|
Fifty-seven kilometres upriver from Old Sukhothai stand the ruins of its satellite town Old Si Satchanalai , also now a historical park. Buses leave from opposite the Chinawat Hotel sign on Thanon Charodvithitong in New Sukhothai (every 30min; 1hr); the last bus back leaves Old Si Satchanalai at 4.30pm. Most buses drop passengers near a bicycle rental place 2km from the entrance to the historical park. Bikes cost B30 for the day and are the best way of seeing the ruins. Some buses drop passengers 500m further south, in which case you should follow the track southwest over the River Yom for about 500m to another bicycle rental place, conveniently planted at the junction for the historical park (1500m northwest) and Chalieng (1km southeast). At Muang Kao Si Satchanalai (daily 8am-4pm; B40 plus B10-50 per vehicle), begin your tour with Wat Chang Lom , whose centrepiece is a huge, Sri Lankan-style, bell-shaped chedi set on a square base studded with 39 life-sized elephant buttresses. Across the road, Wat Chedi Jet Taew has seven rows of small chedis, many of which are copies of famous Thai wats. Following the road southeast, you come to Wat Nang Phya , which retains its original stucco reliefs, and one wall is covered with intricate floral motifs. North of Chang Lom, the hilltop ruins of Wat Khao Phanom Pleung and Wat Khao Suan Khiri afford splendid aerial views of different quarters of the ancient city. Before Sukhothai asserted control of the region and founded Si Satchanalai, the Khmers governed the area from Chalieng , just over 2km to the east of Muang Kao Si Satchanalai, and easily reached by bicycle. All that now remains of Chalieng is a single temple, Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat (daily 8am-4pm; B10), the most atmospheric of all the sights in the Sukhothai area. Left to sink into graceful disrepair, the wat now serves as grazing land. A huge standing Buddha gazes out from the nearby mondop. The area around Si Satchanalai - known as Sawankhalok during the Ayutthayan era - commanded an international reputation as a ceramics centre from the mid-fourteenth to the end of the fifteenth century: pieces were glazed in grey-green celadon, and fish and chrysanthemum were popular motifs. More than two hundred kilns have been unearthed in the area and, 2km upstream of Muang Kao Si Satchanalai in Ban Ko Noi, the Sawankhalok Kiln Preservation Centre (daily 9am-noon & 1-4pm; B30) showcases an excavated production site.
Your Tip for Muang Kao Si Satchanalai
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Muang Kao Si Satchanalai - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Muang Kao Si Satchanalai - visit the main Muang Kao Si Satchanalai forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Muang Kao Si Satchanalai webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
