We arrived to Sukothai after a mellow 5 hour ride from Chang Mai. The guest house recommended from our spot in Chang Mai was also recommended by our guidebook so we went straight to Garden Guesthouse. Nice and cheap. Since time is running out for Colby we decided to wake early and do the old part of Sukothai then bounce in the evening for Ayutthaya. Last night was uneventful aside from the delish soup at the guesthouse. It was HOTTT! Tom yam and I needed it! I already sweat a lot as is but this soup and the ride made the shower that much more enjoyable. We woke this morning, grubbed and bounced by 8:30 to catch a local bus to the old part of town. Upon arrival we rented bikes and set off to see some sites. Sukhothai Historical Park is gorgeous. We started at Wat Si Chum which has a 15 meter sitting Buddha. Then we checked out Wat Phra Pai Luang while on the North side. After that we biked out to Wat Saphaan Hin on the West side out about 4km. The wat is 200 meters above the plain and gives a great view of the entire park. By this time both Colby and I were dripping sweat and soaked through…water break. Back on the bikes and straight into the heart of the park. Wat Mahathat which is surrounded by a moat. Then to Wat Si Sawai and a few others inside the walls before we returned the bikes and grabbed some food. Khmer influence, Hindu accents and Buddhism abound!
Bounced back to the guesthouse to round up our laundry and shower (I did at least!). We thought there was a bus at 3PM so we arrived at the station 10 minutes prior only to find out that the next bus isn’t till 5PM. So we wait, read and maybe take a trebinol or two….relax, we are on our way again!!
The bus dropped us off in the middle of the freeway about 8km from town at midnight…not many options but to pay the dude with the truck waiting there to take us into town. We found a crap hostel for 5bucks and crashed. They had no towels so in the morning we had to use one of my lodgis and get cleaned up then we decided to get the fuck out of that spot. We found a nicer spot for 8bucks with a pool, blankets and towels…well worth it. After moving our stuff we decided to hire a tuk tuk to take us around to the ruins. They are more spread out here than in Sukothai so we thought it would be time efficient and it definitely was. We started at Wat Yai Chai Mong Khon (my favorite) then moved to Wat Phanancheong. After that we drove across town to Wat Chai Thantaram and then up to Chedi Pho-Kao Thong. On the way home, we asked to stop by Wat Manathat in the center and then grubbed. The pictures are amazing and will definitely show you better than what I can put into words. Most ruins are from the 2nd and 3rd centuries and have been maintained well. The river in town is swelling and there are sandbags everywhere. We were going to stop in Lopbury but decided to come straight here instead…good thing because I saw on the news yesterday (while getting a killer haircut) that Lopbury was basically underwater!?
Once back to our spot we took a quick dip in the pool then played a few games of chess. Colby came out on top of the ‘best of 3’ series and we headed out for the night market. The market was a dream come true. Food stalls as far as the eye could see!!! Fried chicken with chili sauce, fried sardines, pad Thai, fruit juices, fresh fruit, meat on sticks…..mmmmmmm!!! Post food we headed to a pool table for some beers and games. Colby slaughtered me on the pool table and I had to call it quits after about 8 games to 1.
Today we woke early, packed, grubbed and are heading to Bangkok for a few days before Colby bounces. I hope we get to check the tattoo convention our buddy in Pai was telling us about…stay tuned!!
Sounds like a blast. Sorry Colby has to leave.
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