We arived in Sukhothai airport on the 17th which looks more like a temple than an airport. Upon checking into TR Guesthouse I was blown away by the price 400THB ($14) per night for a room with ensuite, hot water, tv and air conditioner. Sukhothai is a small city that was the capital of Siam 700 years and 2 dynasties ago (Previously all of Thailand was called Siam).
The next day we headed to the old city to check out some ruins. The some of the ruins were a fair distance apart so we hired a couple of bicycles. The ruins were amazing - I went a little overboard with the camera and made about 350 photos. After a full day exploring the ruins of temples at the old city we headed back to our hotel. I went to get a massage that evening. I think there was a miss communication because before the massage began the masseuse pointed at my scrapes and bruises from the caving in Khao Sok and asked if I was hurt. I said I was ok. I think the she meant to ask do these hurt because she didn’t go easy on them... After a mostly relaxing massage we headed to Poo resturant for dinner. There may have been an issue with translation of the name. The resturant was owned by a man from Belgium and as a result we were able to order Belgian Beers (happy days).
We met a man from Germany and an Austrian couple that night and kicked on with a few beers as best we could (even on a Saturday night you really have to pack it in by 11pm here). The pub shut at 10pm and not even the 7-11 will sell beer after 11pm. Very quiet town.
We took the next day fairly easy and went for a bit of a wander about the place. 3 nights was probably a little bit too long to spend here - other than the ruins there isn't a huge amount to do.
The next morning we checkout out of our guest house and made our way to the bus station. We bought tickets to Phitsanulok and a steward took our bags and put them on the bus. We were then told not to get on the bus. Shortly after the bus began to pull out and when we stood up to stop the bus we were waived back to our seats assuming the bus was simply being moved. It was leaving. After a couple of minutes I spoke to a person at the information booth who arranged for us to get the next bus and pick up our bags when we got there. This is why I travel with all important things in my hand luggage.
Phitsanulok is a city of approximately 70 000 people. Finch and I headed there at about lunch time thinking that there would be more to do than in Sukhothai. We were wrong. After a short walk we ended up settling in on the platform with a few beers until our train left at midnight. I managed to show my ignorance of Buddhism by offering a monk some of my food (he had come over to ask where we from and wish us a good stay in Thailand). The food was meat. It turns out Buddhist monks are vegetarian and fast while the sun is up. He was quite amused.
We had a conversation with a pair of Thai blokes who spoke no English. The conversation was held entirely by gestures. I think we made friends for life when we bought them a beer. After that point they were fairly insistent on sharing their Thai whiskey. We also spent about 2 hours with a deaf Thai man and his pregnant wife. He was probably the easiest to talk to – turns out sign language is fairly universal. Between gestures and drawing pictures we almost entirely understood each other.
The night train to Bangkok was great – slept the whole way. We arrived in Bangkok at about 7:30 in the morning and got a taxi to the airport. The check in attendant let us get on the 9am flight instead of the 11am, which was good. Boarding was to start 10 minutes before this so we dashed to the gate. Should have known – Bangkok airways were running their typical 30min delay. Could have afforded to stop for coffee!
We arrived in Koh Samui just before 11. My bag showed up, Finch’s didn’t. We got on a bus to the pier and boarded the ferry to Koh Tao. We arrived at about 4 pm after almost 28 hours in transit. Very happy to be here!
I'll upload photos when I get somewhere with a faster internet connection.
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