Before leaving Sukhothai yesterday, we visited the Sukhothai Historic Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the way, 22 of us crammed in a wooden songthaew (taxi) with a capacity of maybe 12 for the 12 km ride. A couple of young men stood on the back bumper. The rest of us sat on one cheek. We rented bikes when we got there. The park covers what was the regional capital of first "Thai" kingdom 800 years ago. Inside there were 193 ruins including the royal palace and twenty-six temples.
The largest temple was Wat Mahathat. Imagine this (and all of the ruins with columns) with a huge lanna-style (pagoda-like) roof on top. All of the ruins appeared to have been constructed either of stone or brick covered in stucco. The majority of the stucco is gone now, but I imagine in its day the capital was spectacular.
On the way back there were only 10 of us in a larger wooden tuk-tuk. Note the air conditioning fan.
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