I left Bangkok on the morning of the 2nd…election day. There have been protests and demonstrations throughout the city, but they haven’t posed much of a problem. For someone traveling through the area and wanting to mostly avoid them, the most inconvenience I had was that some roads were closed, making taxi rides a bit longer sometimes.
So my plan was to leave pretty early in the morning, just in case things got a little more rowdy with the election going on. I had plenty of detours to take getting out of Bangkok, but other than that, no issues…

An hour north of Bangkok, I made a stop in Ayutthaya, which back in the day, was the the capital of Siam. This lasted from 1350 to 1767, when the Burmese attacked and took over Ayutthaya, pushing the Thais back to Bangkok. The ruins of the old city and some temples are still present and preserved, so since I was already passing through, I decided to take a short break and look around.

In the evening, I arrived in Sukhothai. It was established in the mid 1200s and was the capital of Siam for about 120 years. I stayed in the newer part of Sukhothai, but in the morning, before leaving, I went to check out the historic Sukhothai. Like Ayutthaya, it has a lot of ancient temples to see, But I’d say the display here is more impressive. Its a bit better preserved, and feels a little more isolated, since its away from the new city, where as Ayutthaya as been more built up right around the ruins.

After a quick glimpse of Sukhothai, I continued north for Chiang Mai. Today was one of the greatest riding days of my life, and I’m not really sure why. The roads were great, but not the best…as was the scenery and weather, but something about it all just seemed perfect (I know, Vanessa…now I’m starting to sound a bit like a hippie too…). Maybe it’s because I’m happy to be riding again after a few weeks of no considerable miles, maybe it’s because I’m thrilled to be back in Thailand, or maybe it’s because tomorrow I’m going to ship home all my warm clothes, as I think I’m done dealing with the cold for a while. Whatever the reason, it was an unforgettable day.

Oh, and I had to take a slight detour along the way to get some gas and happened upon Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. I’m not sure what exactly goes on here, but here’s some pictures.