Andrew Pell: Historical Sukothai

We woke early to take a 1 hour bus ride from Phitsanulok to our next stop which was a town called Sukothai. On the bus, a Monk who was sitting up the back called us both over. We were a little hesitant but before long the Monk has 'blessed' us, tied a wrist band on and wished us a safe journey. This was a nice touch after not feeling super comfortable in Phitsanulok. Once arriving in Sukothai we checked into a small guesthouse that was extremely cheap & served delicious food.

Sukothai is known for its well preserved ruins and we set out to see them by first catching a 30minute sawngthaew (basically a truck with seats in the back) to the historical park. After hiring some dodgey bikes for $1 that were way to small for my lanky legs we rode around the park with stops at each of the 21 historical sites. One of the highlights was the 9m tall standing Buddha among broken columns. A sweaty few hours followed before it was time to return the bikes and head back into town for some well earned food. On the way back to town it was clear that school had just finished as there were kids running about the place everywhere. Sure enough our sawngthaew turned into a makeshift school bus and we had about 30 kids all piled into the back with us. This was definetly a fun ride back into town!

The most amazing desert was discovered by us in Sukothai. Well I am sure a lot of other people have discovered it too but my goodness this was tasty and extremely intersting to watch it being prepared. So.... its basically roti bread made from scratch, fried in a shitload of oil with banana and coconut then placed in the middle. If that wasn't already good enough, the sweet lady behind the stall slops sweet milk (condensed milk) all over the top of it! Lets just say that 1 was clearly not enough!!!!

After having our sugar hit and an enjoyable day and a bit in Sukothai it was time to head to Chiang Mai, a 6 hour bus journey.