Ko Lanta

Island number 2 is Ko Lanta! Ko Lanta is a fairly large island on Thailand’s Andaman coast. It’s known for its long stretches of white sand coral-fringed beaches, mangroves, and rain forests. 

We encountered way hotter temperatures here then in Ko Phangan and intense blue sunny skies! We are now officially tanned.

Our hotel has a really nice pool and for once a really comfortable bed (Asian beds are more often than not rock hard).

There's an animal rescue organization here that is super fun to visit as well. They keep their cats in a huge room called kitty city...there's a little cafe here and you can come anytime to cuddle a kitten.

The cute puppy I took for a walk.

You can also take the dogs out for walks and socialization and play with the puppies. I was in animal heaven here. The hotel had lots of cute resident cats as well who loved attention. 

Our hotel was in walking distance to 2 beaches....long beach and relax bay. We went to long beach on day one but never stepped foot on in again when we discovered beautiful Relax Bay on day 2! Long beach was beautiful but so vast and mostly filled with resorts so no chairs or loungers for the public. On the other hand, Relax Bay us a small cove shaped beach dotted with cute little beach bars that had loungers and chairs free to use if you order a drink. We would set up camp for the day and sip beer and fruit shakes and fresh coconuts in between cooling off in the water .

Next we are off to Ko Lipe, another Andaman island. Only a 3 hour speed boat from here, hoping to be rewarded for the long trek out there!

Sukothai

We made our way to northern Thailand to the town of Sukothai to explore some ruins. Rising in the mid-13th century, Sukothai laid down much of the cultural and political groundwork for the kingdom that eventually became known as Thailand. There are 193 ancient sites here spread out amid trees, ponds, paddies and villages in several different zones.

Sukhothai Historical Park opened in 1988 and received UNESCO world heritage status three years later. 

We rented bicycles to get around as things were spread out and it was really calm and quiet without a ton of tourists.

Our hotel was nice with a lovely pool to relax in when we get templed out! It was hot here and after a few hours on bikes we definitely needed that pool!

Sukhothai was a distant branch of the Khmer empire when Thai people began to migrate from the north around the 11th century. In 1238, the Thai chieftain who would become King took advantage of weakening Khmer rule and established a new kingdom, Sukhothai, a name with Sanskrit roots that translates as “Dawn of Happiness.” 

In the late 13th century Sukhothai allied itself with another ambitious Thai kingdom based further north and expanded its realm across much of modern Thailand and Laos in a remarkably short period of time. For these reasons it’s often cited as the “first” Thai kingdom.

Reigning from 1279-98, Sukhothai’s most influential king is now celebrated as a founding father of the Thai nation. He’s credited with inventing the Thai alphabet, facilitating the spread of Theravada Buddhism, developing an elaborate canal system and overseeing a great blossoming of the arts. He documented the kingdom’s progress via several stone inscriptions, including one from 1292 that ranks as the oldest known example of Thai writing.  After suffering an epidemic and briefly moving its capital to Phitsanulok  in the 14th century, it came under the sway of a new rising star Ayutthaya. What remained of the ancient capital sat largely neglected from the late 1500s to the 1950s, when restorations began.

The best spot for sunset viewing was Wat Mahathat.

Wat Si Chum is located in the northern part of the monuments at Sukhothai Historical Park and was about 2 kilometes by bicycle from the center of the park.

The temple and its tall Buddha Image are among the most photographed monuments in Sukhothai. The main structure at Wat Si Chum is the Mandapa (square temple building) with a large sitting Buddha Image with the posture of Subduing Mara inside. The Buddha Image is known as Phra Ajana

Phra Ajana is 15.63 metres high and more than 11 metres wide across the knees.

Located in the North zone outside the walled city is the Wat Si Chum temple, known for its mondop with a large image of the Buddha partly visible from outside. The name of the temple translates to “temple of the Bodhi tree”. Bodhi trees are found in many temples around Thailand, because it was a Bodhi tree that the Buddha meditated under when reaching enlightenment.

After 2 hot days exploring we are ready for the beach!!! Heading next to Ko Lanta to soak in the sun

Khao Sok National Park

After 5 days on Ko Phangan we departed the beach for the rain forest. A 1 hour ferry and 2 hour bus ride brought us to Khao Sok national park which is located in Southern Thailand and is one of the oldest and greenest forest ecosystems in the world. It's 160 million years old to be precise! And huge.... it covers an area of 739 square kilometres!

The worlds friendliest kitten at the hotel bar.

We stayed in a treehouse on the side of a river with huge limestone mountains juttting up into the sky around us. Monkeys played in the river right below our deck and we slept to the sound of cicadas chirping. There are deep valleys, caves, wild animals, and the most breathtaking lake where we spent the night in a floating lake house.

We started off with an afternoon at a nearby elephant sanctuary where we fed 2 sweet elephants buckets of bananas and took them on a walk to get covered in mud and bathe in the river. They were so gentle and sweet, it was nice to be around these giants without participating in unethical activities like elephant riding.

Day 2 started off our overnight adventure to Cheow Lan Lake. We took a boat out onto the lake were we went hiking, nature watching and swimming in the warm water. We slept in a floating lake house with ty most fabulous morning view of the sun rising over the misty water.

One fascinating thing about this lake is that it’s man-made. Cheow Lan lake is right in the heart of the National Park. Much of the park, which protects the watershed of the Sok River and rises to a peak of nearly 1000m, is carpeted in impenetrable rainforest, home to gaurs, leopard cats and tigers etc, and up to 155 species of bird. The limestone crags that dominate almost every vista are so beautiful. We liked waking up to the sound of hooting gibbons and the sight of thick white mist curling around the limestone mountains. It was magical.

Next up we head to northern Thailand to Sukothai to see temples and ruins.