My birthday in Sukhothai

Wednesday, 25 June 2008, I spent the day and night travelling from Hanoi to Sukhothai by plane, bus and motorbike. Let me list what means of transport I travelled by: 2 buses from my house to Nội Bài international airport => 2 hour flight from Hanoi to Bangkok => shuttle bus from Suvarnahbumi international airport to the bus terminal => van from the bus terminal to a bus stop near Morchit bus station => motorbike (without helmet) from the bus stop through a village to Morchit bus station => waiting 4 hours at the North/Northeast Bus Terminal => 7 hour night bus from Bangkok to Sukhothai => Samradeng (3-wheel motorbike) to the Garden House in Sukhothai. I left Hanoi at 10am and when I got my room in Sukhothai, it was 5am next day. It took me 19 hours to get to Sukhothai from Hanoi. What a long tiring journey!

Thursday, 26 June 2008, my bithday in Sukhothai. Instead of a boring day at work, I decided to travel alone and this year I chose Sukhothai. I’ve not been there and thought it would be a great place for taking photos. Sukhothai used to be the capital of Sukhothai kingdom from 1238-1438 and now it’s a UNESCO world heritage site.

I spent the morning relaxing at the guest house, changing currency at the bank and shopping. My bungalow is located in the garden of my guest house and I even heard the sound of geckos.

My Thai driver picked me up at 1.30pm and we left for Sukhothai Historical Park, which is located 14km away from Sukhothai city. The popular means of transport in this city is called “Samradeng” as my Thai driver pronounced. It looks like a 3-wheel motorbike attached to a dual-seated carriage. The driver seats behind and the guests are on the front side. It was hot and I could feel the strong heat on the way.

When we entered the park, I bought a sightseeing ticket (150 baht) and at one of the temples of the site, there was Police Box, where I had to register my name and nationality.

As I agreed with my Thai driver, we would spend 4 hours touring the site and I would pay him 500 baht. The first temple he took me to was Wat Mahathat, which is situated in central Sukhothai kingdom. The temple has many stupas and buddha statues, as well as other architectural structure surrounding the area. It was considered the center of Sukhothai craftsmanship.

We went to different temples and I ended up seeing 10 temples during my half day there. My favorite places are a huge buddha statue at Wat Si Chum and Wat Sa Si by the lake. We went along the road of the park and I loved its peaceful atmosphere. The temples were passing by me and it reminded me of Bagan in Myanmar, when I was sitting on a horse cart. I was surprised to see only a few tourists. I guess maybe I went to the place during the low season, when it was hot and rainy in Thailand.

We were back in Sukhothai city at 5:30pm. The place where I stayed was near the river and there were not much activities or entertainments. I went to a park near my guest house and watched the locals practicing some exercises similar to Aerobics, then I had my dinner at a street restaurant.

So my birthday in Sukhothai was very interesting, seeing temples and chatting with Thai people despite their limited English.

Friday, 27 June 2008, I took the day bus from Sukhothai back to Bangkok. A ticket costs 374 baht and it was a comfortable bus, same as the night bus I did take the day before. The trip took 8 hours, as the bus stopped many times on the way for picking up more passengers. The bus ticket included a lunch box but I couldn't eat the spicy food. After we arrived at the bus terminal in Bangkok, I took a metered taxi to a guest house near Khao San road. The taxi driver looked reluctant to take me, as it was rush hour traffic in Bangkok and we saw so many cars everywhere.

In the evening, I walked along Chao Phraya river then walked over a bridge to the other side of the river. There were no tourists, but only young locals at a restaurant, who enjoyed barbecue and it was fun to see a Thai singer performing her song in a hilarious way.

Saturday, 28 June 2008, my last day on the trip before I flew home in Hanoi. I spent the morning visiting the Grand Palace, where I used to visit 7 years ago on my first trip to Thailand. After I checked out of my guest house, I walked to Khao San road and the surrounding area to buy some presents and candies for the people at home, then had lunch in a hurry and back to the tourist office near my guest house, in order to get a van to the airport. The last thing I did in Bangkok was to present my conical hat to a Thai guy at the tourist office. When we talked in the morning, he saw my traditional dress and knew that I came from Vietnam. I gave him my conical hat before leaving Bangkok and happy to see my hat was hung up on the wall of the tourist office as a souvenir from Vietnam.

This is my 6th visit to Thailand during the last 7 years. I have been to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Nong Khai, Authaya, Sukhothai, Kanchanaburi and Pattaya. Not really many places, as I stayed only a few days on every trip during my transit time in Bangkok. My 4-day trip this time was an interesting experience. Not only I had a great birthday in Sukhothai, but most of my time, the people around me were the Thai people, who didn’t speak English, at the bus station, in the buses, at my guest house and restaurants. It surprised me, there were 15 million tourists going to Thailand every year, but not many Thais can speak English well. My only way to communicate with the locals was I said one or two words about the place or thing I wanted, or made my hand gesture. They understood and helped me as much as they could do. Thailand truly is “the land of smiles” like the slogan I saw at Suvarnabhumi international airport. There were so many people, who were really kind and helpful to me, although they didn’t speak English and I didn’t say any Thai word.

The photos in this blog were taken on my birthday, 26 June 2008, at Sukhothai Historical Park, Sukhothai province in northern Thailand (440km from Bangkok). I wore a new Áo Dài (Vietnamese traditional dress) that I made before the trip. This time I chose orange color. You may remember my blog about Sapa, where I met a western photographer and he invited me to be his model then paid me some money. This Áo Dài was made in Hanoi, using his money, and I wore it on my birthday in Sukhothai. For the first time, I brought my conical hat to travel abroad. The hat was used not only for taking photos with my Áo Dài, but it also protected me from the sun.

7 years ago, on my first trip to Thailand, I bought many postcards, some of them were pictures of Sukhothai. When I finally reached the site and saw the buddha statues and the ruins, I had a special feeling about the place. The temples looked so amazing and more importantly, it was a great experience to have on my birthday this year.

---

---