Sivathep Hotel Phitsanulok

... There are 9 elephants in total, ranging from the 40 year old bull who is kept separate from the rest down to the 18 month old baby of the herd. Being amongst the elephants is even better than I imagined it to be. To stand next to such huge powerful creatures and have them seem totally at ease with your presence among them is an amazing feeling. These elephants are not even fully trained yet, so it is the job of the mahouts and the volunteers to ...

... weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children. It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn't interest me where, what, or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like ...

... one selling dragons but only the carved variety. We found our first Chinese Buddhist Temple and how different that is to Thai. Sadly, the smiling lady caretaker had no English so we'll have to wait a bit longer to discover what all the figures mean and why Buddha doesn't look like the Thai Buddha. Phitsanulok was apparently first known as a Khmer outpost before the Kwai Noi River changed its course in the 11th century. Four hundred years later it was the seat of the Ayutthaya viceroy, who ...

I visited Phitsanulok because it's on the way north and from where you take the bus to Sukhoithai. I never took the bus even though I intended to (it was just not convenient for different reasons). I will mention why wanted to go to Sukhothai though, it was the first capital of Thailand. Phitsanulok was also the capital of Thailand for 25 years sometime there in the early days. Now I think I have mentioned all ...

... in the morning as we have still got to sort out our Indian visa's, apparently its pretty easy from Chiang Mai, although its the kings Birthday on Wednesday so that could slow things up by a day. We will end up a little behind scedule for getting into Laos, but we may be able to use some of our Cambodia time. Having great fun and really looking forward to Chiang Mai. Hope all is well at home. Love Shells and Peeps xxxxxxxx

... singing the line "is it me you're looking for?"... and winking. (Can you imagine?!) Thanks for the tips Mr John, good job I'm already married! <br><br>We got to the train station in good time and were sitting down in the centre of the concourse when some music started blaring through the loud speakers. Right on cue, a troop of soldiers marched ...

... soaked to the skin and dripping water all over the floor. The guesthouse owner asked me who got me, the answer to which being, rather obviously, EVERYBODY! We got back in time for lunch and had the most amazing barbecued salt-crust fish at the market, and then headed to the town's only bakery/coffee shop where we indulged in our new favourite afternoon activity of drinking coffee and reading in pleasant, comfortable, air-con surroundings. (R)

We decided to use Phitsanulok as base to visit the temples in nearby Sukhothai. It was definitely a good choice for us, the hotel was really nice and Phitsanulok is a really cute town to walk around and has great foot massages!! (3 CAD/hr!!). The food was delicious, in fact our third night there we bumped into a street festival with the best foods in Thailand! Each stall specialized in a Thai ...

... the street and invited him for some beers. Soon after we were talking philosophy and buddism and had about 10 beers down. This guy just spent 3 weeks in a buddist meditation camp where he did not speak the entire time. He said he was having trouble talking to people since and he was glad to meet some people that were open minded enough to discuss the event. At about midnight the girl from the night before showed up with her friend and drank with us until closing. We gave them our ...

I just spent a great day in Sukhothai National Park, the site of one of Thailand's former (ancient) capitals. In fact, the king largely responsible for the city's gradeur, King Ramkamhaeng is also responsible for the creation of the Thai alphabet, as well as literature. The architecture of the temples (of which most of the ruins consist), provide examples of both Khmer and ...