Ruined!

I spent 3 days earlier this week touring two of Thailand's most important historical sites - the ruins at Sukothai and Ayutthaya. On Sunday I left Chiang Mai and hopped on a bus for a 6 hour ride to Sukothai. (This is why I didn't fly back to Bangkok, as some have wondered.) Sukothai is about 1/2 way between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. It is known for its historical park of old temple ruins. Unfortunately, that's about all it has going for it. I was hoping this would be a cute little town where I could relax and chill for a few days. Nope. Sort of dusty and lacking in any sense of charm or personality. But, it had the historical park.

I liked my guesthouse - I had my own little bungalow (with a/c!), they had a nice communal lounge with a tv and about 100 pirated dvd's, and there were a good number of other travellers there. But, I had officially declared myself bored within 10 minutes. I was sitting in the lounge for just a few minutes, I suddenly heard "Jennifer?" It was a couple that I had met in Bangkok a week earlier. I was so happy, and let Helen & Pete know they just cured my boredom.

The three of us, and another couple we met on the local bus, rented bikes on Monday and toured a good bit of the historical park. We rode probably around 10k over the morning (partly because we overshot one of the temples by around 2k and had to turn back. oops). I could have stayed another few hours, but had to make a decision around 12:30 - leave the park and make the 2:00 bus to Ayutthaya, or stay a little longer and be stuck in Sukothai overnight. I decided to get out of town, so I left Helen & Pete to explore on their own a little longer.

Ayutthaya had a bit more going for it. A pretty big city, with everything centered around ruins of old temples and palaces. Lots and lots of buddhas - big ones, little ones, standing ones, sitting ones, and 3 reclining buddhas. Buddha looks very comfortable reclined. The Thai like to drape their buddhas in gold cloth. Sometimes just a sash, othertimes full draping. It looks stunning against the old ruins.

My guesthouse in Ayutthaya - Morodok Thai house - was run by Samsei, a tiny little Thai woman, probably in her mid-50's but looking much older because she only has 3 teeth. I think Samsei both understands english and speaks it too, but most of us couldn't tell. Whatever language she was speaking was incomprehensible (and horribly high pitched, too). She is a bit crazy, and likes to dance around like a college freshman on nickle beer night when she drinks. 2 guys who had been staying there for quite some time seemed to understand her, but the rest of us were baffled.

The ruins at Sukothai and Ayutthaya got me inspired for the next leg of my trip... Angkor Wat. (See next post...)