100 - SUKHOTHAI

Sukhothai and Sukhothai Thani

I took an all night bus to get to Sukhothai, something I'm still ambivalent about, because while I love traveling at night and seeing the lights of cars and the neons of towns and cities in the darkness (an "Office of Atoms for Peace", really?), I never manage to sleep properly. If I take into account that I had just landed in Thailand and didn't have a clue about what to expect about the countryside and, not going to lie, the fact that I was alone… well, sleep was out of the menu.  

When I got there it was even earlier than I expected, not even 5am and had to take a private cab because no public transport was available at that hour, not even the songteows. It started to get lighter on the ride to my guesthouse, but even if the sunrise was starting to get on with the day, when we pulled in front of the garden no one was awake, obviously. My driver was kind enough to open the doors and made sure that I was safely inside the garden to wait for the owners. I think I waited around 2 hours, but they were 2 amazing hours. The guesthouse was in an small street by the Yom and almost no one drove through there and the silence was inspiring after the busy streets of Bangkok. I felt that I could breath again, I just sat by the fountain being eaten by mozzies and read with the growing light and listened the silence… until the public sound system decided to blast some kind of old song and a few announcements. I don't have a clue what it was, I don't speak thai, but it made me laugh despite how tired I was. 

New Sukhothai  is considered modern, if by modern you understand "always in construction", roads were being paved, a lot of houses constructed and there is always this kind of dust produced by exhaust. It's a kind of dry place under the strong sun. But you get to the temples of the old capital and everything turns lovely. The lantern festival was programmed in a week so a lot of people were there cleaning and arranging, whole schools seemed to use their students for help with the decorations and some where just visiting before the holidays and there was water and trees all along; and while the heat was terrible and I was sweating buckets a friend I made and I rented some bicycles and got to use them all day. The site is so big though that it never felt crowded and with the bikes we got a system of letting them under the shade and wander at our hearts content along the stupas and the buddha's. It felt like an oasis. 

THAILAND, SUKHOTHAI

I realize now that I had a pair of very hard days, I was starting to think that this trip was a waste of time and that I shouldn't be here and I wanted to go back to Barcelona, to spend the winter there with all my family and friends. Going to Mo Chit Station and dealing with all the hassle of the bus, the huge Weekend Market, the heat, the cold that didn't want to go away, all my bags, all the people... I just wanted to cry my heart out. 

But I got on the bus and decided that before taking the decision I had to see other places, so I got to Sukhothai at 5 AM, and I had to take a taxi to the Guesthouse, which I didn't want to use but Sukhothai is small and it was still dark and I didn't even have a proper map, and he left me at this humble and gorgeous garden, Ban Thai Guesthouse. There wasn't anybody but the driver opened the fence and secured me inside. I sat in one of their chairs and waited for the owners while I watched the sunrise, only the roosters singing it... until the sound system of the village started to blast something that seemed a mix of a pop thai song for the elderly and a wake up call. 

I felt better. 

Even with what little sleep I had that night, I met with a friend and at midmorning we went to see the Old City of Sukhothai. We rented two bikes because it's a huge place, there wasn't a lot of tourists and a part of the place was upside down because they were preparing for Loi Krathong, and I loved every minute of the place.

I think I've never sweated that much in my life, the heat was extraordinary, but I also think the temple cured me. Well, and the calm, the gorgeous guesthouse, the humble room with no A/C, which is my personal nightmare, and sleep. 

Now I'm in Chiang Mai, after another 6 hours in a bus, I have a hostel for three days and I would like to stay for three more, except the town is apparently full with the Loi Krathong. If we manage to find it we'll stay here until next week, if not, we'll see, I might try to look for a place more up north or decide to go down looking for some beaches. We'll see, that was one of the points of all this!