Pete & Rach's Big Trip: Sukhothai: 4-6 Dec 2013

At Wat Chang Lom (Elephant Temple)

Rach says:

Finally our Indian visas were ready and we were on the move. We were headed north to Chiang Mai to catch up with Evelien and Marije and travel with them to Laos, but decided to break up the 12 hour bus ride with a halfway stop in Sukhothai to visit the nearby 13th century ruins of the old capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom.

At Bangkok bus station we were faced with a long row of kiosks stretching to our left and right, each inhabited by an over-eager sales person shouting at us from the window as we wandered by. It was at this point we realised we couldn't remember whether we'd been advised to go with the government bus or definitely not to go with the government bus (we had been warned of various scams such as 'breaking down' near a
conveniently located hotel, or theft from the luggage compartment by someone hidden inside a suitcase..!) The government bus turned out to be a safe choice.

Sukhothai means "Dawn of Happiness". A beautiful name for a not so beautiful town - it's a serious contender for one of the most boring towns we visited on our travels. Sukhothai has just one amusingly named "Poo Restaurant" and apart from that just street stalls, which turned out to be remarkably good. I had the Soy Sauce Noodles from one place three times they were that delicious - and cheap, at just 30 Baht (55p) per portion.

Relaxing on the balcony

Despite the boredom of the town, we could have easily lingered at the lovely Baan Thit Guesthouse, where we stayed with Ease, her husband Oat and her three beloved cats. It was one of our favourite guesthouses on our entire trip. Ease was so cheery, friendly and helpful and welcomed us like family. We were given a choice of the four guest rooms above their house, as we were the only ones staying there. Our room, at the front of the house, had its own balcony where we relaxed in the evening with beers and our books and in the morning enjoyed a really nice breakfast.

With Ease and one of her cats

We didn't leave for the old city until 11am the next day, but the sightseeing suited a half day trip and we were back by 5pm. The ruins are set in a 'Historical Park', which is very pleasant and green and there were lots of people about having picnics. We rented bikes and cruised about between the monuments feeling very carefree and catching the breeze to relieve us from the searing heat. The ruins were good to see, but not quite so impressive after the splendour of Angkor - we are getting spoiled!

When we returned to town in the late afternoon, we saw a huge parade of all the school children in Sukhothai marching and playing music in honour of the King's birthday. Later we discovered that to mark the occasion, no alcohol was on sale in the entire town. A strange way to celebrate if you ask us.