Chalieng's dawn

The Khmer-style tower of Wat Mahathat at Chalieng, in the ancient Thai capital of Si Satchanalai. The city is the oldest and most atmospheric of Thailand’s ancient capitals, built around a site of worship that pre-dates the historical record. Located in the bend of a river just north of the Central Plains, it was, with Sukhothai, the joint capital of the Siamese from the 13th to the 15th century, after which it was abandoned..