So yesterday, we hopped on a train from Ayathuya and enjoyed the air con and stewardess service for 1.5 hours as far as Phitsanulok (350b) , the nearest train station to Sukhothai.

We bought overpriced ticket for the local bus (50b pp) an jumped onto the bone shaker and trundled our way on the 2 hour journey to Sukhothai Old City ( as opposed to the new one which is also apparently nice). We of course got off at the wrong stop, but thankfully we realised in time, and hopped back on — to knowing smiles from the locals.

We had two fellow foreigners with us on the bus, Andrew and Summer, who seem to be following a similar route to us, but the other way around.

We jumped off at the ‘bus terminal’ in Sukhothai, unmarked and unannounced it would be easy to miss, but the nice conductor lady on the bus pointed at us and told us to get off 🙂

We has read about ‘The old town guesthouse’ in the LP guide, but first looked at the one next door (by mistake more than anything) but thankfully didn’t take it, as our intended choice was better (300b fan room) – but we should have held out and looked at other rooms, as I think there were better ones.

We were very excited to test out our new mosquito net for the first time, my engineering skills held it up for the night and the current score is:

Mozzies: Matt 2, Laura 7.
Throat infection/cold: Matt 1
Coldsores: Laura 2

Sukhothai was a laid back, quiet place, with only a few guesthouses and restaurants, but loads of wats/temples — all of which are best explored by bicycle. We went for an evening cycle and found that central part closes at 6pm and so we explored the pseudo- nightarket and local bars/restaurants which closed at 9pm. So after a quick game of rummy, we went back to our room to plan the next step of our trip.

During the night (~3am) there was a torrential rain storm — it was pounding the roofs and sluicing down the pavements, the ceiling leaked, and I had visions of having to find higher ground! (This time last year Ayathuya was under 2m of water!).

I instructed first officer Stabeler to pack her bag and make ready for setting sail — she was not amused, so we stood outside under cover, and watched the rain for a while.

Next day, it was a little wet, but after coffee and bagels (home comforts!) we cycled out to explore the central historical area under grey skies — you will see from the photos that it was grey, but with a polarised lens it wouldn’t have been too bad.

The ruins are very quiet and it was lovely just to cycle around exploring without any hassles. We came across an old lady selling tiny Bananas, and I bought a bunch (20b) — tasty and sweet!

The old lady suggested that I take her picture, then that I carry her shop (over the shoulder stick with two hanging bowls for stuff), the wear her hat. She the taught me how to at thank you, before trying to sell me some carvings of elephants — which I declined. She was lovely and I felt I should have bought more from her for all her effort. 20b is only about 40 pence after all.

This afternoon we relaxed over lunch, and went for a Thai foot massage, which covers the whole body pretty much
We are now on the way to the train station in Phitsanulok, where we are getting the night sleeper train to Chiangmai (expensive at 1430 baht) which takes 8 hours — arriving at 0820. The last time we got a sleeper train was in Malaysia — a pleasant experience — let’s hope we get some sleep this time 🙂