From Ayutthaya to Sukhothai

The blue line on map shows how far we traveled today: from Ayutthaya to Sukhothai.

From Ayutthaya to Sukhothai

Water buffaloes along the highway. We stopped to take photos.

From Ayutthaya to Sukhothai

Areas along the highway were known for different things. This area is known for its bird life, hence, a bird statue on the highway.

From Ayutthaya to Sukhothai

Oh boy! Only squat toilets at this rest stop and not one you would want to try to sit on as all was wet here. I did figure out that if I was not very successful in Malaysia on my first try using a squat toilet that maybe I had approached it all wrong. They don’t teach you in school how to go about this. You have to figure it out all on your own. So I changed direction and faced the door rather than to wall as I did on my previous attempt. It worked! It also helped that there was a grab bar to hold onto.

Few toilets offered tissue paper, so both our bus driver and our bus boy held tissue boxes at either bus exit so we women could pull out of the box as many as we thought we would need.

From Ayutthaya to Sukhothai

At this rest stop, there was a store devoted to selling only snacks. I bought some peanut brittle. Thai peanut brittle and clusters are very good. Other people bought snacks and Nu bought a lot of them and we all shared so we could try many of them. Not as salty or as sweet as our snacks but still very good.

I think this is where Nu asked for a count of who was going to ride an elephant when we got to Chiang Mai. I had been mulling over riding an elephant even before I even left the U.S. (I had not ridden one beforehand), but I had figured that I would wait to make a final decision until we got to the elephant camp––maybe look a couple of elephants in the eye or something like that.  I told Nu that I would ride one as long as Sandy, the other woman traveling on her own, was going to also. We then could share an elephant and I would not be riding on one by myself. Sandy was going to ride, so all was set and then I had three days before the ride to more or less freak out about it, which got worse when Sandy became ill in Chiang Rei and I thought maybe she wouldn’t be well enough to ride. She recovered––thankfully!

I found the drive from Ayutthaya to Sukhothai very interesting and have put my photos of it on a slide show. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/from–ayutthaya–to–sukhothai/

(Slide Shows, Asia, Thailand, “Ayutthaya to Sukhothai.”

Sukhothai Historical Park–Movie

We went by tut tut to view the park.

Sukhothai Historical Park

Sukhothai was the first Thai capital, established by King Ramkhamhaeng the Great between 1238 and 1257. He also created the Thai alphabet and laid the foundation for politics, the monarchy, and for religion. The Sukhothai Historical Park contains the restored ruins of the ancient city. It encompasses over 17,000 acres (70 sq. km.) and contains the remains of the Royal Palace and 26 temples.

Sukhothai Historical Park

One of the many Buddhas in the historical park.

I have put my photos of the Sukhothai Historical Park on  a slide show. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/sukhothai–historical–park/

(Slide Shows, Asia, Thailand, “Sukhothai Historical Park.”)

The Legendha–Our Hotel

Our hotel in Sukhothai was the Legendha.

The Legendha

“Sawasdee” is the Thai greeting. When giving it, people bow slightly with palms pressed together in a prayer–like fashion.

The Legendha

I didn’t ask anyone to “hold that pose” while they were greeting me in the Thai way (I think I could have ask Nu to do this but didn’t think of it), but I found a picture of the pose even though the two people in the photo are Westerners, not Thais.

The Legendha

A very pretty hotel.

The Legendha

With a Thai–style scarecrow.

The Legendha

And a very nice bridge across the river.

The Legendha

And a very nice pool.

The Legendha

But I didn’t like my room in the hotel for several reasons. Half of the walls were left unpainted––cement colored.

The Legendha

But I did appreciate all the old teak in the room and especially liked these doors to the bathroom.

The Legendha

And this teak floor but which creaked every time I walked on them. There were other strange sounds in the room that I couldn’t figure them out.

The Legendha

These teak windows were really the main problem. There were gaps between and around them and they did not have screens on them. We were already told to put on DEET at the hotel and Nu told us to shut the room door very quickly so that mosquitoes would not fly in, but if the windows have open gaps, closing the door quickly is not going to keep the mosquitoes out. But Nu also told us that there might be a lizard in our room––a small one––that eats mosquitoes. I did not wash off the DEET I had put on that night. I don’t know if it is okay to do this. I found the room to be on the creepy side.

The Legendha

The public areas of the hotel were very nice.

The Legendha

The dining room.

The Legendha

The dinner buffet was good. The egg rolls that this woman was deep frying were the best ones I have ever eaten.

The Legendha

This cook was very nice and wanted me to try her pork steak with black pepper.

The Legendha

She served it with a sauce. But I didn’t really taste much of it as the pork was still pink. The restaurant manager saw that I hadn’t eaten it and asked me why. I think it is okay to eat pork when it is still pink but it is not a thing that I do. I liked the rest of the meal.

The Legendha

There was entertainment after dinner.

Entertainment at the Legendha–Movie

This was one of the entertainers.

The Legendha

I also took a movie of this dancer. Go to Movies, Asia, Thailand, page 3.