January 8, 2010 - First Sukhothai Experience

 

We decided to visit the World Heritage Sight of Sukhothai Old Town today, seeing the ruins of the Sukhothai era of Thailand's history. When we got to the outside of the old city we rented some coaster bikes, with which to get around. I should have chosen a bit more carefully, as, though it had a comfortable, well cushioned seat, mine was not quite the right height, and the pedal position was not right for coaster riding. The first temple we saw was the one that was most preserved - Wat Mahatat. Upon entering it, I was filled with a deep sense of peace.

The giant Buddha statues all looked so serene, and the weather was just right for being in a spiritual sense - cloudy and threatening rain, meaning that everything took on a heightened tone. It made for especially strong dramatic visuals when seeing the smoke from sticks of incense trailing past the crossed legs of a seated Buddha, with the contrasts of greys, red, beige, and white.

We all took a tonne of pictures as we toured around, with my camera battery dying before we got to the famous 15 metre tall seated Buddha at Wat Si Cham. This Buddha, in its Mondop surrounding, is simply overwhelming to behold.

It wasn't the full sense of peace that I had felt at Wat Mahatat that I felt, more of a feeling of my place in the world, combined with stillness (the Mondop was tremendous acoustically, with even the slightest sound being amplified), this made even the sound of pigeon wings create great shock. The acoustics inspired silence in those who would pay attention to them, but many did not.

Tonight, I tried the Thai rice whiskey - it was like an unrefined Sake, rough around the edges and not the best tasting. I don't think I'll repeat that particular experiment.