Sukhothai Trees
A province of history, roots and a lot of quiet. We visited Sukhothai over a long weekend earlier this year and was very excited to see the ruins, especially after having visited the gorgeous ruins of Ayuthaya multiple times and due to my great love for the Angkor Wat trees.
The spots we looked up before going were your typical tourist spots, but that lasted about half the evening before we decided to drive around and find random spots to enjoy the quieter moments. Skip to the recommendations.
I like ruins, mainly because they are surrounded by trees that are hundreds of years old. You rarely see trees with roots that are taller than you in city areas. With ruins though, they preserve the surrounding area and so the trees are there just hanging, providing shade and looking pretty. So pretty and huge, you feel protected and simply happy. You feel the kind of quiet you only get when nature whispers. You hear the chirps of birds camouflaged into the leaves. You see the biggest red ants that will sting far more than a paper cut. You hear the crunch of huge leaves that have fallen and my goodness is that not the best sound your feet can make? The crunch, the crisp, the fact that those leaves are bigger than the size of your hands. That is your ASMR working for you and without a screen at that!
Our first evening we walked around the main historical park and it was fine. If you want to see ruins in a secured national park, I honestly prefer Ayuthaya. The next morning though, we woke up at 5am to go see the sunrise at ‘Wat Saphan Hin’ and it was the most quiet we felt in a long time. We hiked up the little hill, took in the view of the standing Buddha and forest surrounding it. It was almost eerie, being a city girl and not used to the stillness. When the sky lightened, we saw the lights of the city disappearing, the shapes of the houses coming into focus. It was truly magnificent. I took my soft pastels, something I hadn’t used in years and started sketching the bricks. I think I wanted to explore and share the softness of the ruins and the moment.
Our little drive back from the hill to our hotel was probably my favourite. We spotted birds, found interesting flowers and saw the most beautiful roots I have seen in quite some time. I drew them of course. They actually inspired a whole ‘Trees in Thailand’ collection that will be exhibited at Illustfusion in Siam Paragon next weekend!
After breakfast and a little rest we decided to drive North to Sawankhalok to see all the street art. A tiny little street close to the river, filled with huge and stunning street art. So random and quaint we adored it through our sweatiness.
On our drive back we made a few pit stops, one was to Suntree Weaving Center, they do workshops but we arrived too late in the afternoon to get a full session, though I did get to try my hand at traditional weaving. The ladies were incredible and showed us how cotton was made traditionally. The effort and patience they have compared to our short attention span was truly mesmerising. I gave up far too quickly but bought a cute handmade top to support the sisters.
The other spots were just random temple ruins nestled in the middle of the forest roads, finding them felt like a real life treasure hunt. Thailand in the open forest is so beautiful and surprising.
We wrapped the trip up by checking out large historical kilns ‘Thuriang’ the next morning before heading back to Bangkok. It was refreshing to see ruins in the shape of female genitalia. We are so used to seeing phallic buildings and religious structures, so it was a nice change to see these huge kilns. Plus they were used to ‘birth’ pottery, household utensils and more, how apt considering how the human race is birthed.
The drive down was surrounded by farms and rice fields, which tied up our trip with the perfect green bow.
Recommends:
- Hire a car to access quieter ruins, the more remote areas of Sukhothai.
- Visit Wat Saphan Hin for the sunrise, but be mindful and quiet. Everyone else is also enjoying the quiet
- Drive towards Sawankhalok for the ruins and the street art.
- Definitely check out Suntree Weaving Center.
- Eat lots of Kuay Tiew Sukhothai (Noodle Soup).
- Check out the huge Historical Kilns ‘Thuriang’.
- Try out the pottery, that’s what we think we’ll do next time we are there