had a really good think about where to go to from Chiang Mai, didn't really want to stay in the north fancied heading back down south making my way back to Bangkok where I am due to meet Andrea for her last couple of days, and then Greg arrives- YAY!!!
So I decided on Sukhohai, it was a 5 hour bus journey from Chiang Mai and is made up of the old city and the new. It is yet another old capital!
when the bus driver asked if I was going to the old city I said I would be not realising he was going to do a special drop for me. So there I am at the side of the road with my bags, its getting dark, frantically trying to work out where on earth I was. all the information I had looked up was on the basis that I was getting into town quite late and wanted some where cheap cheerful and within easy reach of the bus station!
It sounds worse than it is there is only one strip of hotels and restaurants in the old city as the rest of it is a world heritage site so I just asked at a couple until one quoted me something I was willing to pay.
the old city is very small and very easy to get around on a bicycle (bacon arms again!!). Although it is not as impressive or as wide spread as Ayutthaya it does feel that there is more of it intact, this is probably due to the fact a lot of the Buddhas are still in place and some of them are immense. There is still restoration work being done in many places.
the site is split into two parts the main central area and the outskirts. There is quite a high police presence here at the moment as 5 months ago a Japanese tourist was robbed and killed. it is nice to see that even after nearly half a year they still take the threat seriously.
One day was enough to see the ancient city, and as i passed though the new city i could see that people were right there is nothing there so i am glad i didn't stop there after all.
so next i thought i would go to Phitsanulok, apparently there is a Buddha there that is second only to the emerald Buddha in Bangkok.
it was only a couple of hours away by bus and i checked into the youth hostel there which was just out of town. The youth hostel was a strange place set back off the road it was surrounded by vines and creepers that had totally gone wild- it was like being back in the jungle but more so if that makes sense. i quickly realised that i was the only person staying there. i walked into to town but as i am now in the hottest part of Thailand (central plains) i was starting to flag before i got to the temple.
The ATM refused my cards which gave me a mini heart attack and i then put all thoughts of sightseeing aside and got my self to the nearest Internet cafe (fortunately air conditioned!!) My Internet banking had been blocked too which was not good either but at least this meant that it was the bank taking security measures and not someone clearing out my account that had stopped me withdrawing cash. A quick phone call and all was sorted.
By this point i had had enough and went back to the hostel, and there i stayed. Being the only one staying there and not really having the best security for my room (in my mind anyway) i spent most of the night sitting watching the door and got out of town first thing in the morning- straight back to Bangkok - aah it feels good- i have done noting for two days- what a relief.
so really Phitsanulok was a total write off, there are some lovely national parks a couple of hours away but i had had a bad day and just wanted to move on.
so yes two days of doing nothing. I am waiting for Greg to arrive (Tomorrow) Yippee!!!
So I decided on Sukhohai, it was a 5 hour bus journey from Chiang Mai and is made up of the old city and the new. It is yet another old capital!
when the bus driver asked if I was going to the old city I said I would be not realising he was going to do a special drop for me. So there I am at the side of the road with my bags, its getting dark, frantically trying to work out where on earth I was. all the information I had looked up was on the basis that I was getting into town quite late and wanted some where cheap cheerful and within easy reach of the bus station!
It sounds worse than it is there is only one strip of hotels and restaurants in the old city as the rest of it is a world heritage site so I just asked at a couple until one quoted me something I was willing to pay.
the old city is very small and very easy to get around on a bicycle (bacon arms again!!). Although it is not as impressive or as wide spread as Ayutthaya it does feel that there is more of it intact, this is probably due to the fact a lot of the Buddhas are still in place and some of them are immense. There is still restoration work being done in many places.
the site is split into two parts the main central area and the outskirts. There is quite a high police presence here at the moment as 5 months ago a Japanese tourist was robbed and killed. it is nice to see that even after nearly half a year they still take the threat seriously.
One day was enough to see the ancient city, and as i passed though the new city i could see that people were right there is nothing there so i am glad i didn't stop there after all.
so next i thought i would go to Phitsanulok, apparently there is a Buddha there that is second only to the emerald Buddha in Bangkok.
it was only a couple of hours away by bus and i checked into the youth hostel there which was just out of town. The youth hostel was a strange place set back off the road it was surrounded by vines and creepers that had totally gone wild- it was like being back in the jungle but more so if that makes sense. i quickly realised that i was the only person staying there. i walked into to town but as i am now in the hottest part of Thailand (central plains) i was starting to flag before i got to the temple.
The ATM refused my cards which gave me a mini heart attack and i then put all thoughts of sightseeing aside and got my self to the nearest Internet cafe (fortunately air conditioned!!) My Internet banking had been blocked too which was not good either but at least this meant that it was the bank taking security measures and not someone clearing out my account that had stopped me withdrawing cash. A quick phone call and all was sorted.
By this point i had had enough and went back to the hostel, and there i stayed. Being the only one staying there and not really having the best security for my room (in my mind anyway) i spent most of the night sitting watching the door and got out of town first thing in the morning- straight back to Bangkok - aah it feels good- i have done noting for two days- what a relief.
so really Phitsanulok was a total write off, there are some lovely national parks a couple of hours away but i had had a bad day and just wanted to move on.
so yes two days of doing nothing. I am waiting for Greg to arrive (Tomorrow) Yippee!!!
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