The Old City of Sukhothai

Sukhothai Historical Park showcases the first capital city of Thailand -- a period of about 150 years beginning in the late 1200s.  Styles from the Khmer period (Cambodia) remain but many Hindu concepts also appear.  The size and style of the central towers evolves; the look of the Buddha changes.  But water remains a key element and all temples are aligned to the cardinal directions.

Wat Mahathat -- the spiritual epicenter of the ancient city.
The standing pillars held up roofs for various buildings.

Different facial features on the Buddha and note the top "flame"

Thai school children on a field trip.  Temples look like a mini version of Angkor Wat...a really mini version.

Early appearance of the Lotus Bud shaped building dome -- this continually evolved for hundreds of years.

All the tourists rent bikes and ride the Historic Park.  

Statue of King Ramkhamhaeng The Great (1279-1299 or 1316?)
Considered the great king of the Sukhothai Period.  He developed the Thai written language (hence the tablet).
He is obviously still venerated by the Thai people.

Cycling Sukhothai

The first capital of the Thai nation was in Sukhothai beginning in the mid 13th century close to the time the Khmer influence waned.  Many buildings from the "old city" remain and can be explored.

But before any more temple treks, we decided to explore a bit of the Thai countryside, by bike!  Estimates are that 60-70% of Thais are still engaged in some sort of subsistence agriculture, so we signed up for a countryside tour.  This gave us a chance for some insight into Thailand apart from Bangkok or other tourism meccas.  We saw everything from mushroom farming to catfish smoking to chili picking to rice whiskey brewing.  It was a great day & a lovely change in pace.

We were a group of 6 with a guide -- he was Thai/French/Dutch and told great stories!

Growing mushrooms in plastic bags!  

The pink (duck) eggs have been fermented!  The process several months.  The eggs are colored so you know what you buy!

A contraption for pumping water from the river into the irrigation canals

Taking care of the fighting cocks!  Bathing them & giving medicine, etc.  

Tabacco!

Threading tabacco leaves up to dry

Rice Whiskey...so very much cheaper than beer so it is the Thais drink of choice

Thai Cooking Class

Sweet, sour, salt, and spicy.  Sounds like Thai cooking....so we went to a class to explore the intracacies of making all those wonderful curries and stir fries.  Each student picks a dish in each category (stir fry, soup, appetizer, and curry) and makes it; after each course the students eat and taste all the dishes!  The best part was someone else did the clean up!!

One of many cooking schools in Chiang Mai

Class begins with a market tour

The first of our 4 courses (each a dinner in itself).  Seafood stir fry and Pad Thai

Getting ready to chop!

Alan made up yummy spring rolls; opted for Papaya Salad that turned out so spicy my hair caught fire!

What's Up with YOUR Elephant?

It was a day of elephants -- feeding, petting, washing, and watching.  And more feeding and petting.  It takes a lot to make an elephant happy!

We decided to spend the day at an elephant sanctuary where "retired" and "abused" elephants are rescued and cared for.  So lots of time to interact with the elephants but no riding as that is considered "working" for the elephant.  A Thai woman has been running this sanctuary for many years and now has 44 elephants on site (as well as a real menagerie of other animals.)  Many of the elephants were abused while used for logging, trekking, and street begging.

The day began with having everyone feed the elephants from a second story porch.  Elephants learn you "by smell" and thus became familiar with their new caretakers!  Then we were allowed to walk down on the grounds and feed the animals (again.)  When you eat 10% of your body weight every day, it is a lot of eating!  Then we watched the elephants in the river.   Feed them again from the porch.

In the afternoon, we went back down by the river and gave them a bath, mostly throwing water on them.  We walked along the river area and watched them play, first in the water and then throwing dirt on themselves (to protect from the sun.)  We feed them some more; petted them some more.

And that was our day with the elephants.  I have always had a special love for these animals; so this was a day I'll remember for a long time.

Feeding the elephants from a porch; each elephant has a mahout "watching" all the time

Watermelon and pumpkins were the steady diet.

"Go Closer" the guide called out....sure...and here is a pumpkin to show I come in peace!

Mostly the elephant was happy to be eating....but we were into throwing the water!

Sweet girls!

Though the elephants are genetically unrelated, they have formed families and live together.

Clean from the river...time to apply sunscreen, er, dirt.

Doi Inthanon National Park

We flew north out of Bangkok to the city of Chiang Mai.  From there we took a 2 day birding trip to Doi Inthanon National Park -- home to almost half of the known bird species in Thailand.  We had organized a guide -- and with his help we spotted about 100 species!  Some we were able to view for extended periods of time; others just a fraction of a second.  But we went 12 hours a day....and had a great time.

Alan's favorite bird was the Mrs. Gould Sunbird; mine was the Scarlett Minivet.

The highest peak in Thailand is at the Park....morning temps were about 40...

Saw many butterflies along the trail

White Capped River Chat

One of many waterfalls in the park.

Grand Palace Part 2 and Wat Pho

More pictures, more fun, more amazing sights around every corner...

Which way is North?

Are we there Yet?