Sukhothai

The reason we came to Sukhothai is because it has an airport. And then, it has an interesting hotel. This is how Marc zooms in on potential places for us on our trips -- neither of us had ever heard of Sukhothai, and once those pieces were in place, Marc started looking around to see what there was to do here.

Ruins. Wats, temples. A UNESCO World Heritage site. Huh! OK! Let's go.

Since we'd be jetlagged and shattered, Marc found us a hotel with a pool and boy was that a good decision. In fact there isn't a whole lot to do in Sukhothai beyond the ruins and the small market, and in fact it's super hot here, so having the pool to retreat to in the bulk of the day was just the right thing. Our hotel, Sawasdee Sukhothai Resort, is just fine -- our little bungalow is comfy and the AC is good and chilly, the bikes they rent are new and in great shape, and the staff are all very kind and sweet. Unobtrusive but helpful. The hotel is away from the main part of this older part of Sukhothai, and seems to be hovering at the edge of large, empty fields. It's very quiet here, and other guests seem to stay no more than a couple of days; the first day or two, we were by far the youngest people here, but then a crop of younger couples arrived. It's weird to be the youngest ones.

Our first full day we really just got the lay of the land. We were out a little too late in the morning to do the ruins, because holy HELL is it hot, so we found the market, figured out the layout of the place, swam and rested, and ate. Every night in Sukhothai we ate at the same place: Junshine Cafe/Restaurant. We don't do that, ever. On occasion we might return to a place, but we literally ate every single dinner in Sukhothai at this place. The servers were very sweet, and the first night we ate there, all the other customers (all of whom were Thai) seemed to take a special interest in us, walking near our table on the way to their own, inspecting the dishes we ordered, smiling at us and nodding. It was adorable. What did we eat there, honey? Green papaya salad, a delicious fried fish, panang curry, morning glory (twice), pad Thai, shrimp with special sauce (twice), shrimp with sweet sauce, a Thai omelet, cabbage, spicy Thai noodles, and whatever we'll eat tonight because oh yes, we're going back. They have Beer Lao (dark!), which I had every night. Marc kept looking at the information he collected about other restaurants, but each time we decided to go back to Junshine anyway.

Our "usual" table

The post-eating carnage the first night -- I forgot to take any photos but it was SO GOOD

The beer of wholehearted people

This fried fish y'all!! It was amazing. Crispy fried basil, and the orange stuff is super crispy fried we-don't-know-what
but we LOVE it

Spicy Thai noodles

After the first night, once we'd found our way around the area on bikes, we rode bikes to the restaurant and back, which is really just tricky because they drive on the wrong side of the road here, and in the dark it's a little more confusing, but it was also fun. Riding home in the dark, our tummies full of wonderful food, with light still held in the wisps of clouds just a little bit, well, I'll remember that for a very long time.

Our first night we slept nearly 11 hours straight, but after that we were in the normal jet lag routine of falling asleep very early, around 7:30pm, and waking up ready to go by 5am. Since we wanted to go to the ruins very early, before the heat hit, that was just perfect. So on our second full day, that's what we did. We were first in line at the ticket booth, and a few minutes later a couple of French dudes got in line behind us. One guy asked what time it opened and I said 6:30, and he said, "Thixth thirty?" and I nearly fell over laughing, it was tho adorable. It took all my adulting to not giggle, though I imagine my smile was filled with delight.

The ruins were just so beautiful, early in the morning. The light was gold and lit up the various wats and chedis with rose-gold, and gold-gold, and red-gold light. We rode all through the main site and then tried to find a faraway wat with no luck. Here are some of the wats and Buddhas:

One great thing about being up so early is that you can bike around through an ancient wat complex and then bike back to the hotel and it isn't even 10am yet. I felt a little shaky -- my coffee was all run out and I needed some protein -- so we ate a quick hotel breakfast, went back to the room for a quick crash nap, and then headed out to the pool. That's been the rhythm of these days in Sukhothai, lots of eating and lying around the pool (and reading for me), and then an activity and then repeat, and then dinner and then bed.

When we were up and out so early yesterday for the trip to the ruins, I saw the small tak bat ceremony happening so we decided to get up early again today and head into town at close to dawn as possible. Biking out of the hotel in the morning silence, with the sun just starting to show the clouds, is such a wonderful experience. And YES, sure enough, we arrived in time to witness the tak bat ceremony. It's very small, unlike the big Hollywood extravaganza that is the Luang Prabang ceremony, but it did have its own bits of show and flash; there is a bridge that's used for a focused bit of the morning, with nice mats and small tables to hold the offerings for the monks, who all line up on the bridge. After that, they make their way down the main road, stopping at the small businesses here and there when shopkeepers have rice to give them.

This is such an extraordinarily common and familiar feeling for me, such an experience: AWE.
Here I am. How did I get here? How can this be me, my life? Me, from where I am come,
me, here, me, where? Where am I now -- China, Thailand, Laos, Bali, Croatia, Turkey,
Norway, Greece, Peru, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Borneo? Where am I now?
Here I am again, riding a bicycle in a place I never could have dreamed I would see.
And there he is, there's Marc on his bike just behind me, or biking ahead, planner extraordinaire,
travel partner deluxe, him and me, here.

The bridge site for the "fancy" tak bat ceremony. It's still not as Hollywood as Luang Prabang.

Off to the small businesses for more lumps of rice and merit bestowed for women, one of the
few ways women can earn merit. Not that I'm bitter about that.

Oh gosh it was SUCH a beautiful morning.

We stopped for a bowl of Sukhothai noodles for breakfast. Pho it's not, all-that-tasty it's not either,
and yes I may have sprinkled an extra spoon too many of red chili flakes.

We stopped in the market for bag #2 of these tasty little donut things (rice flour, I think, and a sesame sugar coating on top, and I ate too many but you know me and a little donut thing).

Tonight we'll go to Junshine again (we may have been planning what we'd order mid-morning), and tomorrow around noon we'll leave Sukhothai for Mae Sot, on the border with Myanmar. No pool there, and no ruins, but some markets and small food stalls to explore, and yet again to learn how a new town in Southeast Asia feels.

Lucky me, lucky mud.

“God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!"
"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the
sky, the stars."
And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look
around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.
I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going, God.
Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly
couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to You.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to
think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and
look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!
Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
Good night.”

(Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle)