Sukhothai/Si Satchanalai

My journey from BK to Sukhothai started at 4:35AM to catch the 7:10 flight. It was none eventful. I left my big backpack at the BK airport since I'll be back the next day. The flight took 55 minutes.

The Sukhothai airport is very interesting. Unlike any tiny airports, there are no gates or belts, instead you're led away from the plane in a tram. The runway is aligned on both side with water and flowers. The service people dressed in sort of traditional Thai custom? I heard the airport is owned by Bangkok Airways.

After check into the guesthouse, I was out to see the Old Sukhothai city of 13th and 14th centuries.

I guess after Ankor Wat, nothing can compare to it. I wasn't too impressed with the ruins. They restored the whole area into a park where many people rented a bike to get around; I opted for walking.

I only liked couple ruins. Most of the ruins are wats and are dedicated to Buddah. Of the few remain intact ones, it was pretty cool.

O, on the plane I met a couple from England of Chinese ancestry. He was from Mauritious in the Indian ocean and a doctor.

I think from this point on, I'll be meeting fewer if any backpackers, let alone repeat meetings because of most are going home for the holiday and Borneo is not really a backpacker place due to the higher price.

Here, for the first time in my trip, I felt alone.

Next day I'll head out to another old city Si Satchani near by that is from the same period as old Sukhothai. And then catch a late afternoon flight back to BK. I'll stay near the airport in BK so I don't have to get back before 4:30 to catch an Internation flight. So I will check in a real hotel!

The Old Si Satchani was better than Old Sukhothai I think, although the ruins weren't that great either, but I liked the quiet setting in the forest. I end up visting the place with a Frechmen Pascal that I met on the same local bus.

The way back to Sukhothai was an interesting ordeal, I waited for 40 minutes for the local bus, and then the bus stop for 20 minutes at a town, and I didn't get to the bus station at Sukhothai until 2:59PM and that leaves me 1 minute to get to my guesthouse (1km away) to pick up my belonging, and then get to the airport pickup point.

I ran all the way and I barely able to flag down the van leaving the pickup point at 3:10PM. I was all wet.

Luckyly the airport is so small, there is no line, and you get free drinks and bananas while you wait.