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Published: December 12th 2009
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Dear people of Thailand,
what I would really like from you is not massages, tuk tuks, cheap prostitutes or mary jane, but just one, I repeat: JUST ONE day, where I can walk the streets of your admittedly beautiful country without anybody calling me farang. Khop kun krap.
Jens
I arrive in Sukhothai, which was the capital of Thailand from 1238-1376. Nowadays, the walled old town is an impressive assembly of elegant and intriguing ruins, which has been designated a historical park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I take my first tuk tuk during my stay in Thailand, from the bus station to the new town, where most of the guesthouses are. I only do this because it's about 6km to town, otherwise I would have walked. That's how much I hate taxis and tuk tuks. I check into a decent guesthouse, eat a nice dinner at one of the manifold street stalls, and go to sleep. The next morning I rise early and take a shared song thaew (pick-up truck) to the Historical Park, where I eat breakfast and rent a bicycle. I'm lucky to be really early, since there's not many people out
and about, and I park my bike and wander aimlessly through the massive ruins of Wat Mahathat, the main temple compound, which boasts scores of buddhas and monuments. It is surrounded by a moat, and it used to be the spiritual epicentre of the city, and the symbol of the king's power.
I take a long time to take pictures, and only after an hour or so do the first tour groups arrive. There are about three different French tour groups, and their guide is a French-speaking Thai. I'm even more surprised when I see a Spanish group with a Thai guide speaking Spanish. And then one speaking German. So Thais are actually able to learn foreign languages, and to speak them decently. I decide to avoid the tour groups and ride on to the next set of ruins, Wat Sri Sawai, which is composed of three corn-cob shaped prangs. It used to be a Hindu shrine for the Khmers, but later, it was once again converted to a Buddhist shrine. There's a Thai school class taking pictures inside the temple, many of the girls wearing headscarfs, so I deduct it's most likely a Muslim school. Most of the
kids just look at me and giggle, but one is brave enough to not only stare, but actually come up to me to ask in stop-and-go-English "May I take your picture?", to which I agree gladly.
There are many more Wats with impressive buddha statues and chedis around. One of the most lovely temples is Wat Chang Lom, which is a big Sri Lankan-style chedi encircled by a frieze of elephants. Chang Lom translates as "surrounded by elephants", so it all makes kind of sense.
I ride out of the central zone to see some of the outlying ruins. The ride through the countryside is fabulous, and I genuinely enjoy myself, although it's almost uncomfortably hot, and the bitumen beneath my wheels is scorching. I stop at a food stall on the roadside, where the dazed-looking Thais behind it are looking quite surprised to see a foreigner. My dodgy Thai is just enough to order a vegetarian Som Tam, the incredibly yummy papaya salad, with sticky rice. When I finish I get up to pay, and I hear them speaking in Thai amongst themselves. I realize they are trying to say the price in English, since a girl says
"five ten". I say "fifteen", and they all start to giggle. I'm happy to have eaten the cheapest Som Tam of my life, and ride on.
This day in Sukhothai has been one of the best of my trip so far. Just the combination of amazing ruins, glorious weather, a nice bike ride and yummy food is enough to make me happy, at least for a moment, which is pretty much all I ask for from travelling.
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