fri day 91

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Deciding that I wanted to continue travelling by train the next obvious stop north was phitsanulok. Although not recommended as a place to visit, it sits just 1hr east of sukhathai - which I plan to visit after but has no train line direct to it. So buying a 2nd class ticket for 450 baht - which seemed a little expensive by Thai standards but being told its a fast train ( didn't think that really existed!) and then sitting and waiting for a train that was 45 minutes late I wasn't overly impressed! Being given a drink, biscuits and lunch on the journey which I wasn't expecting, kind of softened the blow - and made up a little bit of the cost. 3and a half hours and i had arrived followed by a 10 minute taxi ride to the hotel. After freshening up I headed into town to see what was what. Climbing on the back of a rickshaw my first stop was to a Buddha foundry. This being one of the only places in Thailand where they actually make them. Me thinking they were plastic it was interesting to see the long process in making a Buddha. Being made out of plaster and concrete they are incredibly heavy difficult to move and on each edge about 8 inches thick. The foundry being very basic with not a huge amount of information it was a shame almost not to have had a tour of it. The only option this late in the day was to walk around look at a couple of pictures and take photos. From here I walked to the local market, had some dinner and walked back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening. I'm pleased i stopped off in phitsanulok to have a look around, there isn't a lot to do but for a few hours quite a pleasant place.

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