18th October, 2023.
Hitchhiking in Thailand: Sukhothai
A small and old car stops. A senior man comes out and ask me where I am going. When I tell him, he asks to see my passport. Laugh. He is only going to Lampang, and for some reason, I decide to come with him.
Nop, 62, is a retired Thai teacher, who can speak a little English. He is nice and kind, and I think he is happy to have someone to chat. He is actually going a bit outside Lampang, to a hospital, because he is not feeling well. Nop asks me many questions, and try to remember more words in English, so we can have a sort of a chat. He drives a bit out of his route so I can be dropped off near the way to Sukhothai.
But so it happens, I still have to walk to a certain intersection, from where all the cars will be going towards Sukhothai. Luckily, it is in a straight line from here, as I figured by asking for directions at a 7-eleven. I stand outside a PTT Station, and even though I am holding my sign which says Sukhothai, I have also asked the friendly guys at 7-eleven to write down, in a piece of paper, the name of the intersection. I could simply had memorized the name, but Thai people seem to have trouble understanding foreigners speaking Thai.
Yupan and her daughter, Fai, stop their car and the Yupan says that even though they are not going to the intersection, she wants to help me and take me there. They are very sweet and we chat a little on the way. Yupan has a ceramic company, and I even talk in the phone with her co-partner on the business. Yupan explains to me that, at the intersection, I shall take certain road, and not the one I was considering before, because this route is the one taken by private cars, while the other one, by buses.
It is super warm and the sun is excruciating, even though is still early morning. Luckily, there is the shade of a pole and I am standing by it.
At certain point, when I look back, I see a man walking slowly towards me. I know that he must have stopped his car over there, and is coming to chat, so I walk towards him. Will is going with his son, Alex, back to Bangkok, so he says he can take me nearer Sukhothai.
Will is dressed in a very relaxing way and wearing flip flops. He actually strikes me as a very relaxed man. He is also extremely kind and offer to rebuild his route, in a way that they will pass by Sukhothai. I try to persuade him of the contrary, but in vain. So off we go to Sukhothai, towards Bangkok.
They are originally from China but Will lives in Thailand for many years now. His son has moved here only about 4 years ago. Will is very happy to live in Thailand, because his country is too demanding. He moved here at first due to work reasons. Apparently, the U.S.A. charges huge importing fees for products coming from China, while for countries like Thailand, they are very low. Because Will works with wooden flooring, and exports a lot too, he decided to move here. India is their biggest client though.
When we stop at a PTT Station for toilet, Will buys me some water, coconut water, bananas and two sweet buns. He is so nice! And that’s my lunch! We arrive in Sukhothai around 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
Sukhothai National Park
I change into my dress again and this time I wear my flip flops. I know that the historical park is huge, and it will take time walking around, but I don’t care: I want my feet free!
Sukhothai Historical Park is amazing! It is not for free, you have to pay 100 THB to visit, but it totally worth it! To visit the White Temple you would pay the same, and the visit is finished in 10 minutes. Here, you can easily spend hours, or even the whole day if you want, visiting many different temples, and enjoying the long green areas / park all around.
Dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, Sukhothai Historical Park holds some gorgeous ancient temples. Actually, more than only some, but quite a lot. The nature surrounding the area is bright green and dense, at least in October, and you can walk all over the place, enjoying the peace and beauty of it. There are huge flocks of birds, and many lakes and ponds along the park. There are also cute wooden bridges, connecting the many small islands where some of the temples were built. The ruins of these temples are not restored or painted, what in my opinion gives the whole site a gracious look due to the different shades of brown /red bricks used for the construction.
The biggest and most famous temple is Wat Mahathat, and here you can take some amazing photographs. But my favourite one is called Wat Traphang Ngoen Phra Ubosot, in a very small island, where a huge and beautiful tree lies. To get to this island, you have to cross one of the longest wooden bridges, and you have a great view of What Mahathat while crossing it. It is just amazing!
The light is particularly important while you visit this temple. During the golden hours, near sunset time, everything gets illuminated in a way that is magical, and you feel like you are back in time, when these temples were actually in their prime. And wait until sunset so you can also get some great shots of the outlines of Wat Mahathat.
Sukhothai Village
Sukhothai is not only about the Historical Park. At least not the village where it is located. I haven’t been to the town, but the village is among one of the friendliest places I have ever been to. The community seems so connected and people are so friendly, as everybody is a good neighbour. I felt a great sense of unit here, and it seems like a great place to live.
Plus, there are even more temples outside the outline of the Historical Park, inside the forest. They are smaller but I am sure it would be great take a day and go hike around them, just for the sake of exploring these ruins in nature.
If I had to recommend only one place in Northern Thailand for you to visit, it would definitely be Sukhothai Historical Park and Old Town. You will get a way better sense of Thai culture and its people than if you go to Chiang Mai.
Right outside the Historical Park, you will step to a local market alongside the road. There are so many amazing foods that I assure you, it will be trouble to choose what to eat. Across the street, there are some regular restaurants, and I feel sorry to say that they were filled with tourists. Of course, that these places also need customers to survive, but I just want to pin point to the fact that, there were no tourists eating at the food stalls at the market, only at the restaurants. Well, actually there was one: Lei.
By the market, also in an island, is located Wat Traphang Thong, a very chill and cute temple. The wooden bridges which lead to it are gorgeously illuminated by paper lamps, in a Chinese style. In the opposite of famous temples in more touristic towns in Thailand, Wat Traphang Thong it feels like as all the temples should feel: peaceful and sacred. I felt very tempted to pinch my tent just by it, and honestly, I believe I would have had no problem if I had to.
Due to the funeral of some people, lots of people are conglomerate inside and outside a celebration hall. Just beside it, a group of women are preparing and packing some food to go. A young lady notices me, and I ask her if she has an idea where I can camp around here. It seems like she really wants to help, but after a few phone calls, she doesn’t know what to do.
By the time when the funeral is finished, and everybody is grabbing their take away food and leaving, one beautiful lady also notes me and ask about me. When she is told that I need a place for camping, she kindly invites me to come and spend the night at her home. Yay!
We go in her motorbike to her home. On the way, she says to live in a small house but when we get there, it turns out not to be true. She lives in a wonderful and quite huge house. It is fancy, well decorated in a more Western way, but at the same time with a mix of Thai style. After taking a shower, we sit outside, drinking some nice pineapple yogurt and chat for a while. But because I am so tired, I go to bed around 9 p.m.
Early morning, around 6 a.m., we are both awake and we have some coffee and she gives me some sticky rice with fried pork, and more pineapple yogurt. She now has an electronic translator, this type where you select two languages, and when you speak to it, automatically will translate from one to another. It is actually very practical. But I do prefer my communication via signs.
We managed to talk more due to the translator. She tells me she was married with a German doctor, but he died over a year ago. Her son lives now in Germany, and she has to go there from time to time to deal with some documents. Her husband used to also travel around Africa and volunteered there as a doctor many times. “He liked to help people” – she says. She is 56 years old but doesn’t look one day older than 40. I told her she looks even more beautiful without make up, and I hope she had believed on me.
Around 7 a.m. I leave towards Sukhothai, hoping to arrive today to Chonburi. It is 7 hours driving, which is very doable, there is only one problem: Bangkok. I need to get a lift who drives me outside of it, enough far away so I don’t get stuck by the highways. Fingers crossed.
10 Years Around the World 