Places in Northern Thailand That Aren’t Pai (Chiang Mai [again] and Sukhothai)
With the length of time I spent in Sukhothai I (and any regular readers out there, doubtless) probably began to doubt if I’d go anywhere ELSE in Thailand. Though I did spend a lot of time there, it left me feeling re-generated (odd, given that the majority of my stay was spent either drunk, hungover or sleeping) and ready to hit the road again.
As discussed in my last entry, I climbed aboard the 12:00 bus from Pai to Chiang Mai. What was not discussed there was how difficult it was. The bus showed up with every single seat full (it originated in Mae Hong Son) and there were still a LOT of people who wanted to get aboard.
After hoisting my pack up to waiting hands at the back of the bus I squeezed myself in the front door and found a place to stand. I thought I’d had it bad on some of the bus trips in Cambodia and Laos, but they had nothing on this. There were 51 people on the smallish bus. It had seats for 26. I spent the entire trip standing up, usually with my legs wedged uncomfortably between people, seats or pieces of luggage. For a significant portion of the ride, one of my feet was stuck under a backpack that had someone sitting on it. Furthering the unpleasantness of the whole business were the puking baby and the fact that I was almost always out of reach of hand-holds, making it very difficult not to topple onto someone during the twisty, hilly, 4 hour ride.
It wasn’t all bad, however. I had a nice chat with a pair of women from Gaspé who, while appalled at the quality of my French, were gracious enough to speak English for most of our conversation.
Finally, after what felt like (and I know I use this phrase a lot, but that’s because it’s felt like it a lot) an eternity we arrived in Chiang Mai and disembarked.
A quick songthaew ride into town and a short walk brought me to the faithful (cheap) old moonlight guesthouse. They even gave me my old room back. After a quick shower, I headed back out onto the streets of Chiang Mai.
At this point I should note that I’ve left out one detail of my last day in Pai. When I woke up, along with a note from Emma, I found a pair of sandals that I could have sworn belonged to her. The only reason I recognized them was ’cause the night before I’d held them while she raced little Thai girls on the sports field. I was certain enough to pick them up and put them in my pack so I could give them to her in Chiang Mai, but not SO certain that I didn’t wonder if I was actually stealing someone else’s shoes. Before leaving Pai I’d e-mailed her to let her know (this was one of the reasons I missed the 10:30 bus.) Due to my nervousness about possibly being a sandalabsconder (I’m really pleased with having invented that word. If any of you ever has occaision, please do make sure to repeat it) it was with great relief that I checked my e-mail and found a very happy, relieved note from Emma saying that yes, the sandals were hers, and would I like to join her for dinner and return them.
After a bit of writing, I met up with Emma at the appointed spot. She was already there, with a couple of men, Mhosan (a Liverpudlian) and Sven (I thinkhope that I’ve remembered his name right… it was definitely something distinctively Scandanavian.) After a few deep expressions of gratitude, we sat got down to business, sitting, chatting and eating. Over the course of dinner topics ranged far and wide, mostly directed by the new (to me) pair. We discussed such odd and diverse topics as public surveillance cameras (and the possibility of using television as a 2-way device to spy on people,) the negative impacts of television on the mind and urine therapy. This last led to some rather enthusiastic discussion, which may have been loud enough to discomfort others still eating… I dunno.
After dinner we headed out the door, but not before I spied, much to my amazement a boxed set of The National Dream and The Last Spike for sale in the restaurant (I almost bought it, but it was 460 baht and I already had too many books.) We wandered around the corner and into Chiang Mai’s special Sunday night market. Chiang Mai’s well known for it’s night bazaar, but this was even better. Somehow or other, despite the amount of time I’d spent in Chiang Mai, I still hadn’t been there on a Sunday. There were loads of different goods for sale, but they focussed mostly on (very beautiful) clothing, handicrafts and artwork. One of the problems with travelling in Asia is that there are so many things for sale that are so beautiful and cheap, and beg to be purchased, but that you know you (or I at least) will never have any use for at home.
Our wanderings completed, we sat down at a cafe and had the first genuinely good western food I’ve consumed in Asia, absolutely delicious carrot cake. While we sat, a wonderful classical guitarist played out on the street and we conversed, our topics including such gems as the conspiracy by the dairy industry to keep people drinking cow’s milk, colonic irrigation and the benefits/detriments of celibacy for male and female athletes/medetatives.
It may sound as though I’m making light of what Mohsan and Sven chatted about that evening, but not so. I listened with curiosity, and Emma was downright fascinated. While I may not believed all of the things the two men said, and while in other cases I agreed with their conclusions but not the reasoning behind them, I still very much enjoyed our talk. It really opens one’s eyes to discuss subjects such as these with “true believers.”
At long last, we all said goodnight and I wandered back to my guesthouse to sleep.
The next morning I woke up a bit later than I’d hoped, but was packed and out the door very quickly. My first stop was a restaurant I’d first eaten at with my mom and dad over two months previously. They made the best Tom Yam (spicy lemongrass soup) that I’ve ever had, and I couldn’t leave Chiang Mai without a bowl of it, no matter how much of a hurry I was in. I let them know I was in a ruch and the soup appeared in front of me, and then disappeared into me quickly. Before leaving I thanked the owner and let them know my thoughts about the quality of their soup. He was so gracious and friendly that I wished I could have stayed and talked with him longer. (In case anyone’s in Chiang Mai and wants to try the best soup of any kind I’ve ever tasted, the restaurant has no english sign. It has a bunch of varnished woodern tables out front and is the second place west of Thanon Moonmuang on the south side of Thanon Ratchamankha. It also has a sign which reads (something like) “Clean food, good taste, please try.”)
I now had 80 minutes to get to the Indian consulate, pick up my visa and head to the bus station to catch the last bus of the day to Sukhothai (I’d just decided on this as a destination the previous night.) No problem. I thought.
I got a tuktuk and explained where I wanted to go. I said very clearly, as I pointed to the map “I want to go here. To the NEW Indian consulate. Not the old one. It has moved. I want to go HERE.” I suppose I really shouldn’t have been THAT surprised when we pulled up alongside the old consulate building.
The driver chatted with some construction workers at the site, and thankfully we made it to the (very pleasant) consulate without too much delay. I went inside, and presented them with my passport. I figured it would be a simple enough operation to just stick the prepared visa in and take my money, but somehow or other they managed to take over forty minutes to accomplish this.
I ran back out, hopped into the tuk tuk, and we made it to the bus station with 15 minutes to spare. Whew. And thankfully it’s possible to get tickets to Sukhothai from Chiang Mai on short notice (unlike, say, to Pai.)
The bus ride was quite comfortable and generally uneventful. We made just one stop on the way, at a roadside cafe where I had a late lunch/early supper, and debated, but eventually decided against buying some of the myriad Thai snack foods they had on display.
The bus arrived in Sukhothai just before sunset. It seemed to be one of the last buses of the day to arrive, which left me and the seven Czechs, who made up the rest of the farang presence on the bus, ripe for fleecing. Despite the fact that there was a very clear sign on the wall stating that the price for a chartered songthaew into town was 40 baht, the driver insisted that we pay 20 each, for a total of 160. I tried to argure, but it was futile. And 15 baht isn’t THAT much money anyway.
We arrived at an area full of guesthouses, and the Checks czeched (I’m sorry. I fully recognize how terrible a joke that was, but couldn’t resist) into one, while I headed next door looking for a cheaper rate. Shortly after arriving I wandered across the bridge and into the centre of town to observe some bizarre sort of outdoor aerobics class. Dozens of Thais were arrayed in neat rows in a public park. They were led by a single man in black on a stage in front of them all. When I arrived they were all dancing to a weird techno version of La Bamba. Huh?
After watching for a bit, and pausing to brush aside the advances of a very persistant young gay (not ladyboy!) Thai man I walked deeper into town for a look.
Sukhothai is fairly popular with tourists. The “old town,” some 15km away was an ancient Thai capital and is filled with ruins from the 13th to 15th centuries. Despite this, it struck me as a very Thai town. It seemed to be constantly busy. There were wires, lights and signs everywhere, but unlike many places I’d been they weren’t for restaurants or guesthouses. Rather they were for such prosaic establishments as shoe shops, cheap clothing stores of photo studios. (Especially photo studios. I’ve no idea how Sukhothai could support all of the photo studios it had.) I walked around a bit more and foudn the night market, where I stopped at one of the carts and got myself the cheapest Pad Thai yet (15 baht) and a pineapple shake.
I spent most of the rest of the evening in an internet cafe writing, but before going home I stopped at a stall in the street for some Laad Na (broad rice noodles with mead, vegetables and a viscous clear sauce.) This, along with the other carts in Sukhothai, was no mere pushcart. They announced their presence with multi-coloured fluroescent bars, and not only did they have tables and chairs for patrons, they had a televison to watch while you ate. If you look closely you’ll notice that I was watching profressional wrestling (with commentary in Thai) while I had my late meal.
I would really have liked to explore some more of the town that night, but I was feeling very tired and was keen on being up early the next morning, so I headed off to bed.
The next morning the sun and barking dogs woke me at a reasonable hour (in fact the barking dogs had also kept me up to an unreasonable hour, but at least they sort of made up for it.)
After dropping off some laundry with the guesthouse owners (you could probably buy one load’s worth of detergent in Canada for what I paid to have all my clothes cleaned, and I REALLY needed to have my clothes properly cleaned. it had been all hand washes in sinks since early January) I set out for Sukhothai Historical Park.
I had little trouble getting a Songthaew to the old city (though surprisingly, given its place as a major tourist attraction, I was the only farang on board.)
After renting a bicycle (the park covers 45 square km, so getting around on foot isn’t entirely practical) I headed to the museum. The grounds were very pretty and the collection was fine (if not Earth-shatteringly intersting) but the thing that pleased me most was the well maintained free toilets. (The only others available in the park were grotty pay toilets.)
After my musings were complete I started my tour of the temples that Sukhothai is so famous for. Sukhothai was the capital of a Thai state comprised of several prince-doms that delcared their independence from the Khmer empire in the 13th century. Several of the wats in Sukhothai were constructed by the Khmers before the rise of the Sukhothai kingdom, and thus display Khmer style towers. In later examples other foreign influences are shown until finally a distinct Sukhothai style of architecture appears.
The first temple I visited was Wat Mahatat, the largest of the bunch. It wasn’t an Angkor temple in scale or ornamentation, but it still managed to be impressive due to its different style. The brighter colours of the brick and stucco distinguished it from the stone work of Angkor, as did the spires of the over 200 chedis (or stupas. A chedi is a solid-spire-like structure) inside the temple walls (actually only a few of the spires remain. Most of the Chedis have been reduced to their simple square bases, but the large field of them within the walls is, nonetheless, an impressive sight.)
Several of the original Buddha images in Wat Mahatat still survive, including two massive standing Buddhas, and a beautiful grouping of them set atop a low platform near the temple entrance.
As I prepared to leave I sat and listened to the leader of an English speaking tour group. While his spiel was interesting, I didn’t feel that I was missing all that much, as almost all of what he said could learned from the interpretive sign immediately outside the walls.
I hopped back on my bike and headed over to stop number two: Wat Si Sawai. The Kmher influence is very obvious in the three main prangs or towers of this temple. The stucco ornamentation on the outside of the towers is in wonderful shape, given that it’s over 700 years old.
Thusfar in my visit, I’d been noticing that the tourists here were of a very different type than I’d met anywhere else in Asia thusfar. Tour groups abounded, and most were non-English speakers. I decided to try to escape from the hordes for a bit and rode out away from the main temples towards the city walls. While Sukhothai is nowhere near the size of, say, Angkor Thom, one can still escape from the crowds, since they do tend to stay very close to a few select sights. As I rode around near the exterior of Sukhothai, I couldn’t help but wonder at the fact that there were people living in such close proximity to these ancient marvels. Just outside the walls laneways led off the road and past the homes of ordinary Thais, many of whom must be the descendents of the original architects of Sukhothai.
Another marked difference between Sukhothai and many other historical areas was the incredible effor that obviously went into maintaining the grounds. Even if it weren’t for the ancient ruins, the parklike grounds would still be a very pleasant place for a picnic. (That picture was taken looking out over one of the ponds. The ornange bits are flowers that have fallen from a tree above onto the water lilly pads.)
After a bit of cycling around I figured it was time to return to the highlight reel. Wat Traphang Nguen was next on my list to visit. While it is small in size, its single beautiful lotus bud chedi and sitting Buddha figure are (supposedly) perfect examples of the Sukhothai style.
My next temple was Wat Sa-Si. Wat Sa-Si is set on an island in the middle of one of Sukhothai’s many ponds. It features a beautiful Buddha figure seated in front of the stupa in amongst the columns that once supported the roof of the vihara or main hall. Smaller in size, but even prettier in form is the metal walking Buddha off to the side of the main temple.
At this point it was getting very hot indeed, and the sun was really beginning to beat down on me. Despite the fact that I’d been keeping pretty well hydrated I figured it would be a good idea to stop for lunch.
As I rode around the park headed towards the food concessions, I was waved over towards a Thai family who were having a picnic by the side of the road. We talked for abit and I learned that they were a father and two daughters (57, 40 and 26 respectively.) They sat me down and fed me steamed crab dumplings in half shells and Chang beer (given the heat this wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t going to refuse.) The father was an interesting fellow who had spent a good chunk of his life working all over the world in the oil industry. With every beer he opened, he poured a small amount onto the ground out of respect for the ancestors who inhabited Sukhothai, thus echoing the Lao practice of pouring a small amount of lao lao on the floor before having a drink in order to placate the house spirits.
It soon became glaringly obvious that the family was trying to find a western boyfriend or husband for the younger daughter. They kept asking questions like “You think Thai madames are beautiful?” and fmaking other inquiries about my job, income and so forth. They also kept prodding the younger girl to pour me more to drink or feed me some crab. It was all very entertaining, but before long I was blushing bright red (I indicated this by pointing to their bag of red soft drink and then to my face, which caused wild hilarity.) In the end, I had to invent a girlfriend I’d left back at home. Even after this it took a bit of persuading, but they were finally convinced, and were still happy since I’d agreed to buy a couple more beers for us all.
Before taking my leave of them I did my best to repay their friendly (if ulteriorly motivated) hospitality by helping them wave down a group of Italians and trying to find out which of the men was single.
I ate lunch just outside the park at one of the many small, clean and well organized (a marked contrast to the food situation at Angkor) restaurants nearby. While eating, a parade of Thais passed by, headed for a small local Sukhothai wat. As they walked they hoisted umbrellas aloft and beat drums of various shapes and sizes. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was all about, and the lady at the restaurant couldn’t quite explain, but it made an entertaining spectacle nonetheless.
After lunch I headed out to the north of the city to explore a few of the less visited large wats.
Before reaching any of them, however, I ran into the historical park visitor information centre. The centre was almost a microcosm of the southeast Asian approach to government tourism projects. It was clear that a lot of effort had been put into it. The buildings and grounds were beautifully constructed and well maintained. But unfortunately it was far, far away from the main entrance to the park where few visitors go, and it had almost nothing of interest inside. At least it was a nice cool place to take a break after my ride out.
Before heading to the “main attractions” of the northern group, I visited a small wat of uknown (to me at least) name, well off the main road. There was no one, indeed not even a sign of anyone at the temple, and its decaying state was a very pretty contrast to the well restored ruins inside the walls.
Heading back to the more commonly visited sites, I came to Phra Pai Luang, a Khmer style wat, and the largest outside of the city walls. Sadly, my camera batteries were running out, and I didn’t get good photos of either the wat itself, or the large group of Thais, fishing, washing and playing in the moat.
Wat Si Chum was next on the agenda. It housed a huge seated Buddha image that was in remarkably good condition. I’d almost decided not to visit that temple, but was very happy I turned off and did so.
I spent the remainder of the afternoon to the west of the city. This group of temples obiously received very few visitors indeed. I didn’t see a single other tourist in the whole time I was out that way. The clear highlight of the group was Wat Saphan Hin. Located up a beautiful, rugged slate walkway on top of a 200m high hill, there were nice (if haze-obscured) views of the surrounding countryside from there.
After Saphan Hin, I carried on past many (10? 20? I’m not sure) other small wats. While they weren’t impressive in and of themselves, the sheer number of them, and the fact that they were simply sitting out by the side of the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, gave a strong impression of the determination of the Sukhothai kingdom.
I took a circuitous route back into town, cycling down the wrong road for 15 minutes before realizing my error, thus slowing my trip home, but gaining me a very pleasant ride through rural Thailand.
I finally arrived back at Sukhothai just before sunset. It seemed to me that the temples were at their absolute best at that moment. By this point, however, I was just to hot, sticky and sun-abused to stay and enjoy it all. In addition, I wasn’t quite sure what time the last bus left for the new city.
I climbed aboard the first (and for all I know last) bus back to New Sukhothai and was wonderfully relieved to crawl back into my guesthouse and have a quick, cool shower.
With night upon the town it was cooler out, so after a quick bite of some more Pad Thai from the night market I went out to do the exploring I’d missed out on the previous night. I wandered aimlessly through the streets, staring at the shops, signs, and above all the people just going about their evening’s business.
My wandering paid off when I stumbled upon the entrance to… Well, I wasn’t sure then and I’m still not exactly sure now what it was. But the entry was only 20 baht, and it looked like a big deal of some sort, so in I went. The first thing I saw were plant shops. Flowers, ground cover, indoor potted plants they had it all. After that were food stalls selling what sort of seemed to be the Thai equivalent of carnival food (e.g. candy floss, hot peanuts etc.) Immediately after me a group of small children came in, dressed up for a traditional dance competition. (I’m not sure if it was a bad makeup job, or them making faces at the camera or what, but some of them look pretty gruesome.)
I kept wandering and came upon what appeared to be the main avenue of what was turning out to be a sort of monstrous consumer exhibition of some sort. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as the night markets I’d been to, and it was very clearly meant for Thais, not foreigners. In the hour I spent wandering about I saw thousands of people, but only four with the same coloured skin as me.
I wandered to and fro throughout this gigantic outdoor emporium. The range of things for sale was absolutely bewildering. There were shops devoted to shoes, Thai CDs, toys, underwear, fried invertebrates, mobile phone faceplates, underwear, dim sum on a stick, donuts, live (pet) fish, blown up photos of Thai monks and royalty… it went on and on. There were carnival games (including an intriguing 4×4 variant of bingo where you could win with a variety of different patterns.) Perhaps oddest of all was the cars and farm implements section. Every single exhibitor was blasting out Thai pop-rock music at what must have been 105dB or so. As I passed each section, one set of tunes would blur into and then be replaced by another. Perhaps the oddest stores of all were the two clothing shops that specialized in military and camoflauge patterned clothing, complete with life size child models. At first I thought they were real children! Even so, it’s odd enough that there are Thais who shop at such places to dress their kids…
I finally departed, no closer to figuring out what was going on there except perhaps for the fact that I’d seen a bunch of red cross symbols around. A tsunami relief event perhaps?
I wrote for a bit, then went to bed still wondering (both about the fair, and about what I was going to do the next morning.)
I woke having to make some decisions. I had only one week left in Thailand, and little idea of what I’d do with it. I considered staying in Sukhothai for one more day, but eventually concluded that would be a waste. I still wasn’t sure where I should head. North to Sukhothai’s sister historic park Si Satchinali? Just south to the small provincial capital of Kampang Phaet? Still further south to the newer ancient capital of Ayuthaya? Southeast to the island of Ko Chang? Southwest to Kanchanaburi and the river Kwai?
After breakfast at a street stall and a wander through the market I was no further along. But I grabbed a songthaew to the bus station anyway (10B this time, instead of the 20 I’d been charged on the way in.)
I puttered around the bus station for a few minutes and finally decided on Kampang Phaet. I was second in the ticker queue when I had second thoughts. Wouldn’t it be better to get a bit closer to Bangkok? I had to head there anyway. So it was that for the second time in my trip I made a decision on a coin flip. It came up heads, so I bought a ticket to Ayuthaya.
The bus trip was a completely new experience for me. I climbed aboard the blue behemoth (as I took to calling the double decker luxury coach) and settled intro my plush seat. Not only was the ride quick and in air conditioned comfort, the fare even included a meal ticket at a stop halfway along!
This bus trip passed through the heart of Thailand, past gorgeous verdant rice paddies, sugar cane fields, and city after bustling city. I reached Ayuthaya six hours later, feeling happy and refreshed.
The edge was taken off my happiness when I heard “Ayuthaya!” called and I disembarked to discover that I was in the middle of the highway, 8km outside of town. This left me at the mercy of the few motorcycle taxi drivers who were hanging around, waiting for suckers like me. I had to pay 50 baht for my ride into town, but in any case I was there and ready (after a good night’s sleep of course) to continue my exploration of ancient Thailand.
Tags: Thailand
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