Train ride to Sukkhothai

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On a train from Bangkok to Sukkhothai - vibrant green rice paddies flying by my window - white birds and scarecrows scattered on the horizon while seemingly makeshift huts put together with pieces of scrap metal lie on the fields like kites without air. They came around a short bit ago with trays of rice and veggie curry. Anna pulled our her mini-fish filled with soy sauce - who knew!! The last few days have been so exciting! I am loving the food (although I tend to stick mostly to veggie meals). Best things so far is the fresh OJ and the lovely little restaurant around the corner from our guesthouse in Bangkok (we ate there like 5 times!) Yesterday, we woke up early and walked to the boat pick-up. These boats crash up against the rubber stoppers on the edge of a floating harbor while whistles blow and everyone hurries to jump on and off the boat! It motors along the river like a bus on a busy street stopping at various harbors where the whistles blow again. We got off and went to visit an amazing Wat with the largest golden Buddha in the laying position. It was HUGE! We were given small tin cans full of coins - In Buddhism making merit is a way of securing a good re-birth. There are many ways to make merit but one way it was put a coin (each coin worth less than a penny) in each of the 40 pots - it was a very cool process! The sound was amazing! After admiring more, we hopped back on the river boat and then climbed stairs to the sky train - a metro in the sky! We gawked as we walked into the mall - the exhibits and all the glass art was incredible! Fanciest mall I've ever been to! I had a mango smoothie -- MMMmmm and then we walked along a canal to Jim Thompson's silk house. He was an American who moved to Thailand to re-inspire the silk trade - very tough to resist buying a bag! Then we literally climbed into a long thin boat where the ceiling sunk low when we went under a bridge so much so we were ducking! Water splashed into the boat from the narrow canal walls - definitely an experience!! We climbed all the stairs to teh top of Golden Mount with incredible views of the city. As anna said, I pathetically rang the gong bell and with sweat pouring down we descended and jumped in tuk-tuks to get home. I got a video of the tuk tuk, CRAZY! Another Thai massage and fisherman pants (SO comfortable) later and I was exhausted!!

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