Phitsanulok
Trip Start
Aug 28, 2005
1
8
37
Trip End
Dec 10, 2005
Phitsanulok,
Thailand
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Qutie a mission to find the TAT office (tourist info) but we got there.
We stayed at a hotel called the Lithai which is undergoing renovations. 160B each per night but again we had hot water and satellite tv but only 2 beds for 3 of us. No worries, we pushed them together and had 1 super bed. It was a comfy bed and ive had a great sleep both nights. Free breakfast too which is not up to much. Pie ordered boiled pork on rice which turned out to be a rice and pork mince soup - nasty!
First arvo we followed the suggested 2 hour walking tour which took us along the river past the markets and up to the Wats. Phitsanulok is the only place in Thailand where floating river houses are still legal. There is not many still here as most of them were lifted to land in the 60s. The river itself is muggy brown but the riverside is a nice tidy area with grass and trees, people running and walking. The tour only took us 20mins. We are just not that into Wats after seeing so many so far and they all look similar made of mostly red brick.
We decided against taking a day trip out to Sukothai to visit 5 areas of historical Wats and spent the 2nd day looking at other sights in Phitsanulok. There was a great Folklore Museum that held a collection of local folk arts and crafts, traditional cloth and clothing costumn, toys, household items mostly for the kitchen and also showed about harvesting rice and caching foods. Very intersting stuff.
We had lunch at a little local restaurant. It looked clean, lots of locals eating there and the staff smily but could not speak any enlgish. We chose what we identified as green curry (the only familar looking dish in their servery)and rice and it only cost 25B each.
After lunch we took in the Buddha Casting Factory and the Garden Birds of Thailand. The Buddha Casting Factory had craftsmen working on large bronze buddhas interesting to see them at work. The Garden Birds had heaps of bright coloured birds some which could talk!
We had some great meals here from the river restaurants. Last night we took a river tour dinner. I havnt yet mentioned much about the food but we have been eating like kings for so cheap. The food is every bit as primo as I remember it being.
I finally went and got a haircut yesterday. 150B for a wash, cut and blowdry! Also replaced my Birkenstocks which I bought at Xmas in Bangkok - 129B!
It has just started a massive downpour of rain. The first rain we have had during the day since ive been away. Not bad considering it is rainy season.
Taking off to Chang Mai on the train this arvo. 8 hours, 2nd class and 125B. Need to go stock up with train treats to get us through the time. Best flavour of potato chips we have found is the Thai Curry Paste flavour - iiiimmmmmmmm!
