Wiang Kum Kam

This is the city that came before Chiang Mai. King Mangrai founded it in the late 13th century, the river kept flooding it, and eventually everyone gave up and moved north. What's left is dozens of ruined temples, worn chedis and Buddha images sitting in open ground in Saraphi, southeast of the modern city.

Go for the ruins themselves, not for polish. Nothing here has been rebuilt into something photogenic and tidy, and that's the appeal. Brick, grass, the odd overgrown wall. If restored gold-and-mirror temples have started blurring together for you, this is the antidote. If you want drama, it won't land, these are low remains spread thin, and you need a bit of imagination to fill in a city.

That spread is the practical problem. The sites sit far enough apart that walking between all of them in the heat is a slog, which is why horse-drawn carriages tout for business on site. Worth taking if the sun's up.