Uthai Thani to Sukhothai - Two Unique Experiences

 First of all, thank each of you for your comments. Now, on with the adventures .... 

We drove to Uthai Thani for a few things we wanted to see and were not disappointed!  We loved the town and the place we stayed was very nice and convenient to some good food and interesting experiences. This place is in the center of the North of Thailand and is not a tourist destination. Even the receptionist at our hotel didn't speak a word of English.  However, people were warm, friendly and in many cases, very happy to see us!  While walking through town I heard someone yelling hello and after a moment realized that a group of schoolgirls were talking to me!  They are definitely not used to tourists in this town.  Ordering food was an experience as was - well - everything!  One of our main goals here was to see the Magical Forest (Hup Pa Tat) which is in an area referred to as the Switzerland of Thailand.  The 'garden' is basically a sinkhole surrounded by limestone karsts that are maybe 100 feet high and remained closed to the outside world until someone made the entrance through the cave.  A very magical and beautiful place. Photos below

Entrance to the Garden

And inside following Chuck

A bird chicken size who lives in the garden.

 

Switzerland of Thailand?

The other was to see the Golden Castle or Wat Chantharam which is a little like if Liberace lived in Thailand and was Buddhist? (If you don't know who Liberace is, you are younger than me but look him up if you want.)  The scale of this place is difficult to capture and the fact that it consists of thousands of tiny glass mosaic pieces and mirrors which make it glisten in the sun just didn't show up in the photo.  You'll have to use your imagination but it was truly magnificent and worth a few wrong turns to find it!

Inside looked like a ballroom with the shiniest Buddha ever!

 

From Uthai Thani we (Chuck) drove to Sukhothai, an historical park just filled with ruins of wats and stupas from the 13th century.  While we had one ruin immediately behind our hotel and I'll include a photo of that one (the one with the elephants) most are within the park walls.  We rented bicycles for the day (about $1.00) and rode around to see the ruins often in the shade from surrounding large trees and dotted with ponds, canals and moats.

 

A Buddha

An unusual stupa

A Very Giant Buddha

Bye for now from Sukhotai