Terroir Travel

Yesterday we had a rest day, to explore the areas around “new sukhothai” where we are staying. It was a Very hot, lazy day, on which we made one important decision- have the A/C turned on in our cottage. We thought we’d be fine with just the fan for circulation, but when we tried to nap… Let me qualify this by saying that Brent fell straight to sleep. I tossed and turned, sweltering, until I decided to go up to the front desk and pay 100 baht to have the a/c unit given power. $3/day, and it’s wonderful. Takes the room from $13 to $16 per day, well worth it.

We decided that today, the 26th, would be the day we would tour the historic park, we’d get up at 6, and get there early, while it was cooler, and pre-crowd. We almost got derailed by a 4am rainstorm that might have lasted longer than it did, but by 7, the coast was clear, and off we were in a sǎwngthǎew ( a local multi-passenger, open air transport, it operates a bit like a local bus) for the old city and the historic park. 30 baht each for a 12 k ride, with stops. We had kids headed to school in their purple uniforms on the ride with us part of the way, which was pretty adorable.

We are dropped at the bike rental across from the park, get set up there, then get tickets, and in we go. This place is amazing. It is the original capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom, from the 13th and 14th centuries. It’s a spectacular set of ruins, and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. There are many Buddhas, sitting, standing, and the less common walking Buddhas. Here’s a link for more information.

Here’s the main complex, Wat Mahathat, with too many Buddhas to count.

It was nice to have our bikes to move between the different areas.

We spent a couple of hours coasting around the wats and shrines, and working up an appetite. By about 11, many tour buses had arrived, so we give the park one last spin, and headed out. There are many restaurants lining the road, so I was able to have a couple of rules, in order: fan, at least on table of Asian/non-white people eating there, and cold beer. About 10 places down, we found it. I ordered the Thai fried noodle with egg:

And Brent opted for fried noodle with pork

My dish was the best we’ve had so far in Thailand. So much so that Brent ordered another one. At 40 baht, why not? Just a note for vegetarians looking to travel this area, and you know who you are (Jana)…. I expected my dish to have fish sauce and egg, what I did not expect were the pork cracklings, which I thought made the dish, both texturally and flavor-wise. Anyway, something to think about. There did appear to be more vegetarian looking options on the menu, but who knows?

Most of the places, even street carts, have this assortment of condiments on the table: some white or rice vinegar with some mild peppers, sugar, an acidic, vinegary chili sauce, wonderful smokey dried red pepper, and a hotter vinegar sauce with lots of diced bird chilies.

I know that I keep mentioning the cost of things, not to annoy, but to point out how very affordable it all is. Also, We feel really fortunate to see these places as we are. If we had more money, maybe we could have taken a taxi, and we wouldn’t have ridden the transport with the school kids, or crammed onto the water ferry in Bangkok, and I think we’d have lost something. I feel very grateful that we can stay multiple days in locations with other travelers, and stay in comfortable, but not luxurious, accommodation.

Last night, various guests pulled those mats to the left around and we all watched a movie together (The Hangover, if you must know), enjoying some snacks from the cart down the block. It’s these little moments that make travel so fun- unscripted, unplanned, people from many countries sharing a laugh.

Here’s the durian sign from the first hotel. Apparently we will see variations of this all over. A friend asked about that post- durians do not just smell of rotting corpses and garbage, but the smell is invasive and persistent. I’ve heard they are delicious, despite the odor, and I’m hoping to try one in a well-ventilated area.

Up early, packed, headed to Hua Lamphong station to catch the 8:30 to phitsanulok, then bus to sukothai. Here’s the beautiful station. At 8:00 am every day the national anthem is played, and you are to stand up when it does. The police in the train station did a little display also, facing the picture of the king, Rama IV.

For breakfast I had…. a dunkin donuts iced latte (with a little palm syrup sweetener!), and it was fricking delicious. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but coffee was not easy to find in Bangkok, at least at street stalls we were hitting up, so I haven’t had any for days. This hit the spot. I will admit to feeling like a falang (non-Asian) stereotype, ordering from dunkin, but tough.

On the train we were served lunch

It was not good.

The train was a 2nd class air conditioned diesel

The bus was a 3rd class, no a/c. I loved the air on my face, and feeling more connected to everything.

We are settled in sukothai now, for the next 4 nights. Small cottage, no a/c, just a fan and open windows. I think we are going to something called the Poo Restaurant for dinner. Can’t be worse than train-lunch, can it?

We’ve all done it, made that quest for the well-reviewed hole-in-the-wall. This was such a quest. We started out taking the commuter river ferry from pier 13 near the hotel, down to pier 5- yaowarat, aka Chinatown. price is 15 baht per ticket, so 50 cents each. Attached is a pic from where we picked it up.

Sparing the details, because posting every damned thing can be a bore, we walked and walked, picking up a snack when necessary for sustenance. Our first goal was Hua Lamphong rail station to buy our Sunday tickets for Phitsanulok.

Then, head to Chote Chitr. Reviewed on NPR and other western publications, it was the day’s destination. What we had heard about tuk-tuk and cab drivers was true for us. The tuk-tuk drivers will offer to take you someplace at a low rate, if they can take you shopping first. Good thing I have no problems with the word “No”. The cab drivers will take you to a destination of their choice, not yours. They think you only want to go to the Wats, so that’s where they take you. Good thing we like to walk. Between a combination of a very coarse scale paper tourist map, and a detailed map screenshot on the iPad, we found this restaurant in a small alley. I should add that every Thai person that we have met has been delightful and helpful… the food stall vendors, the hotel staff, the bank employees, everyone. The transportation providers of the city are just doing their thing, but the hustle is tiring.

Here’s the fare: spicy banana flower salad. Bright, fresh, wonderful mix of textures:

Tom yum soup with fried fish. I was wondering how one could keep fried fish crunchy in a soup, I think it’s because it starts as a dried fish, then fried. Good heat, loaded with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and galangal, wonderful.

But the standout was this: prawns with long beans and red curry: the picture depicts 2 huge prawns, big as lobster tails. The prawns were soft, perfectly cooked, fresh. The beans had nice crunch, but the curry, more like a curry chili oil, was amazing. I dredged each bite of the prawn it in, then Brent and I both used the rice to soak up what remained.

That dish alone made our confused walking about worth it. We are enjoying Bangkok, but are looking forward to the quieter, and hopefully cooler, north.

For all intents and purposes, nov 20 did not really exist for us. We got on a plane on the morning of tuesday the 19th in Denver, flew to LA, and after a mere 2 hour layover, in which we had to claim our bags from Frontier, switch terminals and recheck bags onto delta, we were on a 12 hour flight to Tokyo. A 1.5 hour layover gets us on a 6+ hour flight to Bangkok, and after adjusting for the time difference, it’s 1 am Thursday the 21st. Also, I don’t sleep well on planes. Brent leans his head back and he’s out. I’m just thankful for decent inflight movie selection and free sake.

But we get to our near-the-airport hotel, walk down the alley for a nice bowl of noodles (previously mentioned) and back at the hotel,I find I’m wide awake. So, I FaceTime with my godparents, which is crazy good, and have a beer. As soon as I lay down, I’m completely immobile. But 3.5 hours later, at 7 am, I’m ready to get into Bangkok proper. Brent persuades me to take it slow, so we walk down to have a little breakfast,

Then we go back to the airport to catch the sky train into town. Very efficient and easy. 45 baht each, so about $1.10. We check into the hotel, have a little walk and snack around banglamphu (the neighborhood we are staying in), and head back to the hotel. A nap, that’s all… But this is where my jet lag kicks into gear. We lay down for the nap at 3:30 in the afternoon, and aside for a small break when Brent comes back from a nighttime excursion with more street snacks, I sleep until 7:30 the next morning, the 22nd.
Attached are pics of the place we had breakfast, and one of the dishes, a noodle dish that I’d describe as a pad-see-ew type. It was really nice, and not the sweet style that we see in the US most of the time. We also had a very nice soup with shrimp and chicken and veg that we scarfed too fast to take pics.

Funny about the first hotel- there was a “no durian” sign, with a fine of 2,000 baht for bringing in a durian- same fine for smoking. I took a picture with another device, I’ll post that one later- this hotel only allows one device per password.

after you clear customs in Bangkok, that’s how the signs direct you out of the airport. Brent rolled his eyes at me when I wanted to take a picture, I’ll have to start overriding him on that 

we got to the hotel, walked down an alley to a noodle stand (delicious, $1), and are now decompressing after much-needed showers.

tomorrow we move into downtown bangkok, and start exploring. The jist- we made it, we are tired, but so happy to be here.