Thai Coast...from Above!

You, dear readers (Hi mom!), will probably soon be tired of pictures-out-of-the-window-of-the-plane.  But I love them...coastlines, city lights, islands, mountains, snow, desert, sunsets, and the clouds of every color and size and height.  I had an aisle seat on my flight from Wuhan to Bangkok, so I was removed from temptation.  As the plane lifted off on the second leg of the trip on to Kuala Lumpur, I told myself it was really too much trouble to keep a large camera at the ready, but as we flew up over the city I kept seeing shots I wished I'd taken.  I didn't last ten minutes.  Just as well, because it was a good flight for photography.  We flew right down the Thai coast north of Vietnam, and passed seaside towns, islands with turquoise water lining their sandy beaches, and odd little puffy clouds.  However, we were still flying low enough to be under a layer of gray above, so the light was muted.  Towards sunset the sun found a few small openings, and turned the little fluffy clouds shining white and a thunderhead pink.  I got a break when it finally clouded over, but I did get a few shots of the lights of Kuala Lumpur, or suburbs thereof, as we came in to land.

  

Layover in Bangkok

Any of you who have ever traveled through Asia probably know that Bangkok is definitely the flight hub of the region.  It has two international airports--a fact I learned when I wasn't paying attention and scheduled a flight into one and out of the other last year; fortunately I had a long enough layover to make it across town, and fortunately it was four in the morning so there was no traffic.  Except for that incident, I've always flown through Don Mueng, because that's one of Air Asia's (the discount airline for this part of the world) hubs. 

Although the only time I spent time in Bangkok I arrived and departed by bus, this trip will give me my fourth and fifth go-rounds through this particular airport.  I'm learning my around pretty well by now, and I always enjoy stopping because they have a Krispy Kreme.

Flying Home

I guess they don't want to encourage people to sleep on the chairs in the waiting area of the departure hall, but they know very well that many people do, so it seems like they would be a little kinder in having chairs without gaps in between them to make it slightly more comfortable.  Oh well.  I arranged my bags around in the seat next to me and made a pillow of sorts out of a jackets and a couple of scarves.  I had intended to use my inflatable neck pillow, but it inopportunely sprung a leak.  I couldn't find any comfortable way to recline, but made myself somewhat comfortable sitting up leaning on my bags.  I used on of the sarongs I bought in Ubud as a blanket, and actually slept fairly well, all things considered.  I probably got four hours or so of sleep all together, although I'd have to wake up every forty-five minutes or so to unkink all my muscles that were going to sleep.  

About a quarter to five I rearranged my stuff back into flying order and went to brush my teeth and freshen up.  I planned to put on shoes at this point, but I just couldn't bring myself to just yet.  I may end up being cold for a few minutes once I land in Wuhan, but it's worth it for a few more hours in flip-flops.  

Check-in and security went as usual, and I headed in search of breakfast on the way to the gate.  I had been disappointed, as the Krispy Kreme I had been to on my last trip through the Don Mueng airport was on the domestic departure side, and there wasn't one listed on the international departure side.  Fortunately, the signs were wrong...there it was, tucked in the corner right next to the Subway and McDonalds.  I had a subway sandwich for breakfast (yes, I know that's rather an odd breakfast, but I wanted something solid and non-greasy), sitting in a small waiting area balancing it on my lap, since all the tables were full.  I bought a couple of donuts, of course--I ate one for dessert after I finished my sandwich.  I wasn't in the least bit hungry for it, and sadly it was cold (what kind of Krispy Kreme doesn't have warm donuts at 6:30 in the morning??), but after I'd waited all night for it I wasn't going to turn it down.  I saved the other for later, though, as it was cold anyhow.  

I finally wandered down to the gate.  After sitting for a few minutes, I stood up and surveyed my belongings, considering whether I needed to go bad enough to schlep it all to the bathroom or not, when someone three rows back stood up to and called my name.   

Kristin, who works at the university-next-door where we go on Sundays, had been travelling in Thailand and had booked the same flight back to Wuhan.  Later on, we saw another teacher from Wuhan also on the same flight, but neither of us was close enough to talk to him. What are the odds?

We finally landed in Wuhan around lunch time.  Other was one of those landings where they pull the stairs up to the plane, you disembark onto the runway, and then they bus you to the arrival gate. As I was still wearing flip-flops bad it was supposed to be only 43 (although sunny) in Wuhan, I was prepared to freeze, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't seem too cold at all.  Maybe it was the sunshine. I did, however, put on shoes after collecting my bag from baggage claim.  

One of the great things about running into Kristin was that we could split the fare of the rather expensive taxi home, since our campuses are so close. It was a good trip, but coming home is nice, too.

Passing the Time in Bangkok

The things we do to save money...when buying plane tickets for this trip, I found that getting a flight from Bali to Wuhan, which involves a connection in the middle, usually in Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur or occasionally Guangzhou, would cost more than four hundred dollars if I bought it from cheapoair or kayak, my current go-to sites.  The flights would be at convenient times and have a reasonable layover that would get me home in a day...but I really didn't want to spend that much.  I looked at Air Asia, the local discount airline, but it's primarily a point-to-point airline--there are only a few routes on which you can book connecting flights.  However, I could buy a ticket from Bali to Bangkok, and then a separate ticket from Bangkok on to Wuhan.  Together, they would be well under three hundred.  

Unfortunately, the times didn't line up too well.  The flight from Bali arrived in Bangkok at 3:00 in the afternoon, and the afternoon flight to Wuhan left at 3:50.  As I had to go through customs, and especially once I decided to check a bag that I would have to collect from baggage claim and recheck, the time was just too tight.  There's no way to make that flight.  However, there is also a morning flight, at 7:30...

So here I am.  I've spent the night in an airport before, and this probably won't be the last.   It ends up being about a sixteen hour layover; I've had worse.  And after all, I'm saving money...

I've been to this airport before, last summer for my flight down to Phuket.  I know there's a Subway and Krispy Kreme in here...but they are after security, on the way to the gates.  Sigh.  Why do they put the good stuff in there where you don't have too much time, and out here where I'm spending hours, it's nothing but fried and greasy versions of local food?  Oh well, something to look forward to.  I had dinner at one of the restaurants up on the balcony overlooking the check-in area.  Feeling a bit nostalgic for the Thai food I ate down south on Ko Phi Phi last summer, I ordered Shrimp with fried rice, and some spring rolls.  Now usually Thai food is good, but as I said this was the greasy version.  The shrimp weren't bad, really, but still one of those things that you know as you're eating it that you'll probably regret it.  

After eating (and before the dodgy shrimp took effect) I followed signs to an "observation deck."  It turned out to be an leftover hallway with some scattered seats, but it did have windows that overlooked one of the runways, and it was quieter up there than down in the main seating area. It was also a bit cold up there, with the air conditioning working a bit too well for once, but I figured that was probably good for me to start adjusting back to winter.  I sat and played games on my kindle and watched the planes take off until the sky turned pink and then black and the moon rose. 

Time out to rest...

Oops.  One of downsides of getting behind when blogging is that you get the details mixed up sometimes, and thanks to the fact that even with my proxy blogger doesn't act quite right, I can't fix it.  I didn't go out to get southern food the same night I got back from the trip, it was the next night.  Not that anybody would know the difference in the story anyhow. 

Anyhow, I had planned to sign up for a Thai cooking class, which is popular in Chiang Mai, once I got back from the trekking trip, but on second thought I decided to take a day off to rest, hoping my back would heal a bit faster.  I didn't think I was quite up to standing over a wok all afternoon.  So, other than going out for dinner, I didn't leave the hostel all day 

Here's a picture of the canal around the old town I took when I stopped to rest on the way to the pharmacy, though.  

River Rafting

Anyhow, we all made it to the river one way or another.  There was a nice bamboo hut overlooking the river where I sat to wait on the others, and wrote blog posts for a while.  

I wasn't sure how good an idea rafting was with my back, but it would have been very difficult to go back with the group any other way (our truck was waiting for us at the end of the rafting trip, on the other side of the river), and besides, I hated to just give up on all the fun stuff.  

Surprisingly, it wasn't bad.  We were on those big inflatable boats, so it was a cushioned seat.  The only difficulty was that there were times when we were supposed to quickly throw ourselves into the boat and then quickly get back on the side to keep rowing.  I could get down reasonably fast, but it took a while to get back up as I had a limited range of movement. 

We did have a funny moment not long after we got out in the water.  We had a boy who looked nineteen or so who was our leader on the raft.  We got out in the middle of the river, and he looked down into the bottom of the boat with a thoughtful expression for a minute.  Then he suddenly flopped face down into the bottom of the boat, with his legs sticking up, hanging off the back.  He pulled out the inflation nozzle and started puffing furiously into it.  We looked a bit askance--an inflatable boat designed for six people, and he's going to air it up by mouth?  We started looking around for a leak somewhere, and we found a pinprick where air was bubbling out near our feet.  

He puffed for a minute, then popped back up as if nothing had happened.  The pin prick was very small; it would probably take a couple of hours to make any real difference, and we were just going on a twenty minute or so trip.  Besides, the river wasn't that deep or wide; if worse came to worse, we could just swim to shore.  It didn't slow us down any.  

We went through a couple of areas with rapids, which was fun.  I wouldn't mind going on a little bit longer rafting trip someday.  

Just before we reached the end, we got out of the boat onto some bamboo rafts.  Riding bamboo rafts had been in the original plan for the trip, but Johnnie had told us that we probably wouldn't do that because it wasn't any good this time of year, in the rainy season.  The water was too high or some such for bamboo rafts.  But, here we were anyhow, and we'd rather have just left it out.  The bamboo rafts were floating, but not quite on top of the water. We were sitting about two inches or so into the rather muddy water, with dead bugs and junk and who knows what swirling around.  Susie, who was in front of me, made the comment, "Well, this is a yeast infection in a cup right here."  Anyhow, we drifted lazily along the shore for a hundred feet or so, and then got out.  I was at the back, so that left me to climb out on the muddiest section of the bank.  Lovely.  

Anyhow, once back on dry land, we were reunited with all of our junk that Johnny had been holding for us.  There were showers at the place there, but of course mine didn't work.  The shower did nothing at all when turned on.  There was a second nozzle over a large plastic trash can, already filled with water.  I turned the knob, and it tilted crazily to the side and started gushing water down inside the concrete block wall.  There was a scoop in the can of water, so I used some of that water to rinse the mud off my feet and legs, but I didn't want to dump water that could have been sitting there awhile over my head.  I didn't figure I'd really feel clean until I got back to the hostel, anyhow.  

Next up was lunch; we were served some version of pad thai; I was a bit worried at first as I didn't care much for it the first time around (too many peanuts), but they seemed to have skimped on the peanuts in this one.  They also provided a bottle of chili sauce, so with a liberal application of that it was quite edible.  We also had more plates of the wonderful local pineapples.  

We waited around for a good while after lunch for who-knows-what-now, and finally we piled into the truck to head back to Chiang Mai.  We had picked up three more people into our group for the day, for a total of eleven.  Nine people piled onto the benches in the back, and Saori and I were crammed into the back seat of the truck (I've been out of the US too long--what do you call that again?  Extended cab?), while Johnny sat up front with the driver.  It was alright, but a little cramped sitting sideways (no leg room) for over an hour.  

Once we got back to town, we zigzagged around dropping people off wherever they happened to be staying.  I was lucky yet again---mine was the last stop.  It was wonderful to finally get back and take a shower, though.  

As soon as I was clean and rested just bit, I headed back out by the north gate of the old town.  The farther I walked, the more I felt like a weight was pushing me down.  Even my lightened purse seemed too heavy.  But, I hadn't seen any pharmacies closer to the hostel.  Once I found one, I bought a supply of ibuprofen and a small jar of tiger balm--those would be my constant companions for the next few days.  The pharmacy just happened to be right next door to Three Little Pigs, the Southern restaurant I'd found my first night, so I treated to myself to more fried okra, some creamed corn, fried sweet potatoes (sadly flavorless), and fried shrimp.  I feel bad wasting food, but it was way more than I could possibly eat.  I wish I could get more of that okra, though... 

Fwd: Jungle, Day 2

We were served an enormous pile of toast for breakfast; some it looked pretty ordinary, but some of it was a type of bread with a green tint. A little odd to look at, a bit Christmasy with jelly, but it tasted normal. 

The plan for the day was to hike downhill-and when I say downhill I mean very down a very steep and muddy mountain-go by a waterfall, then continue on to the river for white water rafting. After that, time for lunch and then start heading back to Chiang Mai. 

The problem with that is that I could barely walk. Within five minutes my back was screaming at me, especially while carrying my bag.  After a few miscommunications, Johnnie found one of the other tour guides that would take me down the mountain by motorbike.  He would take me to the river, where I could meet the rest of the group at the end of the hike. 

The motorbike ride was pure torture.  First of all, all of the bouncing and jolting in the muddy, rutted dirt road is not at all what you want to do with an injured back. Second, it was steep and muddy; I couldn't help but imagine the tires slipping in the mud and us flying off into a tree.  There were a few spots that he let me off to make my own way and carefully walked the bike down. I did a lot of praying on the way down. 

Although it was bad, I suppose it was better than trying the hike.  I'm afraid I would have fallen again on the steep trail, as I was too stiff to move quickly.  I would have had to stop and rest a lot, too.  I didn't want to hold everyone else up; one of the worst parts about getting injured is that I hate to be the complainer, the one everyone has to wait on.  That's why I usually prefer hiking alone.  They were all nice about it, though; Saori especially would slow down to wait on me and kept checking on me.

Evening at the Bungalow

About 6:30 we were served rice along with two Thai dishes-one was a spicy green bean and meat dish, and the other was a mild vegetable dish with a yellow curry sauce.

There's no electricity in the village, so Johnnie (our guide-he never told us his real name, but he and his fellow guides had chosen English names for themselves, mostly inspired me by alcoholic beverages-so his was Johnnie Walker.)  lit candles and set them along the table on the porch.

He suggested we spend the evening playing cards.  So we could see better, he hung up a flashlight from the rafter with a bit of rope.

We conferred for a few minutes about what games everyone knew or that would be easy to learn, and we ended up playing spoons.  There were a few minor rule variations, but everyone but Saori had played before.  It's a simple game, though and after watching a round she caught on fast. 

To make it more interesting, Johnnie suggested that there be some kind of silly punishment for losing.  So, he found a blackened pot somewhere, and after every round, the one had gone out first would rub their fingers in the soot and then mark the loser's face.  After a few rounds several people looked like some sort of tribal warriors. 

After awhile it was pointed out that one side of the table-the other Americans-were coveted in soot while on the other side, Saori bad I had only one mark each, and the British couple none at all.  So, just to see if it made a difference, we started moving seats, scooting down one place every round.  It didn't help too much.  The British guy, Faris, was the last to get a mark. 

Later in the evening, the children came back along with all their friends.  There was a group of about fifteen of them, mostly girls.  Some of them wore the traditional jackets if their hill-tribe's costume. They sang several songs for us in their local language.  Of course most of them I didn't recognize, but towards the end they did a version of Frere Jacques.  That song gets around... There was one other tune that seemed familiar, like it was a devotional song I'd heard long ago, but I couldn't place it.  Probably just wishful thinking. 

Johnnie told us before the kids came that often the foreign groups like us will take up a small collection for the kids;  the money they "earn" singing for the tourists goes towards school supplies. Normally, it's a bit annoying to be hit up for money, but it was handled well and he didn't try to guilt trip anyone. 

After the kids left, we played another simple card game.  I'm not even sure of the name.  We wanted something quite simple though as Saori's English wasn't really up to complicated explanations, and we didn't want to leave her out.

We finally went to bed about ten-thirty or so. Fortunately, up in the mountains it was cool enough that we actually needed our blankets.  I slept fairly well considering that I was still in quite a lot of pain.  I did have to wake up to slowly turn over.  You don't realize how much you use those muscles until you don't have them!

On the Mountaintop

I survived the trek up the mountain tired but no worse for wear. Unfortunately, walking to the shower building (down hill a bit) in flipflops did not go so well. 

It had rained a bit right after we arrived in the village, button the sun was shining on a beautiful late afternoon.  The paths, however, were still muddy.  I guess I stepped in a puddle; one second I was enjoying the view and the next I was sliding and falling.  I slid first into a small bush, but it was too flimsy to grab onto. I fell sideways off the trail about four feet down into the muddy courtyard of the village shop/someone's home, where a lady was busy giving her husband a haircut. 

Courtney, one of the other Americans, saw me go over the ledge from the bungalow porch and yelled down to ask if I was okay.  I could tell from the pain that I was not alright.  All of the others, except for Saori who was in the shower, and our guide rushed down to check on me. 

They tried to help me up tight away, but I was in too much pain to think of moving just yet.  Everyone started asking after my ankles and wrists, and considering the way I fell I'm surprised I didn't sprain a wrist.  I guess grabbing for the bush kept them out of the way.  The pain was in my back and sides; all the muscles in my lower back felt like one big cramp. 

Since I was content to stay in the mud a bit longer, Johnnie, our guide started collecting my scattered belongings.  I had had my camera out to take pictures of the village, and that had landed near me in the mud.  He found a rag and cleaned most if it off and tested it out to make sure it still worked.  It did, and thanks to his testing I now have two shots of me sitting in the mud.  I am refraining from posting those, though. 

I have always thought that if I was falling or going overboard, I would protect my camera first, tossing it to safety as I went.  Turns out when it really happens that the camera was left to its own devices to fall in the mud if it wanted.  I was too busy trying to figure out which way was up to even consider the camera. 

Finally I felt I could move, more because I knew I needed to get out of the mud than really feeling any better.  Johnny and Larry helped me to a chair nearby. I sat for awhile there.  The others finally left as the children wanted to give them a tour around the village.  Johnnie brought my purse in from the mud, and it turned out that I had ripped the strap clean off on one side.  Johnnie gave me a plastic bag to empty most of the stuff out of it; then he borrowed a sewing kit from the lady still calmly clipping at her husband's hair and sewed it back on.  He did a good job; it's held well.  I used baby wipes to clean some of the mud off of my purse, but it's going to take more than one round in a washing machine if it ever does come clean.

I finally got the energy to continue to the shower, where I washed as much of the mud off as I could with cold water.  I took a large dose if ibuprofen; as long as I didn't move I was okay. 

Later note: after googling my symptoms, I believe I had a lumbar sprain. It's when you pull or strain the muscles or ligaments that connect to the spine, and it's a common back injury. It is often caused by twisting badly, which is what I must have done as I fell.  It took nine days to feel somewhat normal again.  Thank goodness every pharmacy in Thailand has tiger balm and ibuprofen. 

Evening in the Village

After our little elephant excursion, it was time fir the trekking part of our jungle trek.  I'd asked about it at the hostel, and she assured me it wasn't too hard, and not rushed.  I've always loved hiking and I've done a lot of it; I'm really trying to get back in shape because I love it but right now it's harder than it ought to be.  I prefer hiking alone, so that I can stop and take pictures, or rest if I want to without holding anybody up.  It's embarrassing to always be at the back of the pack. 

For some reason, I had an idea of winding around trees in a nice flat Amazonian type of jungle. I don't know why; I've seen a map of Thailand. 

Both misconceptions combined to make the trekking rather unpleasant.  It was humid, it was hot, and it was straight up a mountain.  And it was, all but a short section of clambering  over boulders, on a muddy access road. 

Fortunately, the group of people I was with were, although all super-athletic mountain goats themselves, were very nice about my slightly slower pace and were very encouraging.  It's just a bit embarrassing that I needed the encouragement in the first place.  Pride goethe before a fall, I suppose;  after hiking Yellow Mountain in July, I had been feeling in pretty good shape.  That wasn't too difficult at all.  And last October I did just fine at Jiuhuashan; but then again, I was alone there and wasn't comparing myself to anyone.  And it was a mix of up and down, instead of straight up like this one.

I am, as always, grateful I live on the fifth floor, because at least I get a lot of leg exercise that way.  It could have been much worse, since I live in a completely flat city. 

Anyway, we finally made it.  At least tomorrow will be all down hill. 

Our destination was a little village on the very top of the mountain.  There we found waiting fir us a thatched bungalow with pallets inside to spend the night in.  The front porch had a view out over the valley and surrounding hills that made everyone, once we caught our breath, start to feel that the long slog was worth it.

Fried rice in a banana leaf

After our elephant ride, we stopped for lunch.  People have been carrying food since long before ziploc and tupperware, and around here the usual way is to wrap it in banana leaves. 

We unwrapped our banana leaves to find surprisingly good fried rice.  Along with it was a large platter of fresh pineapple, grown nearby.  It was some of the best pineapple I've ever had. 

Elephants!

After the orchid nursery, we made another stop at a market, which had a convenience store as well as open stalls.  We stocked up on snacks and drinks and gawked for a bit at the various fried bugs and strange fruits for sale.  Now, we were finally headed to the jungle. 

As we drove further out into the countryside, we started to see elephant barns along the river. And  who doesn't like elephants?

We paired up-of course, Saori, the Japanese girl, and I were together since we were the only two single people.  She speaks some English, though not a lot.  Unfortunately, Japanese is a language I have no experience with.  I did learn that she is an occupational therapist from a small town I've never heard of.  She was also traveling alone.  I'm proud of her for that-it seems that most Japanese tourists I see travel in herds. 

Anyhow, we rode the elephants for a short trip down a very muddy road.  I road an elephant before in Laos, but elephants are always fun.  The best part was that the lead elephant in our group had a baby tagging along.  Adorable!

The Best Ever

Okay, I've been traveling a long time.  I've taken more overnight trains that I can remember, ever since the days when we called them couchettes back in Belgium.  And that--it seems crazy--was nine years ago now.  I've taken them all over western and central Europe, and I've taken them around China and India.

But this...this is how it ought to be.  I'm in love with Thai railways.  The only bad part is that I don't have time to take more trains. 

To begin with, the seats, before being folded into the lower bed, were wide enough for two, which means that when folded out the bottom bunk is about the same width as a twin mattress, rather than the usual narrow bench that you have to wake up to turn over on.  Then, there's a foam pad that makes this bed softer than the hostel bed I've spent the last few nights in.  

The curtains are also a nice touch.  No lights in your face to wake you up, and actually a bit of privacy.  I have my cozy little cave.  

Sigh. :) 

Edit: I wrote this post in my little cave on the train. There was one little downside I realized later--because there were curtains, they never turned off the overhead lights.  The curtains weren't quite thick enough to block it out, so there was rather a blue glow...but still, really good night train!  

Wat Phra Singh

One of the most important wats in Chiang Mai is Wat Phra Singh.  It was established in 1345.  It is also the center of religious festivities during the Thai new year, Songkran, which is held in April. 

One of the temples has these life-size statues of famous monks who have served there.  They are so life-lime that they're creepy.  I almost wanted to touch one to make sure he wasn't alive, but at the same time I didn't want to just in case he was. 

Chiang Mai

I spent my first full day in Chiang Mai wandering around the central part of the city, looking in shops and seeing a few of the many wats.

Several were very nice, although after seeing the grandest ones in Bangkok they had lost their wow factor. 

I'll post a few pictures of the biggest and most popular wat in the next post.

I made my way out by the east gate of the old walls, and found a plethora of restaurants.  There was a brand new Burger King, with the nicest bathrooms I've ever seen in a fast food restaurant.  I finally stopped to eat at a Mexican restaurant.  Yes, Chiang Mai is filled to the gills with backpackers, and the locals have figured out what they want.  And, rather surprisingly, my chicken burrito was really good. 

Southern Food!

My first evening in Chiang Mai I went rambling around, exploring the area until I found somewhere that looked appetizing for dinner.  My turns-going whichever way seemed to have more traffic-took me out the north gate of the old city and across the canal.  I found (of course) a 7-11, and all sorts of sidewalk food stands. I know I probably should have been a good traveler and sampled the local food, but rice just wasn't what I really wanted at the moment.  I wandered along, and thought about stopping at a place that looked like some Thai version of hot pot.  It looked like a big production of a meal just for one person, though.  What else is down here?

Then I saw it.  "New Orleans Gumbo,Special! BBQ! Po'boys! Southern Cooking!"  I read all the signs outside.  It was a little place called Three Little Pigs. 

I went in, and immediately saw something on the menu that definitely sounded good.  Fried okra! I don't even know when the last time I had fried okra was.  I've never even seen okra in China.   

I ordered bbq pork, which was good but nothing to get excited over, hush puppies, which unfortunately turned out to be not that great (needed onion, notion), and the okra.  Thankfully the okra was every bit as good as I'd imagined it to be.  As a bonus, they had good sweet tea with free refills.  

Since I live outside the US, it's a special treat while traveling to find food from home.

Another day, another bus

Moving on, a little further north.  Only about five hours this time, up to the backpacker haven of Chiang Mai. 

At the bus station, a huge portrait of the king and queen adorns the ticket hall;  the royal family is very popular here. 

Sukhothai Part 5

From Wat Si Chum, I biked along some quiet country backroads past a few lesser known ruins.  This one in the pictures was especially crumbling, and the grass around it is kept short by grazing cows. 

Exhausted by a long day of exploring, I made it back to the bicycle rental place, which involved biking along the road with traffic, and they drive on the other side of the road in Thailand; it wasn't bad at all, though.

Sukhothai Part 4

Just across the road from the ticket booth and entrance to the historical area, there are a couple of bike rental places.  For thirty baht (just under a dollar) you can rent a bike all day.  This is what all the guides I've read said to do, and they were right. 

The ruins at Sukhothai are of a whole city, so they are scattered out over a fairly large area.  It saved a lot of time to bicycle between the major clumps of ruins. Also, on such a hot day, bicycling means a bit of wind in your face, so it was nice to cool off a bit.  There were areas to park the bikes near the major temples, and the rental place provided a bike lock. They also let me borrow a small bungee cord to fasten the bag I was carrying my shoes in to the back seat, since the bikes didn't have baskets.

After I explored the main section of the old city, I biked out a couple of kilometers to the northern section of the ruins.  I explored several areas up there; the most important being Wat Si Chum, with its tall Buddha peeking out of a narrow door.  The buddha's hands are painted gold; you can see the pictures below. 

Sukhothai Part 3

There are so many pictures I like from this day that I don't know which to put.  I know looking at someone else's vacation photos can get tedious, so I'll try to restrain myself.

One fun part of the day was meeting quite a few local 12-year-olds. A nearby school was on a field trip to the ruins. But not for history class-for English class. The students had an assignment to interview a certain number of foreigners, and where better to find them than at a famous historical site?

They practiced basic questions-what is your name? How do you spell that? Where are you from? What do you do? Do you like Thai food? They didn't know much else, but they were enthusiastic in accosting any foreigner who came by.  I did have longer conversations with a couple of the teachers. 

It must be a bit of a challenge for the kids, though, to hear so many different accents of English.  There was my American English, and I saw a British family, but it seemed that most of the tourists were French or Italian.  So the kids were getting English from those not too sure of it themselves. 

On a side note, I did really enjoy hearing people speaking in Italian.  I couldn't think of an excuse to talk to many of them, but just hearing was nice.  I miss speaking the language; I certainly haven't found anyone to talk to in Wuhan. It did remind me, though, how much my accent has suffered on the four years (!) that I haven't used it.