May 2007

After 4 relaxing days in Ayutthaya we decide to visit another old capital Sukhothai. Going from one place to another is a tricky part. In Ayutthaya there is no place that you can buy bus tickets. Bus station is on the motorway outside the city so the only possibility is to go there and wait for the bus. You can only get to the bus if there are any free place. We arrive a little bit to late for the 10 o'clock so we have to wait until 11 still without a ticket because all the buses are coming from Bangkok and nobody know if there are any free places inside. So when the bus finally arrive a crowd attacked the ticket window. We have been lucky and we get in for 6 hour drive to Sukhothai (cost of the ticket about 230 baht per person). Sukhothai is organized different than Ayutthaya. There is old city and new city with distance of 14 km. The new city is dirty and ugly but accommodation is cheaper. Old city is nicer and quiet with a few guest houses. The best way to move around are the bicycles (20 baht per day). We had them for 4 days and it was the best solution because we have been living 4 km from the old town in very nice place called Mountain View Guest House. We payed 400 baht per night with breakfast (good value). Seems to be little bit expensive but there was a pool and we use it every day. New Sukhothai is rather common city for Thailand. Not much to see there but old city and surrounding is one big museum with temples witch are better maintained than those in Ayutthaya. It' s depend of individual but I think one day is not enough to see and appreciate this place. Food is not exceptional in old city. There are some restaurants with "European" and Thai food but for sure there are not for budget travelers. There are a few food stalls witch serves noodle soups etc but don't expect something amazing. The really interesting place is food market where you can see frogs, lizards, pig heads and many many strange looking things the local buy and eat. To get from Sukhothai to Chiang Mai it's easy. There is main bus station in new town and buses goes every hour. 6 hour trip and you are in Chiang Mai the best place for shopping in Thailand as I think but you have to bargain as hard as you can - most of the time first price is 2 or 3 times bigger than what you have to pay. There are a few temples in the city but not as amazing as those in Sukhothai. In one of them called Wat Chedi Luang there is a thing called MONK CHAT and you can seat and speak with some monks and ask them as many questions as you want about whatever bother you. We really enjoy that part. From Chinag Mai we will go to Laos via Mekong river...

We arrive in Bangkok by night bus from Champhon and strait away we were surrounded by hips of guys that want to give us a lift to what ever place we wanted. We were so tired at 6am that we just take tuk-tuk but in fact the bus stopped in the city center near Kao San so we could walk to find some accommodation but since it was our first visit in BKK we didn't know exactly what to do. We check in Ban Sabai Guest house at Rambutti Soi (twin room with fan, shared bathroom 320 bath). Nice place, a lot of different rooms for different prices. Bathroom was very clean so there is no need to take more expensive room with en suite. We didn't see much in the city because we will come back here after our visit to Laos so we just hang around. We check prices for buses going to Ayutthaya but in the travel agencies they are mad because they told us 400 bath per person and what we pick up later the best and the cheapest way to go there is to take local bus from the Northern Terminal. So we did it - first we took a taxi for 150 bath and strait away we took bus for 50 bath per person. We were the only European in the bus but the trip was very nice and in 3 hours we reach the old capital. Tuk-tuk driver take us to first place he know called Sweet Home Hotel. Double room, fan, bathroom cost 350 bath but we negotiate price and we finish at 300 bath per night. When you stay in Ayutthaya longer do nor take the trip through the temples with tuk-tuk drivers. Their prices are very high - about 200 bath per hour and for this price you can rent a motorbike for the whole day. There is only one place where you can do it - just in the city center, near bus station. If you do not feel comfortable with motorbike the majority of temples are in walking distance in the main city area. Motorbike is good to see temples outside the city. Because Ayutthaya is so close to Bangkok not many travelers stay here longer than one day but I think it's really worth it. The night market is great place to experience Thai food. Nobody speaks English here so you can't say what you want to eat, there is no menu so you just point by finger and thats it. Food here is very cheap - we were eating for 150 bath both of us and price included some starters, main meal, extra drinks and fruits. The place is so relaxing that we stay here 4 days just relaxing and it's worth it.