Departure for Sukhothai

Again I woke up in the middle of the night. The jet lag is harder to get over here than I anticipated. This time Rachelle had the same problem and we lay there wide awake. After a while, getting back to sleep seemed impossible for us both and Rachelle suggested some Television. The best thing on was 'I love you, Beth Cooper'. Once that had finished, we tried to sleep again, but failed. Instead, I read 'The Beach' to Rachelle. 

Hours passed and eventually we got to sleep, but an hour later at 6AM the alarm went off because we had to be at the StrayAsia agency for 6.45AM. We set off leaving ourselves 15 minutes to get there, but for some reason took a wrong turning and got lost - Bangkok is not the easiest place to navigate. We were running around with our heavy bags and little sleep and it was stressful. I was sweating. Luckily we made it on time and our tour guide was waiting for us. His name is Jeremy and he is french.

When we get to the train station we are early; an hour early. I think of how wonderful that extra hour in bed would have been. At exactly 8AM the national anthem was played over the speakers and everybody, including ourselves, stands up - very patriotic. When it's time for hour train at 8.30AM we head to platform 10. Jeremy warned us that when we arrived that trains in Thailand can be late and often are. True to his word the train is an hour late. The platforms are outside and it's the hottest day so far and my arms are glistening with sweat. It's not attractive, nor comfortable. 

When the train finally arrives it's actually quite pleasant. Space for bags, enough leg room and air conditioning. They serve a meal too, but it's not very nice so neither of us ate much of it. 

The train journey takes 5 hours to Phitsanulok where we get in the back of a converted tow-truck which has benches, no seat belts. It takes an hour to get to Sukhothai and the air conditioning is the wind. 

When we get to Sukhothai we check in to a guest house. We save money by getting a non-air conditioned room, but it's still nice enough. Thereafter, we explore a monk cloister which is pretty because it's in the middle of a reservoir. On the steps are two Asian girls feeding catfish. There are loads of them and it makes for a good photo. It's a very pretty and peaceful place.

We head back and meet our guide, Jeremy, for dinner where we ask him some question about traveling around Thailand and Laos. He's already been drinking so he becomes talkative, something he was not without Chang beer. Afterwards, we head to the guest house for a beer and sit outside. We briefly talk to two other travelers; a Finnish guy and a girl claiming she was Argentinian, despite a very strong American accent. I'm pretty sure she was American and was trying to sound exotic. She dances on her own to Brazilian music (making things even more confusing) played off her phone- it's a little odd. Once the beer is finished we go to sleep.