Sukhothai - Sabaidee guesthouse

We stayed at a wonderful little guesthouse in Sukhothai. It had clean rooms, friendly staff, and beautiful gardens and decoration. Highly recommended:

http://www.sabaidee-guesthouse.com/

Sukhothai - Animals

A grasshopper on the window of the train to Sukhothai - hang on tight! Just a prelude of things to come...

Geckos in our hotel room.

Little frogs!

And guppies!

Ants and cats.

And a millipede.

And then, there were lizards:

Sukhothai is a somewhat more rural setting in some ways than Chiang Mai in that the town itself is a bit smaller. Here were just a few of the many critters we saw around town. And heard! Each night, a chorus of amphibians lulled us to sleep. It was grand.

Chiang Mai/Sukhothai - the train

We took a train from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai, and then from Sukhothai to Bangkok. We remembered our romantic train experience 12 years ago traveling from Bangkok to Surat Thani, and wondered if it would be as romantic now that we're older.

It was. There's something so relaxing about riding a train. It's not about getting there quick - an airplane ticket is better suited for that. It's not about control or making decisions - a car gives you that. It's not necessarily about price - buses sometimes have them beat. But a train gives you the luxury of sitting back and spending some time watching the world go by in a way that no other form of transport gives you. It's out of your control, which somehow makes the time pass more acceptably. It's right on the ground level, so you get a feel for the details of terrain and the local conditions of weather and life that you don't get on an airplane (though airplanes give you a fabulous big picture view). It's a great way to travel when you don't need to be there right away. And we really now feel like we get what northern Thailand is like compared to central Thailand, and what grows (and is grown) where, and what small town Thailand looks like. Plus there is nothing like the rhythmic motion and sound of a train for encouraging a good sound nap.

And the food was not bad at all.

Chiang Mai/Sukhothai - signs about foreigners

Some sights in Thailand have higher admission prices for foreigners than for citizens. In some other countries this is also the case, in some other countries it is illegal. Many people have opinions about this.

I'll say that on balance Thailand and it's people have been gracious hosts to us during our time here, and the money we've paid to see the sights that charge foreigners extra has not caused us an undue financial burden. I don't think these policies are meant to be taken as personally as some people chose to take them. And the sights we've paid extra to see have been worth the price. As far as I understand, the idea is not to try to exclude foreigners from the sights, it's rather an attempt to include the Thais that cannot afford to pay what for them can be a meaningful amount of money to see a national heritage site.

So - for what it's worth. It always surprises me to see such signs since the US is one of the places where it is very illegal to charge a foreigner, or someone of any different group (ethnic, religious, etc) a different price for anything. Sometimes the sign has Thai script with the Thai price (sometimes the Thai price uses Thai numerals as well - like on the Sukhothai historical park sign), so sometimes people who don't read Thai are unaware whether Thais are paying as well, and if they are, what price they are paying. This may lead foreigners to think that non-foreigners are not paying anything, when in fact they are.