Day Seven: Sukhothai and Phrae

---

Today we visited a rice mill at Baan Suan. The Thais take rice very seriously - it's their biggest export. If your idea of rice is a box of Minute Rice, you have missed out! Try getting a bag of jasmine rice at your local Asian market. It has a fragrant aroma and tastes light and delicious. I rinse the rice before boiling it, which makes it less clumpy. Anyway... we saw how rice is hulled and produced in various forms, from whole brown rice to fine rice flour.

We then stopped at Sukhothai historical park. It is an amazingly beautiful park with many ancient monuments. Sukhothai was the first kingdom of Thailand in 1238. The Buddhist statues and wats obviously had old Cambodian influences. Ole showed us some artist renderings of what the original buildings and grounds had looked like. It was a grand and magnificent campus back in the 1200s!

In the afternoon, we visited Ban Don Kai Kia elementary school. The kids were adorable. They showed us around their school and loved having their photos taken. They are used to digital cameras - they wanted to see their picture after it was taken 😊 They sang us a few songs, including the Thai national anthem. We entertained them with Old MacDonald and You Are My Sunshine. I don't think we'll be getting any casting calls from "American Idol".

After saying goodbye to the children, we stopped by an indigo dye workshop. I forgot to bring my camera, darnit, because it was a fascinating visit. Huge clay pots are filled with indigo dye, made from a plant. Then cotton linens and clothes are dipped into the pots until they are completely saturated. They come out of the pot looking dark green, but then the color changes to a deep, inky blue as it cures. I tried my hand at Batik. It's harder than it looks! The clothes are beautiful and made of a wonderfully soft cotton. Yes - I bought a pair of shorts. We all wore our indigo clothes for dinner one night. We looked like the bunch of American tourists that we were 😊

---

Photos

Hill of Rice
A huge mound of rice awaits processing at the rice mill.

The Circle of Rice
Ole shows the various forms of rice, from brown rice, to hulled long-grain rice, to short rice and rice flour.

Rice Wheel
I'm not sure what this thing does, but it's part of the rice milling process.

Hitching a Ride in Sukhothai
Another form of transportation. This truck took us around the park.

Wat Si Sawai
One of the oldest wats in Thailand, dating to the early 1200s.

Me at Wat Si Sawai
Here I am promoting KZUM at Sukhothai.

Ole at Wat Si Sawai
Ole doing his thing, explaining the history and significance of the wat. His in-depth knowledge of his country was impressive.

Wat Si Sawai 2
Another view of the amazing wat at Sukhothai.

Doggie at Wat Si Sawai
Interesting looking dog at the wat, obviously posing for tourist photos.

Tree at Wat Si Sawai
This tree was enormous. It looked like it would have covered a city block.

Joanie and Susan at Wat Si Sawai
A couple of fellow OAT travelers at the wat.

Buddha at Wat Si Sawai
Ole explained that the Buddha has one hand pointing to the ground to indicate our connection to the earth and the other hand positioned forward to indicate... well... to indicate something significant, but I'm sorry I can't remember.

Tall Buddha at Wat Si Sawai
This standing Buddha is about 30 to 40 feet tall.

Banana lady
This tiny little old woman, age 79, was selling bananas from baskets hanging from a bamboo pole. I tried lifting the thing and it about flattened me.

My visit to Ban Don Kai Kia School
This was one of the many wonderful students at the school.