Thailand Getaway Self Drive ~ Day 2 ~ Sukhothai – 25 Dec 2016.
We checked out from 42C The Chic Hotel at Nakhon Sawan in the morning and moved toward Sukhothai, about 185km drive.
Amazon Cafe, Gas station, 7 Eleven on Highway to Sukhothai
We started our journey at about 9am plus and we were targeting to reach our destination after lunch. The road to Sukhothai is really smooth and there is no traffic or whatsoever. Self Driving in Thailand was such an enjoyable fun thing to do. We normally stopped for a rest in the middle of our journey to take a toilet and coffee break at the gas station. Most of the time, there is this cafe called “Amazon Cafe” in the Gas station. The coffee or chocolate drink cost about 50-60 Baht each, Amazon cafe has it own branding and packaging, it is just similar to those chain cafe like Starbuck or Coffee Bean. We also had mini macaron in Amazon Cafe. The toilets in the Gas station were far better than I expected. Throughout the 8days self driving in the highway of Thai, I realized that if you wanted some decent toilets and coffee, please look for Amazon Cafe in Gas Station. Normally there will be also a Seven Eleven convenient stall next to the Amazon Cafe, if you need some snack in the car. Amazon Cafe can be found in most of the highway gas station. Oh yes, you can also ask for their free wifi if you need to use your phone.
- Sukhothai Legendha Hotel
We arrived at Sukhothai city at around noon and we had our lunch first before proceed to check in the Sukhothai Legendha Hotel. We checked in the hotel at around 2pm and the room was not ready yet so we walked around the hotel to check it out. Oh my.. this was one of the best hotel of my 8 days stay in Thailand.
The surrounding and the environment is just too beautiful. I can hear the natural sound of waterfall and some birds chirping. Listening to the waterfall is a great way to wash my daily worries away: close my eyes or lie down, and let the natural sound permeate my mind. I almost fell asleep on the that bench on the entrance.
Legendha Sukhothai Hotel is on the bank of Mae Rampan Canal, just a 10-minute drive to Sukhothai Historic Park. I am glad that we were driving as the historical Park is just so huge to walk. But if you like outdoor cycling, you can always rent a bicycle and cycle around the park, I can assure you it is definitely a good exercise.
The hotel room that we stayed was quite traditional with the wooden floor and the surrounding was with canal, temple or courtyard views. It was just so beautiful and I could not stop taking pictures as I can see so many beautiful details in this hotel.
- Small Sukhothai Ruins behind Sukhothai Legendha Hotel
Behind the hotel, there is another entrance door and it link to another Sukhothai Ruins, it was not big like the main one in the historical park, but it was just right behind the Sukhothai Legendha hotel. I am glad we found this small ruins, it was special with the elephant heads decorated around, but not a single person were there when we visited it. It is just 2 mins walk from the hotel back door. I could take nice pictures without any tourists flooding or blocking my picture.
Similar dresses at ever-pretty.com
I find it special compared to the one I saw before because it has Elephant head and its half body decorated around the bottom of the “bell” shape ruin.
The weather was too hot so I took the yellow umbrella in the hotel room to shield me from the sun burn. This ruins behind the hotel is very small and nothing much compared to the main one in the Sukhothai Historical Park.
After visiting this small ruins which is just behind the Sukhothai Legendha Hotel, we took some rest in the hotel room and headed to today’s highlight at around 4pm. The weather is unbearable hot.
- Sukhothai Historical Park – today’s highlight
We drove about 5 min to reach the city, which is a popular tourist destination because it is located near the ruins of the ancient city of Sukhothai, which was the Thai capital during the 13th Century C.E. The historical Sukhothai was the first capital of Siam founded by King Ramkhamhaeng. The province’s temples and monuments have been restored and Sukhothai Historical Park is an area with numerous sites of historical interest which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Now, the weather is getting cooler. I have to quickly take some pictures before the sunset.
I look really a midget with this Big Magnificent Buddha. I am glad the Buddha is still in good shape. Sukhothai was capital of the first kingdom of Siam established some 800 years ago after that is Ayuthaya, the second Kingdom.
Sukhothai literally means “Dawn of Happiness”.
I heard the best time of the year to see Sukhothai is from November to February when the weather is cooler, but I still find the weather in Dec is pretty hot especially in the afternoon from 11 am to 4 pm.
Another “Bell” shape ruin behind me, there is this little pond with lily pads leaves in front of it which make it a wonderful spot to take a nice snap. Except I am looking a bit plumb here.
Next, we drove for another 5 mins to another spot in the historical park, the park is just too big to walk by foot. The best time to take the picture is in the evening, the below ruins look beautiful, taken at around 5 pm, about sunset timing.
I spotted another big sitting Buddha and the color of the Buddha just look great under the evening sunshine. If you observe closely, the Buddha color actually stands out from the other ruins, the color is brighter compared to the other ruins where the color is darker and dull. Only the Buddha stands out in the picture. The other ruins beside the Buddha – the standing polls look quite dull and the color is bit darker.
I was lucky to bring along the moisy spray as there were loads of moisy flying around me, trying their very best to suck my sweet blood. I was sweating a lot and my body heat is very warm so these moisy love me so much. I sprayed the moisy repellent generously on my whole body and I was free from their attack that evening.
The above picture was the evening view and I can see many ponds with lily pads and some flowers, it was really beautiful, calm and peaceful to be able to enjoy “the moment’. In the historical park, you will find many ponds and lakes here and there which make the park so beautiful.
We wanted to stay for the light up at night as we heard the Historical Park will be light up with candles and lights from 6 pm to 9 pm but we were just too tired and hungry so we give it a miss. We did not stay for the night to get darker and we did not see the “light up” at night. What a shame.
- Dinner at Sukhothai Legendha Hotel
We went back to Sukhothai Legendha Hotel at around 6plus pm and had our dinner at the restaurant. I ordered some traditional local dish to go along with white rice and of course not forgetting the fresh coconut juice to chill down the heat. We also had some local beer.
We chose to go back to the Sukhothai Legendha hotel to have our dinner because we were told there will be some traditional Thai performance at around 7 pm in the hotel restaurant. Actually, there was quite a fair bit of restaurants or eatery near the historical park but I noticed there were too many people and it was kind of crowded. We prefer some privacy so we went back to the hotel to have our dinner. The restaurant is an open area and luckily I had sprayed some moisy repellent so I was not being attacked. There was quite a fair bit of annoying moisy attacking the other people who dine in the restaurant.
The three Thai guys were playing the Thai traditional music instrument. It not very interesting but it definitely adds in some Thai atmosphere. I could feel that I was really eating in a Thai restaurant in Thailand.
Dinner ends at 8 pm + and we had an early rest that night. Walking in the hotel room is a bit noisy because of the wooden floor and the lights are the room was gloomy. Other than that, I was perfectly happy with this hotel.
Day 2 – summary itinerary
- Nakhon Sawan – Sukhothai (185km)
- Highlight – Historica City of Sukhothai – First Siamese capital (Unesco)
- Hotel – Legendha Sukhothai Hotel at Sukhothai
Similar dresses at ever-pretty.com
