Sukhothai, which means "the beginning of happiness", is the first truly independent kingdom established in Thai history. From the middle of13rd century to the end of14th century, Sukhothai Dynasty was once the golden age in the history of Thai civilization. The religious art and architecture of this period are considered to represent the most classic Thai style, and its most prominent feature is the decoration of the lotus seat and bell-shaped stupa.

There are two historical parks in Sukhothai: Sukhothai Historical Park and Sisa Canale Historical Park.

Sukhothai Historical Park:

Sukhothai Gu Yue is the capital site of Sukhothai Dynasty, about 420 kilometers away from Bangkok. /kloc-was annexed by Dacheng dynasty at the end of 0/4, and became an abandoned city, gradually submerged in the jungle. In recent years, after a large-scale transformation, this ancient city covering an area of 45 square kilometers has been turned into a historical park and designated as a world cultural site by UNESCO. Nearly 65,438+000 historical sites and 4 large ponds are scattered in manicured green spaces. The best time to visit the ancient city of Sukhothai is loi krathong every year, that is, the day of the full moon in 65438+February (generally 165438+ 10) of the Thai lunar calendar. Water lanterns made of banana leaves and flowers float in the pond, and the reflections of ancient temples and Buddha statues are reflected in the water waves, full of poetry and painting.

Langanheng National Museum:

Langanheng the Great was the most outstanding monarch of Sukhothai Dynasty. He unified the country, expanded its territory, advocated Hinayana Buddhism and created modern Thai characters. He also actively developed relations with China and sent people to visit China twice to learn pottery-making techniques. This museum will provide some perceptual knowledge for you to explore the secrets of the ancient city of Sukhothai. The museum has the best creation of Buddha statues in Sukhothai dynasty, among which the walking Buddha statue is considered to be the best among Thai Buddha statues. The inscription of the great emperor Lan Ganheng displayed in the museum records: "Sukhothai is increasingly prosperous. There are fish in the water and rice in the field ... you can buy and sell freely without paying taxes. " The inscription is the earliest record of Thai characters and a famous fragment in Thai classical literature.

Mahata Temple:

Built in13rd century, it is the largest temple in the ancient city, surrounded by brick walls and moats, and it is the spiritual and administrative center of the ancient city of Sukhothai. There are 198 pagodas in the courtyard, and there are some surviving Buddha statues sitting between the remaining brick columns of the Buddhist temple.

Saks Temple:

Located on an island in the middle of a big pond, the environment is very elegant. The architecture of Buddhist temple is typical of Sukhothai era, while the pagoda is a typical Ceylon bell pagoda.

Nishikawa Temple:

Located at 1.5km to the northwest of Ursa Major Hall. Sitting on the Buddha is tightly surrounded by a high wall that is said to be 3 meters thick, and it is still respected by Thais, so don't try to climb the Buddha statue and take pictures. The Buddha statue is 15m high and1m wide.

West Sasakanale Historical Park

Located on the Yong River, 50 kilometers north of Sukhothai Historical Park, with an area of 45 square kilometers, it is the location of the twin cities-Sukhothai ancient city, and has also been designated as a world cultural site by UNESCO. This historical park is hidden among green hills and grass, and there are not many tourists. It is very suitable for riding a bike and riding an elephant to visit the park.

Gabonese Temple in Coban:

There is nothing special about this temple itself, but it is a good place to overlook the park from the mountain.

Temple of Zhang Long:

It means "Elephant Temple", which is the center of the ancient city of Chanalai in western Saskatchewan. It was built by Emperor Langanheng at the end of 0/3rd century A.D./KLOC-. The base of the bell-shaped Ceylon stupa is 39 elephants, and the once glorious steps symbolize the road to heaven. In front of this temple, you can often find real elephants.

Chadayuta Temple:

Compared with Zhang Long Temple, it means "Seven Pagodas Temple" because the 33 pagodas here are arranged in seven rows. All pagodas in the temple have lotus roofs, which is a typical Sukhothai style. It is said that the ashes of members of the Sukhothai royal family are buried under the stupa here.

South Paya Temple:

Built in15th century or16th century, it is later than all other temples in the ancient city. The main tower is a typical Ceylon bell-shaped stupa, and the base is also carved with elephants. The outer wall of the main hall is engraved with the early decorative patterns of the big city dynasty.

Prasilatana Mahata Temple:

Located 3 kilometers south of the ancient city. It is believed that this temple was built before the Sukhothai dynasty, so it has a strong ancient Khmer style. The entrance lintel is carved with the head of Buddha in ancient Khmer style, and the main hall is dedicated to the sitting Buddha in Sukhothai style, next to the walking Buddha statue, which fully shows the smooth and round artistic style of Sukhothai Buddha statue carving. There is a wooden suspension bridge across the Yonghe River next to the temple, which can be regarded as a scene where local people ride motorcycles and sway across the bridge.

great achievement

Big city, meaning "city of peace", is located 86 kilometers north of Bangkok. From 1350 to 1767 is the capital of Siam. The Dacheng Dynasty is the heyday in Thailand's history: its ruling scope includes Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar today. After 4 17 years, there were 33 kings and the population of Dacheng 17 century. At that time, everyone who had been here was deeply impressed by its prosperity.

Although Pingcheng was finally burned and looted by the invading Burmese army in 1767, the glory of Dacheng Dynasty can still be vaguely seen from the ruins of many palaces and temples.

The best way to visit big cities is to take a boat from Bangkok to the north of Chao Phraya River, enjoy the pleasant scenery of two cliffs along the way, and recall the spectacular sight of Zheng He leading his fleet to big cities when he went to the Western Ocean. After disembarking from Mumbai Palace, I took a bus to Dacheng Historic Site Park, rented a bicycle, and strolled among the ruins scattered in lush grass to feel the impermanence of history. Take a bus back to Bangkok at night.

Pulashan Temple:

Among all the historical sites, the most famous is the Temple of Mount Praxishan. This temple, built in the14th century, was the largest temple in the big city that year. For generations, it has also been the king's palace and royal temple. There used to be a Buddha statue 16 meters high, and the gold stuck on the surface of the Buddha statue weighed 250 kilograms. After the Burmese army occupied the big cities, it burned the whole temple and Buddha statue in order to melt gold. The landmark buildings of the temple are three giant towers with typical big city style standing in the ruins.

Dacheng Historical Site Park:

This great city is listed as a world cultural site by UNESCO. There are 375 temples inside and outside this ancient city surrounded by moats.

Pramahata Temple:

This temple was also built in14th century. Although the original appearance of the temple has long since disappeared after the wanton burning and looting by the Burmese army, the Khmer-style stupa still vaguely retains some charm. It is said that this is one of the oldest pagodas in Dacheng. The Buddha's head in the temple, wrapped in roots, is also a strange scenery.

Help Bayin Palace:

Located about 20 kilometers south of Dacheng, it is the summer palace of Dacheng Dynasty King. It was rebuilt at the end of 19 in the era of Rama V Chulalongkorn the Great. There are different architectural styles in the East and the West, and the most famous one is Aisa Bay built in the middle of the lake.

Thiphaat Hall). This is a wooden spire palace, modeled after a palace in Bangkok Grand Palace. It is said that the great Chulalonggong often sings poems here at sunset.

The only open palace in the palace is Weehart Chamberlain.

Hall) is a pure China building, and its Chinese name is "Tian Ming Hall". This temple was built at the expense of a group of China people and dedicated to Emperor Chulalongkorn. The shape of this wooden palace is similar to that of the palace building in Chaoshan, Guangdong. Most of the decorations and furniture inside and outside the house come from China, and the layout is completely Chinese.

Visitors can also climb the leaning tower next to the Tian Ming Temple and see the palace complex hidden in green and sparkling light.

Beibifu

Pak Phi Phi is the third largest government in Thailand, located about 130 km west of Bangkok, bordering Myanmar in the west. It is famous for the He Jiong Bridge built in World War II. In Beibi City:

He Jiong Bridge:

He Jiong Bridge is a railway bridge, which is a part of the railway connecting Thailand and Myanmar, with a length of about 415km. At that time, in order to conquer Myanmar and Asian countries west of Myanmar, the Japanese army was in urgent need of a supply line, so that from1September, 942 16, 6/kloc-0,000 allied soldiers and 200,000 Asian laborers were employed successively, and it took 16 months to complete the railway that was originally planned to take 6 years.

Due to the harsh climate and living conditions along the railway at that time and the cruel service of the Japanese army, 1.6 million prisoners of war and nearly 1 10,000 laborers died of fatigue, disease and malnutrition. Therefore, this railway is also known as the "Death Railway".

Towards the end of the war, the bridge was blown up by the allied forces. After the war, the Thai government rebuilt it. At present, there are 1 1 steel beams in bridge on the river kwai with a total length of 300m, which are still in use.

Visitors can walk on the bridge and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Gui River. You can also take the train to He Jiong Bridge at any railway station in Beibifu. Beautiful scenery along the way, panoramic view of rural scenery in central Thailand, and the opportunity to meet ordinary Thais and understand local customs.

Palace Museum of Prisoners of War:

The museum is built next to a temple, next to Maigong River, another major river in the northern wall area. The whole building imitates the bamboo roof strip shack where allied prisoners of war live. The photos displayed in the museum show that the prisoners of war are skinny, with only a piece of coarse cloth covering their hips. The museum is also equipped with maps, weapons and other war souvenirs from World War II, and has collected a large number of news reports about the He Jiong Bridge and the Death Railway.

The name of this museum, JEAATH, consists of English abbreviations of six countries related to He Jiong Bridge. These six countries are Japan, Britain, Australia, the United States, Thailand and the Netherlands.

Allied cemetery in Beipifu:

This cemetery is opposite the railway station, with a total of 6,982 tombstones of allied prisoners of war from Britain, the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, India, New Zealand, Canada and Myanmar. Most of them died while building the "Death Railway". The cemetery is full of green grass and flowers, and thousands of marble tombstones the size of 16K paper are arranged neatly. Counting the ages of prisoners of war when they die, many of them are heartbreaking young.

The cemetery has a beautiful and comfortable environment, and occasionally you can see Thai young people reviewing their lessons or meeting friends.

Outside Beibi City:

Many tourists go to Beijing just to see the He Jiong Bridge. In fact, there are dense forests, beautiful rivers, a wide variety of wild animals and plants and a waterfall with flying pearls and jade. Romantic businessmen built bamboo boathouses by the river in the deep mountains, without electricity, and used kerosene lamps for lighting at night. Zaihei

At night, I suddenly found that you had forgotten that there were so many stars in the sky.

Hellfire Channel:

Located 80 kilometers northwest of Beibi City. It was built to commemorate the allied prisoners of war and Asian laborers who died in the most difficult section of the "Death Railway". In this area, the prisoners of war used the simplest tools to cut a passage 1000 meters long in a mountain. At that time, the Japanese army used prisoners of war to work day and night, lit torches at night, and the iron chisel hit the mountain and splashed sparks, which looked like the fire of hell from a distance. When the tunnel was completed, about 70% prisoners of war died of overwork and hunger.

This commemorative project has a museum, which displays photos of prisoners of war, with detailed English explanations, tells the story of the construction of the "Death Railway" in that year, and even shows a short documentary.

Go down the path next to the museum, which is the fire path of hell. At that time, prisoners of war dug seven mountains with the simplest tools, with a total length of 3.5 kilometers. If time is limited, just climb a hill and you can reach a passage. Look at the chisels clearly visible on the hills on both sides of the passage and the broken chisels still stuck in the rocks. It is not difficult to imagine the hardships of prisoners of war.

Lovers Bay Waterfall:

Love Bay Waterfall is located in the national park of the same name and is one of the largest waterfalls in Thailand. The waterfall has seven floors. To climb to the highest floor, you need to travel across mountains and rivers, so a pair of shoes suitable for walking is essential. The swimming pool under the waterfall is also a good place to swim. Don't forget to bring your swimsuit.

Saiyao Waterfall:

There are two waterfalls, big and small, both of which are beautiful. Among them, the small waterfall is relatively close, about 60 kilometers northwest of Beibi City, and the great waterfall is about 100 kilometers away from the city. There is a railway station near the waterfall, from which you can get a ride back to the city.