you find yourself face to face with a 30-foot standing Buddha. On another there is a lovely chedi with higher mountains as a backdrop. The monks who served in the temples inside the walled city tended to study scripture more than meditate and were active in the community. The ones who served in temples on hills or in the forest spent more time meditating and were often separated from the community. The same thing is true of any Thai city today. When I got back to the walled city and saw the throngs of tourists, I couldn't help thinking, "What are you doing spending all your time here?"

Back in the guesthouse I found that the shower had no hot water. Blessing-in-disguise # 3. After cycling all day in tropical heat, do you really think I wanted a hot shower?

Buddha statue on a hill outside the city walls.

Lady praying at the ruins.

Robert Wilson is an English teacher in northern Thailand. Pictures of his travels can be seen at photos.yahoo.com/robert_92122.

Other stories in this series:

Brunei: The Abode of Peace
A Glimpse of "Last Time" in Borneo
Finding Religions—Plenty of Them—in Kuala Lumpur
Luang Phabang: The Lao Fairy-tale City
From Monkey to Monk
Along Cambodia's Backroads
Listening to the Rice Grow:   A Journey Up the Nam Ou River in Laos (Part 1 and Part 2)

Don't miss future articles from Robert in our continuing series, Window on Southeast Asia.

© 2003 by Robert Wilson

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