Thailand Annotated....Stop 3: Sukhothai

Sukhothai is were it all changed. Bangkok and Ayuthaya were ugly cities. Which isn't a knock on ugly cities. I love ugly cities. I live in an ugly city (for who knows how long, but still I'll probably move to a city that's only a wee bit prettier and it's not like it's the prettiness that's driving me). Sukhothai is also an ugly city, but it was different. Maybe it was just the end of jetlag, but I found this city much more enjoyable. It was smaller and everyone was nice. It was easy to get where we wanted to go. But the airport. My goodness, this is how all airports should be.

We flew into Sukhothai on a prop plane that, surprisingly, didn't kill us. Out the window we could see beside the one runway the airport had a group of waterbuffalo. (Is a group of waterbuffalo a herd? I want to say gaggle, but that's probably just because I like saying gaggle).

And the airport itself was an open-air collection of buildings. A small airport covered with plants and flowers. Just a green oasis in the middle of fields and grazing land. It was the first time everything felt different and exotic. Not only was I out of my country, I was a bit out of my element.
Of course, the city of Sukhothai wasn't so different from the others, but it didn't matter. I had been woken up, I think.
We decided to bike through town on free bikes the hotel gave us. We ate that night in a place (Poo, which means 'crab' in Thai) that was recommended by Lonely Planet and everyone inside was a tourist. I always take that as a bad sign, but the food here was actually really good. And I beleive this is where the love affair with banana fritters started. But, I'll hold my tongue on my lusty banana needs.
The place we were staying was gorgeous. It was called the Ruean Thai. It was on the main area, but not so much that we felt swallowed by the city.
It was here that I first tried a traditional Thai massage, which is like a cross between a regular relaxing massage and a boxing match. I knew going in that these types of massage were more vigorous than others, but this woman who "helped" me--this barely five foot woman of maybe 95 pounds--had hands like vice grips and elbows like machettis. And she apparently didn't feel merciful that day. I had to get up once to work out a cramp she gave me and twice I flinched and yelped, to which she replied, "Yap." I never got good with the Thai language, so I'm not sure my translation is correct, but I think that meant "Pussy." But after it was over and my bruises healed (and there were bruises) I can say I did feel more relaxed. Maybe just from the healing my body was doing, or the relief of knowing that one of the longest hour and a halfs of my life was over.

You probably noticed the pictures on the side here that I haven't talked about. This is old Sukhothai. A city of ruins that's actually a good bit away from the new town.
The ruins are much more extensive and in better shape than the ones at Ayuthaya. Which is odd because these are older, I think.
We took a sangtheuw to the old city. (Sangtheuw translates into riding in the back of a truck trying not to let the fumes overcome you.) We rented bikes and rode around for most of the day looking at the ruins. It was a really nice and relaxing way to get around and look at everything.
One thing that struck me was how much better the plant life was in Sukhothai as compared to Ayuthaya. It looked much more like a place that had a staff looking after the bushes and trees and mowing the lawns. Ayuthaya was grittier.
Anyway, after a pretty long (and boy are there pictures to prove we were there for a while) day, we took the sangtheuw back. On the ride there was a french couple who joined us as well as a Thai father and son. Of course the French couple started making out, making it much more imperative that as Americans, Dinah and I break from stereotypes and not talk loudly or act ignorantly. Thanks again France.
The Thai kid had a sword with him that his father had presumably bought for him. It was a wooden thing, the kind that 10 year olds long for on warm days away from school. And the kid was a little chunky and shy. The two didn't talk too much, but the father kept a close eye on the kid as he looked at Dinah and I and our weird shoes. (For most of the trip we wore what I call action sandals. Basically they were waterproofed sandals that strap on to your feet. They look a little odd for normal everyday stuff.)
And the weather was cooler. I think only in the 80's. This was a pretty perfect day altogether. I think once we made it home we swam in the pool for a bit, had dinner at the hotel and just enjoyed the vacation.
The next day we took a long bus ride (5.5 hours) to Chang Mai...