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Chris's Section We left Ayuthaya by train, heading north (ultimately) to Sukhothai. We went with a guy called Ian who was in our guesthouse in Ayuthaya. He's a really nice guy. First we had to get a train to Phitsanulok, which cost us 450 baht (£9). A bit pricey we thought, even though it's a 4 hour journey, but we got a/c and tea/coffee, plus lunch included. We then got a bus from Phitsanulok to Sukhothai which was an hour and only 43 baht. A bit of a faff in the end - the direct bus would have been cheaper/easier. Oh well.
We booked into the TR Guesthouse, which was great (400b - £8 a night). We all went out that night for a couple of beers then for some great Thai food - three of us ate for a fiver. The next day we went to the Sukhothai Historical Park, which is the old (ruined) city of Sukhothai. A good day out - we rented bikes and rode around the park. But my god it was hot, so very hot. I went on a website which said it was 38c but it felt hotter. We got back just
after lunch and stayed in our air-con room. Sounds daft, but it was just too damn hot to go out. You were sweating within minutes.
We've now made our way to Chiang Mai, which is in the far north of Thailand. We found a great place to stay called Naa Inn. Air con, cable TV, great rooms and even a fridge. Got them down to 550 baht (£11) a night. They also give you free water and breakfast is included. We have almost 3 weeks in the north before heading into Laos. We plan to stay here for 5 days before exploring some of the smaller towns in the area.
We went up to the night market last night. Everything's for sale if you look hard enough. The only downer is the 9pm curfew that's in place. Took us by surprise the first night as we were having a few drinks before dinner, then suddenly everyplace started closing. We ended up getting our dinner from the 7-11, in crisp & chocolate form! We're just chilling out at the moment. Not a huge amount going on. Chiang Mai seems very quiet, as does everywhere we've been in Thailand so
far. Most of the westerners we've seen have been old blokes with young Thai girls on their arms. I swear one bloke was about 75 and his girl about 21. Can't blame him really, hehe.
Louise's Section Yep it's been a few lazy days as too hot to do much from about 10-3pm. I am enjoying the cycling as it means a breeze but my god as soon as you stop, you melt. I'm getting a bit Wat-ed out, except for the buddha statues which I like, a Wat looks like any other Wat now.
I currently look like I have a horrid disease as my mozzie bites have come up into inch square bruisey rash things... nice!! Chris didn't believe me when I warned him about my reactions but hey ho.
Chiang Mai is cool, the market stalls are everywhere and there is so much I would buy to put in a house but sadly not possible as would be too expensive to post and awkward to carry but would love to come back one day just to buy stuff.
The curfew was a surprise as not even the hostel owners warned
us. I ended up getting a takeaway of pork and noodles which came in separate carrier bags and that was it, no boxes, cartons, just bags. That made for a funny sight, eating out of a plastic bag with chopsticks.
Still needing shorts (Gill you may have to bring some out with you). I am holding on as long as I can before buying mens or hoping there is a stall selling fatty clothing. You'd think with westerners being the main tourists they have more than a size 10.
Hoping to go play with the baby tigers this week and elephants in Pai which we will head to mid week. Will make sure there will be lots of pics.
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Scott and Kristy
Scosty
The tiger zoo is supposed to be awesome up there, bit pricey but you can hang out with baby tigers or big monster tigers, bit sad we missed out on that bit!! sucks about the curfew, the night markets up there are some of the best I've seen (there's another good one in Luang Prabang though, at the end of the main street, hard to miss) and next time your near a pharmacy Lou try to find something called Yellow Oil if they have it. small little vial about the size of a pinky finger, might set you back anywhere between 40 and 130 depending on if they make it there or not but it is AMAZING! like tiger balm but so much better, we've had one bottle for two months and use it everyday, works like a charm on those horrible itches.