Feb. 20 - 22, Old Sukhothai - Si Satchanalai - New Sukhothai: Back on our bikes
Time to get back on the road. We are heading for Si Satchanalai which isn't far, about 65 km, and the road is flat. Heat or no heat - we can do this. Si Satchanalai was the second most important town of the Sukhothai kingdom and the ruins of its temples are now part of the Si Satchanalai Historical Park. 1991 it was declared a World Heritage site, together with the associated historic parks in Kamphaeng Phet (which we will visit next) and Sukhothai.
Road to Si Satchanalai: Here the landscape is dry and the rice fields are brown.
The old city of Si Satchanalai is considered the sister city of historic Sukhothai and existed at the same time as Sukhothai. Three kilometers southeast of the city of Si Satchanalai lies another old historic town called Chaliang (where we find a room), which is believed to already have existed during Khmer rule and is older than Si Satchanalai. Again we are in for some fascinating ruins.
An aerial photograph of Chaliang, site of the earliest temples, located on the oxbow shaped bend in the Yom River and about three kilometers from the main temples.
As with Sukhothai, there is an Old Si Satchanalai, the site of the original city, and a New Si Satchanalai ten kilometers down the road which we don't visit. Si Satchanalai is not as popular as Sukhothai and we see few signs of tourism. Any visitors who do come will usually make it a one-day outing from Sukhothai.
The guesthouse mentioned in Lonely Planet no longer exists at the address listed. We only discover the place at the end of our stay on the way out of town on the other side of the river - but then it is too late. That was a good thing although we don't realize it at the time. We think we may have found something when we see a sign "homestay" - but give up when we can't wake the granny taking her afternoon nap in front of the house.
After many inquiries at different stands at the market we are led to a private room which exceeds all our expectations. It's a little air-conditioned bungalow set in a beautiful garden, complete with swimming pool and orchids - for 15 Euros. Hit the jackpot again. We decide on the spot to stay two nights and take our time at the impressive ruins.
We are very fortunate and surprised to find this exceptional guesthouse in the simple little town of Si Satchanalai.
As customary as salt and pepper in the west: to season your food you can add hot, sour, sweet and salty in the form of dried chilis, fresh chilis in vinegar, sugar (Thais add a touch of sugar even to salty dishes) and fish sauce.
We dump our bags, get cleaned up and get back on our bikes which are again indispensable for getting around the area.
I can't remember seeing any other tourists while we are there and it never bothers us to leave our bikes unattended, sometimes we lock them, sometimes we don't.
Si Satchanalai was also an important center for ceramic production and many kilns are scattered around the area. There are even large shards, I imagine many centuries old, lying around.
For our ride back to Sukhothai we choose a larger road on the other side of the river which will bring us directly to New Sukhothai. Here we will spend the night and then catch a bus to Kamphaeng Phet.
We crossed this bridge leaving Si Satchanalai and rode back to Sukhothai on the other side of the river.
