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Sukhothai is one of two ancient ruined capital cities of Thailand, we made a choice to visit this particular one on the hope it would be quieter and more relaxing. We had envisioned our fantastic stay at Siem Reap Town with tourist friendly streets, resturants and shops. It was quiet different to our stay there in the end, but that doesn't mean we had a rubbish time.
Our transportation to Sukhothai was a interesting one. Another propeller plane flight north of Bangkok to Sukhothai's small airport with one building and gardens decorating the runway. It looked beautiful and very much made for the tourists. But with odd additions such as a wooden bus to pick you up from the plane and the departures building was tiny without any walls, you could walk right out of the place easily. As you waited for your baggage, that was brought on another cart and unloaded onto the ground, we watched zebras and giraffes in the distance grazing. We felt like we'd arrived at an African safari park not a ancient Thai kingdom!
Ancient Sukhothai is 10 minutes drive from New Sukhothai, the area we stopped in and the main hub for the local people. New Sukhothai was full of busy streets, local shops and the odd temple. It wasn't the tourist paradise we had expected, but it did have a few resturants and cafes around serving western food. Plus you've always got 7 Eleven if your desperate, there seems to be 2 on every street in Thailand. Similar to Bangkok, we found ourselves noticing how tame the people, noises and smells were incomparison to other Asian cities. You can tell that Thailand definetly has more money than other countries we had visited, for a start we have hardly met any beggars or scam artists here, which is saying alot for Asia.
After two days of doing nothing we booked ourselves onto a local bike tour of the Sukhothai ruins of the ancient kingdom. It was one of the best experiences we have had in Thailand. The tour is run by a local couple who live in a nearby village. They are also rice farmers, but as the rice industry is not as financially viable in Thailand as it used to be, so they run local tours on the side. After being picked up and kitted out with our mountain bikes we started our 40km bike ride with only four of us including Gib our guide. We cycled through local villages stopping off to learn about village life, rice farming and community projects. It was fascinating to learn about the locals and peddle through the vivid green rice fields. When we arrived at the ancient kingdom Gib had picked a handful of the best temples and palaces to visit. One major bonus of visiting with him was his knowledge of its history, he was previously a Buddhist monk for two years so he was able to explain certain rituals and traditions with his experience in great detail.
Riding a bike is one of those skills you are never meant to forget. So Matthew who hasn't ridden a bike for a couple of years jumped on and zoomed away, tackling all the corners and changing the gears. Nicole hadn't ridden a bike in a long time and could only remember crashing into the floor. But these memories didn't resurface until she had to sit on the actual bike and peddle. It seems that riding a bike is a skill you can forget in Nicoles case, as she forgot how to turn on a bike and rode into a banana tree at one point! After many hours of cycling a braving wide cornered pathways with Matthew coaxing her on she became confident to tackle corners on her own.
We ended the day exhausted, sore and pretty chuffed with ourselves, that was until Nicole knocked down half of Gibs bikes when she rode into the garage! When we returned back to our hotel we couldn't actually sit down on our bottoms as they were so painful. We lied on our stomachs for a good while until we could muster up the energy to have a shower.
The Ancient kingdom of Sukhothai was one of the first civilisations in Thailand, the ruins left are of Buddhist temples decorated with huge statues, spires and pagodas. It has a big connection to the Angkor Wat kingdom in Cambodia, as the Cambodians lived in Sukhothai first and some of their Hindu temples still remain as a level of respect. There is a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs documented through the ruins. It's lovely to see two religions living respectfully together through time. Eventually the Sukhothai kingdom was over thrown by a second rising Thai Kingdom in the south called Ayutthaya.
At the end of the day we had booked way too many nights here in New Sukhothai and we only saw the ruins once on our bike tour. However, we used the rest of the days to make a big decision about what we wanted to do next as we were now 3 months into our trip of Asia. We have decided not to go to India after Malaysia, instead we are going to travel through Europe for a month. We have alot of different reasons for making this big change:
1. Asia is amazing! It's colourful, different, awe inspiring and a true learning experience for both of us. But there are some tough bits to deal with, especially if your travelling independently without a group or a tour. We've spent many days just sitting around, travelling somewhere or even planning how to do something in the easiest way possible. The difference of languages is a constant struggle, as well as the scammers, the rubbish hotels, the ever dirty clothes and mosquito's eating us alive. Of course the positives out weigh the negatives, but its time to take a break on the craziness of Asia.
2. India is a place we were so excited to visit, we have even lugged the Lonely Planet book around with us from home. We've tried to plan it in so many ways to include famous spots or just focus on one area such as Rajasthan. However, after 3 months of Asia our passion to explore India has disappeared. We need to see India when we are fresh faced and ready to appreciate its challenges and experiences. Right now is not the time for us, we want to enjoy it and not risk hating it because we pushed ourselves too far.
3. Europe is somewhere we have always wanted to explore. It's so close but we never seem to have the time to travel there and just assume we will do it at some point in the future. This is a perfect opportunity to stop off on our way back and travel through some of the places we have been dying to see. It's going to be cold and rainy, but for Europe this means it will be more wallet friendly and we can't wait!
So Europe here we come in January!
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