Two blog posts in one day?

Glenn must be bored!
Yes, that is indeed correct.

The day started well enough with my early morning flight to Sukhothai, and then a minivan to Old Sukhothai where my hotel is located near the historic park, which is UNESCO world heritage listed.

I'm asked to wait a few minutes while my room is prepared so I grab a coffee (and conveniently update my blog). I'm soon alerted that my room is ready. Now I had guessed that this was a couply hotel, but I underestimated just how couply.

That is one giant king size bed, adorned with flower petals delicately placed along a sparkling piece of cloth, overlooking a quiet balcony for TWO with a small waterfeature outside... I feel a little out of place.

I wonder what reading material they will provide, surely there is something for everyone. Some people might be interested in reading about the old park? Some people might be interested in reading about the rain forests. Some, still, might be interested in white water rafting or night safari's.

No, here at Tharaburi Resort, they cater for one style of guest only. The reading material speaks for itself:

I decide to leave before I have a chance to give too much thought to what the persistent creaking noise is coming from the room above. I jump on a bike from the front of the hotel and off I go.

Stop right now, thank you very much, I need somebody with Buddha's Touch

The historic park is nothing short of breathtaking. The mist that hung over the park only served to give the surroundings a more mystical atmosphere. There are a LOT of Buddhas. I couldn't find the place to hire the audio guide, so I have no idea about the story for most of the park. There were some signs with writing on them, but cruising around on my bike I was too lazy to stop and read. The pictures can speak for themselves.

When I buy my ticket, I am given a map. It turns out this map should be considered nothing more than an artists impression of what the site looks like. It is definitely not to scale, and none of the roads lined up with where they said they would be.  (some just aren't there at all, some are there but not on the map!). But its easy enough to just randomly ride around the park.

Lonely Planet tells me it's considered sacrilegious to pose in front of Buddhas. Looking around me there aren't too many Thai's who might be offended, and fortunately I'm not Buddhist so I'm not afraid of him striking me down (and even with my limited knowledge of Buddhism, I'm pretty sure he's not that type of guy anyway), so I jump in for a quick happy snap with this fellow

This group of people were praying. It involved a whole lot of hollering and walking around in a circle for a long time. Makes me think back to praying the Rosary as a family as a child - it would have been much more interesting if we placed the alter in the middle of the room and just walked around yelling at the top of our lungs!

And it's good to see that the Thais have taken a practical approach to UNESCO World Heritage listing status. While they encourage tourists, and I'm sure they're cleaning and maintaining it all the time, they also allow this:

Nothing like cow hooves to ensure a thousand year old historic site is kept in tip top condition...

  

This next Buddha was MASSIVE!  It's at least as high as a three storey house, and he has a gigantic golden hand.

The photos don't really do it justice, but his hand as about as tall as I am.

Anyway, this has taken the best part of four/five hours (including a walk through a museum and some sort of "fruit" cocktail... not sure exactly what "fruit" is blue, must be a native...) so I decide to head home.  I ride back in the direction I came.  Or so I thought...

This:

Is not my hotel.  It takes me about another 45 minutes of riding, and trying to glean some sort of information from the cartoon they are calling a map, before I make it back to my honeymoon suite.

For those who may consider a honeymoon here, it is lovely. This is the shower:

A wooden floor, plants, and an open roof!  (not sure how you go when it's raining... although I guess it's just more water)

So I have decided to cut short my stay in Sukhothai. I was thinking perhaps of going to New Sukhothai tomorrow, but some Swedish backpackers who I was riding around with today said there is nothing to do there either, and you should leave as soon as you've seen the park. So I'm taking their advice and am catching a bus up to Chiang Mai a day early.

I called 2 different hostels (I have toned it down a notch, in an effort not to end up in a hotel with a bed shaped like a love heart). The two top recommended were sold out.  So I took a leap down the list to Smile Guest House.  It has reasonable reviews, and is modestly priced. I spoke to them on the phone, not sure he understood me. I asked him three times if he could email a confirmation, and he said he didn't understand. I also said I would check in tomorrow, 27th of February and stay three nights. He replied "So, checking out 30 February"... hmmm not quite. Hopefully he hasn't booked too many people to check in on 30 February because there won't be many arriving!

Anyway, I might go and enjoy a candle lit dinner for one at the quiet, romantic, tranquil, (and other cliche you can throw at it) restaurant of the hotel.