Sukhothai

The centerpiece: a lotus-bud chedi ringed by 168 stucco figures, a huge seated Buddha and a moat of columns. The single most photographed ruin in the park.

A 15 m (50 ft) seated Buddha wedged into a roofless brick box, visible only through a slot in the wall. Approach from the front and it appears all at once, which is exactly the intended effect.

A chedi and a walking Buddha on their own island in the middle of a lily pond, reached by a short causeway. The prettiest ruin in the park and the best one at sunset.

A standing Buddha at the top of a slate-paved hill path, about 200 m (650 ft) up, looking back over the whole plain. Quiet, because it takes effort to reach.

The context for everything outside: sculpture, ceramics and a cast of the Ramkhamhaeng stele, the inscription that is either Thailand’s first written record or its most argued-over artifact.

The sister city 55 km (34 mi) north, with elephant-buttressed chedis and hillside temples, and perhaps a tenth of the visitors. Bicycles for rent at the gate, same as here.

The kiln sites near Si Satchanalai and Sawankhalok, where the Sangkhalok ceramics that Sukhothai exported across Asia were fired. Excavated kilns under cover, with the pots still in them.