Rajthanee Hotel Sukhothai

... I could bring some back to my Mom, who is almost as big a fried banana fan as I am.<br><br>When we got off the songtao at close to noon, the heat was searing. We picked up two bicycles for a buck each and proceeded to visit the large site. This is the Thai version of Angkor Wat, it wasn't as spectacular obviously, since nothing could compare, but it was really nice, well kept and very clean. There weren't vendors at every corner so it was ...

... of gold and grandeur into one big lake of gaudiness. The simple answer, the reason, if I was being truthful with myself, that I wanted to visit Myanmar was to impress.<br>In reality it was to gain bragging rights to a country so few ever visit, and to impress whom?????<br><br>LESSON 2 # The only person you ever need to impress is yourself - and a white sand beach, lapped by turquoise blue waters impresses me a lot.<br><br>It was time to start heading South...<br>

... with more fares. &#8216;Just five minutes&#8217; he told us confidently. Unfortunately the system works against this. The school kids know that the bus won&#8217;t go until it is full, and anyway there is a line of buses waiting. As a result they mill around jumping on and off buses, devouring vast quantities of food and drink from the roadside stalls that set up all around the school entrance. The protestations of the bus drivers have little impact; only the couple ...

... he had an official looking jacket, he bargained like a pro and of course he had the transport....what choice did I have, he was the only one! He also ripped me off by about 40 baht which I knew but...ahhh whatever. So I get into the gazebo, on the bench thingy in the middle, the driver is behind me, clearly there's no seat belt nor is there even a bar in front of me so if the dude braked suddenly I'd fly right onto the road. Again, these are thoughts ...

... truck headlights for light, you can even see the hormones seeping from his cheek. The next morning, I had a lovely ride up to the grazing meadow on Pang Tong. Pang Tong was so excited when she spotted Pang Noi and Star already playing ahead of her, that she took off in a run. It was a good thing that "At," Pang Tong's mahout was riding with me. With his strong hands on my waist, I wasn't frightened at all. At BLES, I stayed in one of the two lovely guest bungalows. I am a ...

... It was uncrowded! There were no souvenir hawkers assaulting the visitors, but there were stands with water and fruit available. Once when we needed something to drink badly, after pedaling in from a more remote area, some Thai people insisted that we take Pepsi's from them and they would not accept any money. There were a few tour buses and vans around, but we didn't come into contact with any crowds of people. There was a Thai Samarai film being made at ...

... a cafe in Bristol, 'phone the local Thai Takeaway', said Dave! While looking for food last night we happened across a stall of the weirdest food yet. Fried caterpillars, chicken cheeks (but which end?), chicken feet, water bugs (that looked like giant cockroaches) and a variety of things that wouldn't have looked out of place on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Outta Here. We decided to pass on all of them and go for the ...

... bed early. The next morning we took a songtaew into the ancient city; Sukhothai is broken up into 2 distinct parts, the new city and the ancient city. The ancient city covers an area of 70km and contains roughly 200 ruins. We rented bicycles to get around and set off into the city; I was instantly reminded of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Some of the ruins had the same look and feel as Angkor due to Sukhothai being a part of the Khmer empire (the same empire that built Angkor). The one thing ...

... said that he was very happy to have met me as he learned a lot from me. He liked how happy I seemed to him and how friendly I was towards everyone we met on the way. I thanked him for the opportunity to spend a day with him.<br><br>The first thing I did as we returned to town is to write this blog, which I couldn't wait to share with you. While I cannot see well enough to read anything I can still see the keyboard in front of me, and that's what counts after all.

... and fans, so we hoped we could get some sleep, especially after the poor sleep the night before. <br><br>Alas it was not to be, I think we probably got a couple of broken hours between us before arriving in Chiang Mai this morning at 07:30... but that - as they say - is another day! <br><br><br>Lots of love, <br><br><br>Al &amp; Katie xx