Naa Naa Naa

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It's dark by the time we reach Sukothai, but Ellie has guide book instructions for a short cut to a nice guest house. We beat off frantic touts, find the track, but get lost because the signs we are looking for have disappeared.

Finally we get to 99 Guesthouse, which is run by the lovely Naa. We ring the bell at the front gate, admiring the colossal banana palms. 'Sawadee ka,' she calls. 'Sawadee ka,' we call back. This was a good thing - she likes friendly people, and we are staying in her house, which is wood, with lovely floorboards. Quite simple, but clean. She gives us some cold water and we sit and chat for a is bit, which is a relief after tramping around with the packs and dripping sweat everywhere.

There's a food and wine festival in the town, so we trot off to that and catch it as it is winding down (about 9pm).

Next morning there is laundry to attend to, then we amble off to the Sukothai historical park, just as the heat is reaching its peak. We hire bikes and cycle lazily from one wat to another. I pause frequently in the shade, by a moat, by a nice patch of grass - any excuse not to move really. Apart from a Czech couple, there is hardly anyone there. It's quite peaceful and serene. Much nicer ruins than at Ayutthaya.

When we get back, Naa has been fetching mangos from her allotment so she teaches us to peel them the thai way - cutting off the skin with a knife and carving slices. She is bemused that tourists cut off a slice, criss cross and then bite it. That's what I've always done, but I try to curb my biting. Naa has different varieties of mango, so we taste test a few in a mango masterclass. I'm mildly obsessed with mangos, but even I get to the point where I can't eat any more.

I can eat more at the food festival of course, where we run into our new Czech friends and I have a strange dessert which involves dumping shaved ice on a bed of sweet pellety things, syrup and bits of bread. Its odd, but OK, and it only costs 10 baht. Of course I need to eat it all in the name of research.

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