We woke up bright and early at 5am this morning, only to decide we could probably manage another half an hour in bed before heading to the station for our train to Phitsanulok. Our 3rd class seats were nice - they even had padding: better than our first trip almost 2 years ago, when we had wooden seats with no designated seat numbers.
As we rolled along the same tracks as last time we enjoyed repeat sightings of things that had captivated us on our first journey, but it was even more exciting as we ventured into new territory - such as the old Lopburi ruins.
This time the houses built out of corrugated iron beside the train tracks just made up another Asian community like many we've seen before - not as shocking as when we were Asian virgins.
During the day on the train we watched as a small army of food ladies worked their way up and down the train with their baskets of goodies tempting the train travellers with their treats.
Once we arrived in Phitsanulok we made it easily to the bus station for our bus to Sukhothai - the only strange thing that we encountered were the number of lady boys around. Our bus conductor was a lady boy, and it was so interesting to see how accepted she is in Thai culture - we question how accepted she would be in NZ.
In Sukhothai we decided to walk the 1km into town from the bus station (despite everyone telling us it was 4km away!) and soon found a great guesthouse at a bargain price.
We were pretty tired from our early start and all day travelling, so we had a few hours snooze before heading to the night markets for dinner. Here we stayed away from the stalls with English menus and opted to sit amongst the locals and devour pad thai under the stars.
Adlibing it away from Bangkok.
Once we arrived in Phitsanulok we made it easily to the bus station for our bus to Sukhothai - the only strange thing that we encountered were the number of lady boys around. Our bus conductor was a lady boy, and it was so interesting to see how accepted she is in Thai culture - we question how accepted she would be in NZ.In Sukhothai we decided to walk the 1km into town from the bus station (despite everyone telling us it was 4km away!) and soon found a great guesthouse at a bargain price.
We were pretty tired from our early start and all day travelling, so we had a few hours snooze before heading to the night markets for dinner. Here we stayed away from the stalls with English menus and opted to sit amongst the locals and devour pad thai under the stars.
Adlibing it away from Bangkok.
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