The Wobble

150 years before ayuthaya became the capital of Siam/Thailand, sukhothai was the centre of the thai civilization. Again the bloody Burmese and their conquering dispositions put paid to the town forcing the thais to move further south. I figured it was definitely worth a shout on the way up to chiang mai. 60 miles to the east of sukhothai is the city of Phitsanulok which given that it is on the main bangkok to chiang mai rail and roadway made it the ideal place to base my visit to the old city.

The train ride from the south took 6 hours. It was a day train to the seats were laid out with their backs to the window, the carriage was pretty full and I was the only johnny foreigner in the carriage so all eyes were on me. I don’t mind it to be honest, its different to the attention you get in india where most people have at least some grasp of english. Here you can tell that the people are just itching to ask about you and probably more to tell about themselves but that insurmountable barrier lies at least for the time being between us. The train ride was on culinary level, a blast. Given the layout of the seats, it made for the perfect gangway for the seemingly endless parade of food hawkers. They sold fruit, drinks, meats, breads, sweets and some stuff I couldn’t even begin to describe. One lady who was selling fish decided to take a break in our carriage, right across from me her wares stank to the heavens. Shocking smell, twas bad enough for even the locals to tell her to be on her way.

The food I got myself was pretty tasty, now I am guessing at what it was but it was something like 10 beef sausage balls coated in cabbage with soy sauce and full red chillies to give it that extra little purchase. I sat with great satisfaction the chili sweats for quite some time. You get a good idea of the landscape that makes up central thailand when you travel like this, by day! Something alot of people miss out on when they take the night bus or train up to chang mai. But that said they don’t really miss alot. The land is incredibly flat and and seemingly endless array of rice fields. Its well drained but apart from that there is very little to draw your attention away from the culinary circus.

I eventually arrived into Phitsanulok train station, figured the best place to stay would be the youth hostel. So the routine of getting the rickshaw to drop you out there commences again, this time though my adversaries weren’t mere mortal men I was used to dealing with, these were the most fearsome, the most intimidating of all creatures. Women!! I tried every trick I have picked up to get a better price but they wouldn’t budge. Eventually I conceded and payed the price to be dropped out to the hostel.

The hostel was quite a building, it seems to have been a proper old barn house bar at some stage. Everything was made out of wood and the steps everywhere were uneven and potentially ankle destroying. It had a proper ramshackle, thrown together, patched up vibe about it. The overgrown ivy or Thai equivalent gave it the feeling that it hadn’t been touched in years. I was met my wan, a guy who used to work there and was calling over on a ceile to his old work mates. The lonely planet had described it as the main backpackers haunt but it was missing backpackers, I was the only person to stay there for two nights. When Wan told me I was the only person there I think he detected my disappointment as I was looking forward to some company. He immediately offered to take me out on the town that night, get something to eat and grab a few beers. I was taken aback by such generosity, it was the first time a proper local has been this open.

So into town we went in his ac car (first time in an ac car since, ooooh November). We got something to eat at the towns night market, overlooking the large river that passes through the town. The food was top notch. Afterwards we took a walk around the local markets, snacked away before finding another open air bar overlooking the river where we took in the views and the Liverpool fulham match. Wan is also a liverpool fan so we had plenty to talk about…

The next morning I jumped on the bus out to sukhothai. I rented a bike and took it around the old city. The first thing that distinguishes it from ayuthaya is that it stands totally separately from the new town. Apart from various restoration projects it remains untouched. Surrounded by an old wall the town is pretty big and takes some time to make your way around. The main buildings of interest are religious in theme and separated mostly by little woods and some larger ponds. It is proper picnic territory, a really beautiful setting. The shade of the trees give much respite from the sun.

After a couple of hours I made my way back to Phitsanulok where I met up with Wan again. This time we went for a thai massage. Now banish any lurid images that spring to mind, this parlour was in the basement car park of the local shopping mall. Hardly on a par to the seedy backstreet places you hear about in the nations capital. The massage itself was okay, twas nice but certainly it was no revelation. I took more amusement from the interaction with the masseurs who worked there. Not sure if they get many Irish lads there. They all had a go a massaging my calves (very strong sir) and they found that my hands were very soft. Hardly the most flattering attribute for a grown man descended from the aran islands.

We went for a beer afterwards and we had a very good conversation where I learnt a good deal about what its like to live in town in central thailand. They are very proud of their town and rightfully so, I had a fantastic time in a town that is really beautiful, has a buzzing night life, markets, restaurants and history to booth. Wan was at a loss to explain why no one visits here, people preferring to bypass in a semi slumber on the night time buses up to chiang mai.

I took my own bus to chiang mai the next day – I am really glad I took this little detour.

Adios,

Phil

Its a tough one to pronounce – you can imagine the difficulty I had at the bus station when I had to get the correct bus. Think its something like Ah-u-tee-ah. So where is ayutthaya? First of all it is not in cambodia, its a small town about an hour north of Bangkok. I had the best of intentions to make it to cambodia but circumstance had other ideas. I had it all planned out, get the boat from Ko Pha Nang, a bus to Surat Thani where I would then jump on the night train to Bangkok from here twas a 6 hour bus ride to the border, walk across to jump on another bus that would take 5 hours or so to take me to the city of Siam Reap.

First of all the train was an hour and a half late, the spin was okay. The guy sitting across from me had less english than I had thai, we did make a swap at one stage. I traded 1 can of chang beer for one of his dessert things. At first I thought it was just a bread roll but inside there was lots of sweet jam goodness – tasty stuff. I arrived into bangkok feeling like a zombie, its impossible to get a solid sleep while in motion. I made my way with some skill across the city to collect a new phone. The public transport in the city is superb. I was able to jump on the metro, the sky train and the skywalk to make my way to the shopping centre I had been in before, into the nokia shop where I bought a nice little phone for myself. It makes calls, it sends texts and it allows me to check up the bbc sports website when there is a soccer match on so that will be enough for me. By the time I got my stuff together I figured it was time to find the largest cup of caffeine to wake myself up again.

While munching through the toasted ham and cheese sandwich that accompanied my coffee it occured to me that this could be the last couple of hours that I spend in thailand, what have I seen? What can I tell people about thailand that makes it unique. Given the nature of the islands and its clientele, you don’t exactly get emersed in a foreign culture. Everything is geared towards you and your home comforts, don’t get me wrong its lovely n all but not really that different than what you would get on a european sun holiday. So with these thoughts in my head, guilty thoughts. I resolved to give thailand a few more days at least. My new plan was to head to a town up north of bangkok, not that far away. If I still wasn’t digging the place well then I could jump borders with relative ease.

So to ayutthaya. It fitted the bill nicely. It used to be the capital of the siam kingdom before those pesky burmese came in and ransacked the place, after which the local king up sticks and found a new capital in bangkok. The burmese it seems were the local version of the vikings back in the day. So there is plenty of historical fodder in the town, time to get acquainted so to speak. The bus journey was short and incredibly unspectacular. This part of thailand is incredibly flat and built up so you see no countryside at all.

I got dropped off in the town, not sure what part of the town. The next hour of traipsing in the intense heat and humidity, ignoring the overcharging tuk tuk drivers I was convinced that the street lined with guest houses was just around the corner. I was in a serious state, sweating absolute buckets. I eventually gave in and asked the local policeman how to get to tonys place, the accomodation listed in the guide. Got there eventually, threw the bags down and took the most eagerly awaited shower of my life. The room was okay, it would’ve been a whole lot better if the walls were sealed. I got devoured that night by the flood of mosquitos. Really having a tough time with the little cretins in general, its the only thing that is constantly annoying me on this trip….

Tonys place, the room apart is a great place to hang out. I supped on a few beers and didn’t venture much further than the 7-eleven to pick up a new toothbrush. I woke up the next morning though with a re-invigorated desire to get out and explore. The town, which is on an island where 4 rivers meet, is awash with historical monuments from the old Siam/Kyhmer era, the new town was built around the old town so finding the monuments was a bit like a treasure hunt. I rented out a bike and took to the streets. It was great fun, the heat was serious but the breeze from cycling made it a bit more bearable. Given the island nature of the town the next bit is just pure typical of my luck, at the furthest point from the bike rental shop I could have been (while still being on the island) my back tire gave way – could’ve been the heat that did the damage but I reckon the size of my arse also played a part. I searched around for someone who could fix it and luckily enough I found this family who took me in, I thought yer man was just gonna give me enough air to get me back within walking distance of home but no, down he got and with some serious skill and speed took the wheel apart and repaired the tube, had me back on the bike within 10 minutes. Class stuff, the whole family were sitting out the front of their house, not one of them had a word of english but I could tell they were giving their daughter a serious slagging about the white boy.

Back on the bike I made my way back towards home, on the way I found the local market. I love markets, the one in jodhpur in india was amazing. This one was also up there. Thais love their meat, there was any amount of fish, chickens, pork or beef stalls. I parked the bike and took a wander, now time and again the stench of fish would go close to knocking you out but I made it through. I sat down at one stall, not a random stall, the stall which I thought was serving the tastiest looking food. This old man was eating this rice dish that looked superb, I pointed to the dish and said that I wanted that. Now this is where things get lost in translation, the woman who ran the stall thought I wanted the actual food that was on the old mans plate – she muttered something and the poor man, heartbroken looked at me with dispair. I copped it straight away and frantically gestured for her to throw a new dish together that I wasn’t out to steal the food from his mouth… We laughed about in the end, the dish did the job nicely aswell.

Another quirky thai thing (could well be asian) cropped up on my way back. The heat was serious, so its vital that you get fluids in at every opportunity. I passed this stall, where this man and his son where sitting under the shade of their giant picnic umbrella – his business was soft drinks. But all his drinks were out in the heat, I asked him for one, but one that was cold. He picked one of the top, filled a plastic bag with some ice he had stored in a bucket then proceeded to top the bag up with the coke and ice and stuck a straw plump in the middle of it all. I cycled back to tonys place with a plastic bag full of ice and coke 🙂 it works!!!

Had a few beers that night and made arrangements to head further north the next day, thailand isgrowing on me….

ciao ciao

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