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Published: October 31st 2006
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We were very sad to leave our fabulous hostel, one of our favourites so far. We arrived in Loei again and quickly jumped on a bus to Phitsanulok. The journey was eventful. Amy and I were allocated seats adjacent to each other on either side of the aisle. Her companion was a very short Thai man whose legs didn't meet the ground. He wasn't short of confidence though and quite friendly. So friendly in fact, he didn't waste any time in time in patting Amy's leg to which he got a firm rebuttal. He must have heard Irish girls are easy! More was to come, as the bus suddenly swerved across the road to avoid a reckless driver, Amy got a big hug off shorty as he clutched his heart in relief. Bless his cotton stocks! My travel companion hugged me too and thanked Buddha. We were both glad to reach Phitsanulok.
We arrived at the Youth hostel in Phitsanulok but left after seeing the offered accommodation. It was very disappointing, you wonder sometimes why a place gets such a good review? We walked towards the rail station in search of another hotel. We eventually found the one we were
looking for while asking for directions outside the entrance. Things got even tougher for Amy as she went in search of her elusive "green curry". We settled on a tuna sandwich instead. So far the food in Northern Thailand has been disappointing. This may be due to our inability to speak Thai and the lack of English by the locals in Northern Thailand. In the evening we went for a stroll down near the river. It was very pretty and the night market was a good distraction. We bought a Rubik cube, yes a rubik cube.
(http://www.rubiks.com/cube_online.html ) A link for those not lucky enough to have a Rubik cube, you can play too. It's great fun. We still haven't conquered it yet.
We dined in a restaurant beside the river, opting again to avoid the nasty Chang beer. The soup smelled like an old pair of socks and Amy was reluctant to eat it. I assured it her that it was ok. The next morning we both had dodgy tummies. Emm, no luck again with the food. We both got up early and decided to visit Phitsanulok's main attraction. Thailand's reportedly most beautiful and significant Buddha image,
Phra Buddha Chinnarat. The image was cast in 1357. There were many worshippers at the temple but we couldn't see what the fuss was about, the image wasn't anything more special than we've seen on our travels so far. The atmosphere was ruined by a man shouting incessantly into a microphone. It was like been stuck beneath the speakers at the races.
After an hours bus trip we arrived in Sukhothai, passing the time trying to conquer the Rubik cube. We chose a hostel in the new part of the city which was full of backpackers. Amy got her wish with green curry available on the menu and wasn't disappointed. We went for a walk checking out the disappointing night market. Across from the market we watched an aerobics class, the instructor was manic but everyone seemd to be able to keep up. There is an amazing amount of overweight people in Thailand, alot of the kids are surprisingly fat, not really sure what the reason is. Women don't seem to shave there legs either. Shame on them!
The next morning we went out to the old part of the city. Sukhothai was the capital of the first
Kingdom of Siam in the 13th and 14th centuries. It has a number of fine monuments, illustrating the beginnings of Thai architecture. It's similar to Angkor in many ways, both have a beautiful backdrop of picturesque gardens. We were both cautious whilst exploring the region. The previous day we read on someones travel blog that they saw two snakes in the park, so we were both very jumpy. Two small lizards were mistaken for cobras by our overactive imaginations. The mounuments are very well signposted and hiring bikes was the easiest way to explore the park. I was pleased with my bike this time. Normally I'm given a bike suitable for a 12 year old with a saddle that induces days of pain in my rear-end, this one had a very nice bell too. The park is enjoyable and worthwhile to spend a morning there.
We retired back to the hostel for more card games and Thai curry. Next stop Chiang Mai.
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Da King
He looks like he is about to pick his nose - uhh Love reading your stories !