06 May 2006

SUKOTHAI





6 of us boarded a mini-bus to head to Thailand’s (other) ancient capital Sukothai this weekend. Yes, there are two dating from different periods, and different defeats. Sukothai was sacked by the Burmese, Ayuttaya by the Khmer (I think).
Sukothai looks a lot like Ayuttaya – ruined Wats – but is about 6 hours drive from Bangkok rather than 1.5 hours. I’m sure a Thai historian could provide an in depth analysis of the difference, other than location, but that’s about all I could spot. That said, it was good to get out of town and riding around the heritage parks on rented bicycles was certainly a welcome change.
The other two guys coming along, both former Russians (one’s now from Turkmenistan, the other Azerbaijan) turned up to the minivan drunk. At 7am. They opened their first beer as the van pulled out of the car park and stayed drunk for 48 hours on top of the 24 hours prior to the trip, not even seeing a temple. It was quite an effort really, the rest of us kept waiting for them to fall over. Or at least for the chief protagonist to stop talking and his offsider to stop giggling. It didn’t happen, and I think they had a good trip.

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