Private full day overland tour with private guide and private transport from the old city of Sukhothai to Chiang Mai. On the way we will make stops at the old city of Sri Satchanalai, Lampang and Lamphun with a local northern style lunch.
In the morning we depart from Sukhothai to the ancient city of Sri Satchanalai. The park covers the ruins of Si Satchanalai and Chaliang. Si Satchanalai, which literally means "City of good people", was founded in 1250 as the second center of the Sukhothai Kingdom and as a residence of the crown prince in the 13th and 14th centuries.
The city was rectangular in shape. In the 16th century, a 5-metre high wall with an upstream moat was built to fend off the growing Burmese attacks. The location of the town was facilitated by two neighboring dominant hills. The park is maintained by the Fine Arts Department of Thailand with help from UNESCO, which has declared it a World Heritage Site. Si Satchanalai Historical Park attracts thousands of visitors each year, who marvel at the ancient Buddha figures, palace buildings and ruined temples. The park is easily toured by bicycle or even on foot.
We continue and depart more north to the city of Lampang.
Lampang was a major city in the Lanna kingdom. Following decades of warfare with both the Ava Burmese and Ayuthaya during the 17th-18th century, the region was in decline, severely depopulated, and subject to Burmese control. In the late-18th century, the famed marksman and Lampang native Nan Thip Chang assassinated the local Burmese leader in Wat Phrathat and led an uprising which led to a rollback of Burmese rule over Lanna. Allied with Bangkok, the descendants of Nan Thip Chang, known as Chao Ched Ton (the seven princes), became the vassal rulers of the various Lanna cities until the annexation of Lanna into Siam (Thailand) proper under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V).
Lampang, also called "mueang rot ma" in Thai, meaning "horse carriage city", is considered by some Thais as the last paradise in Thailand.It is about 100 km to the southeast of Chiang Mai Although well-connected by rail, and four lane highways to both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, it is here that tourists can still find horse-drawn carriages in regular use for transportation. One account attributes the horse-drawn carriage to the Portuguese, via Macau although a more likely origin is colonial Burma. Lampang was an important center of the timber industry in the early-20th century and saw an influx of migrants from British-controlled Burma. The horse-drawn carriage is one of the most memorable symbols of Lampang, as reflected in many traditional products.
After a local northern Lanna style lunch we depart for Lamphun which was founded by Queen Chama Thevi as the capital of the Haripunchai Kingdom, the last and most northerly Mon kingdom in the area. Around 25 km south of Chiang Mai it was constructed in the shape of a conch shell, following the Khuang River on its east side and divided by moats at the remaining points of the compass. Queen Chama Thevi is remembered in the Wat of her name, which is said to be the resting place of her ashes. Near the town's main morning market in the south-west of the city is a statue of the queen at which offerings are still made today by citizens.
Lamphun is host to one of northern Thailand's most important temples, Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, featured on the reverse of the 1 satang coin The phra that in the title indicates the presence of a Buddha relic in this case one of his hairs, which was interred in the chedi in 897, which is probably the founding date of the wat. The town is surrounded by lush countryside punctuated by rice fields and orchards of the popular fruit, longan, which is celebrated in a festival every August.
In the late afternoon we will enter the 'Rose of the North' Chiang Mai.