Re: July 2015 Trip Report - Chiang Mai and other places late
This is the Sukhothai portion of my trip report. I will try to post the Kanchanaburi portion tomorrow.
So, after the exciting zipline adventure, we head back to Chiang Mai to search for a hotel for the evening, and we find the Chiang Mai Gate Hotel, http://www.chiangmaigatehotel.com
A normal hotel, but Woody and Non were chomping at the bid to have a hotel that offered an all you can eat breakfast, so I conceded in letting us leave the Qi 68 guest house, which did not offer breakfast but was cute and charming to transfer to a mainstream normal generic hotel.
Woody, warns me in his endearing protective way, тАЬNo Go-Go bars tonight тАУ we must get up early at 7:00am we have big drive to SukhothaiтАЭ. So, it was an early night тАУ no hanky pank тАУ as we needed to conserve our energy for tomorrowтАЩs journey and eventual sightseeing.
Woody and. Non were illuminated as they plowed through the тАЬAll You Can EatтАЭ breakfast buffet. It was good, but I much preferred тАЬButter is BetterтАЭ http://www.butterisbetterbakery.com/
ItтАЩs now 10:00 am and we are finally off for Sukhothai. The guys tell me itтАЩs a 4 hour drive but it ended up taking us 5 hours because of time taken to enjoy the rest areas (no тАУ not for cruising hahahaтАж). I was quite impressed with the Thailand rest areas as they are very different than the ones we have here on the Italian Autostrada. Here in Italy, they usually consist of 2 buildings тАУ one for eating, usually called CIAO or AutoGrill and the other is for petrol. Instead here in Thailand it is a rather large complex with the ubiquitous 7-Eleven, Caf├й Amazon, KFC, S&P, etc. So, the main difference is choice while in Italy there is no choice. Just an observation. Consequently our 4 hours became 5 hours because I just had to have my wonderful Caf├й Amazon iced coffee at each service area. My 2 tour guys are beautiful and very much in shape I just hope that my falang ways do not fatten them up.
The drive from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai was kind of boring. I found the transformation of the terrain from greenish to arid is what made it less interesting. You could definitely see that the current drought is having a negative impact on many parts of Thailand. In addition, Sukhothai was much more hotter and humid than Chiang Mai.
We arrive in Sukhothai and start the search for a hotel. First we checked out the Pailyn Hotel, a huge hotel which has seen better days and looked tired. Then we found the gem that we all liked called the Sukhothai Treasure Resort & Spa http://www.sukhothaitreasure.com/
once we saw the rooms, pools, and breakfast area тАУ we immediately accepted a suite here as it is absolutely a lovely resort.
So checked in and unpacked we then head off to MK for a bite to eat and to wait for WoodyтАЩs and NonтАЩs friend, Wit to join us for a late lunch before heading over to the UNESCO World Heritage Site at the Sukhothai Historical Park.
Woody met Wit some years back when he worked at the Classic House in Chiang Mai, http://www.classichousemassage.net/ as a masseur. Now he lives in rural Sukhothai to take care of his ailing mother and sorely misses the gay life back in the metropolis of Chiang Mai and he made us understand that he cannot wait to return. Wit would be our local tour guide during our sojourn here.
Why visit this Sukhothai ?
First of all, Sukhothai translates into the тАЬDawn of Happiness.тАЭ Secondly, if you are a history buff and want to learn about Thai culture it is an interesting place to visit because from 1238 until 1438 Sukhothai was the first capital of Siam (then followed by Ayutthaya, Thonburi and Bangkok). The most famous and influential one of its nine kings was King Ramkhamhaeng, the second son of the founder of the state (reign from 1275-1317). He significantly expanded the Siamese empire through his military victories to a territory even bigger than modern Thailand, developed the first Thai script (Siamese alphabet that we all know and love to decipher), imposed strict observance to the Buddhist religion and founded a military and social organization which was soon copied by the Khmers. The Sukhothai Kingdom, consisted of a long arc of territory that ran through what is today's Laos and western Thailand as far as the Malay states.
In addition, since I live in Rome, which is home to the тАЬFori ImperialiтАЭ, RomeтАЩs ancient beginnings, I wanted to see the contrast with ThailandтАЩs ancient past, and I can say that it is quite impressive.
Some pictures тАУ I limited them to just a coupleтАж.
Legend has it that this giant Buddha statue was able to ward off its enemies by being able to talk and to scare them away from harming it тАУ as is what unfortunately happened to many of the other monuments in the park.
It was hotter than hell in the park and SO humid as it had just finished raining before we arrived. The famous lotus pond that you see in many tourist pictures near the monuments was all dried up due to the drought.
After our visit, Wit took us to his favorite Wat in New Sukhothai, Phra Mae Ya Shrine, which is right across the street from the Yom river in front of City Hall on Thanon Nikhon Kasem street, which cuts through downtown. I asked Wit, why it was his favorite and he explained the following to me:
The shrine is highly respected by Sukhothai residents. ItтАЩs home to the idol of Phra Mae Ya, a stone figure with a long face, tapered chin, long halo, and dressed as an ancient queen. The idol is about 1 meter high and is supposed to have been built during King Ramkhamhaeng the GreatтАЩs reign as a dedication to his late mother Nang Sueang. The name provides the connections in the word Phra Mae Ya or grandmother in Thai, which is literally a term of endearment, since the local people regarded King Ramkhamhaeng the Great as their fathers. The statue was formerly housed in a rock shelter of Phra Mae Ya Mountain. The Sukhothai residents later relocated it to its present shrine situated in front of the City Hall. The shrine is also believed to house the spirit of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great. The Phra Mae Ya Fair is held annually in late February.
тАГ
Of course, now it was time for the usual Buddhist prayer and the shaking of the fortune sticks and I could not miss this photo op.
So, what else is there to do in Sukhothai? Wit exclaims, тАЬcruising!!тАЭ @-)
Since we were already at the riverfront and there was no flooding due to the drought (we need to remember that back in September 2014 and also in September 2012 the Yom river overran its river banks and flooded downtown), we were safe to proceed to a little gym and Thai boxing workout center that overlooks the Yom river. Wit made us understand that many of the hot guys that we saw working out may join you if you sit down along the river bank тАУ there is a steep drop off from the square where they are so you are somewhat secluded. Wit said, you just sit and wait and perhaps one of the guys will come over and say hello. We only looked for a little while and then we headed off to dinner. So, if any of you out there reading this тАУ check it out тАУ here is a little google mapтАжenjoy
Wit then took us to an excellent restaurant, I cannot remember its name :-\ тАУ but the food was the highlight of my entire vacation. Of course it was a Thai restaurant, and my 3 guides ordered for me тАУ so I have no idea what I ate but it was great. One dish was based on coconut, as I go crazy for coconut. Another dish was chicken based and another 2 dishes were with vegetables. I am soliciting the name of this great restaurant and once I get it I will post it here.
After dinner we return to the cruising place on the river and there was definitely more movement, as it was now dark while before I was not yet a complete sunset. Then we part our ways, as we return Wit to his motorbike at the MK restaurant and then we return to our wonderful hotel to have a well deserved swim in that wonderful swimming pool. There were many sexy pictures that we took in that pool, but to date I have not yet been successful in getting them off of NonтАЩs phone. Had they been on WoodyтАЩs phone, I would have been able to post them here. If I ever get my greedy hands on them in the future I will post them here.
Back to the room for a well-deserved 4 hand massage with all of the usual final glory fun and then off to la-la land sleeping away until the next morning.
Enjoyed the great all you can eat breakfast buffet тАУ the guys were SO happy and then checked out and off for our very long 6 hour drive to Kanchanaburi тАУ which will be the next segment of this trip report.
Reply With Quote
