sukhothai

This trip has its ups and downs... the nights are lonely =P but the sightseeing and walking around and being on the move and meeting nice people is great. I just really hate the part when I get to a new place and have to deal with the touristy places/ppl who tout and make you pay more for rides, trying to find guesthouses etc. I don't feel like i have much bargaining power cos lone girl and there are v few backpackers ard. The place i'm at now not v good think i will try to move tml morning before i head to sukhothai historical park...

Loneliness. Definately more pronounced at night. Especially when one is lying in a small dark room with 2 beds/1 huge bed (many of these places don't seem to have single rooms so i'm paying for 2!) trying not to imagine things.

Spent 6 hours on the bus here. got here about 3.30pm, too late to see the sites. It's a rather boring town actually. Very typical m'sian small town-like. Nothing much to do. The bus here was FULL. But all the people i met from ayutheya bus terminal until i got off here were nice. People pointed me to the bus when it came, moved to give me a seat, told me when there was a lunch/toilet break, offered me sweets... i felt very safe. lots of kids to entertain meself with, women, monks.. All in all thailand is a much safer place than indonesia or even malaysia. Fairly easy to get around, even easier if you are willing to pay a bit more. I'm quite sure everyone thought i was thai until they tried to speak to me. sigh. I don't think i'll ever get the thai language. Whenever i want to speak somehow i end up thinking the bahasa version of what i want to say instead.

Scenery on the way was alright. Again, typical. Not as pretty as the javanese landscape nor half as spectacular as chinese ones. Passed through lots of small towns. It seems that there are tourist attractions in every town and village, if the signs by the road are any indication (not signs pointing to wats, those are a dime a dozen here, but signs with the 'i' that has english words: tourist attraction).

And one thing sukhothai has that ayutheya doesn't: english newspapers!! unfort i bought the first one i say which is not the bangkok post. ah well.. better than nothing. Derth of internet places here though. I don't think i will hang around here longer than i have to. Rather tempting to go to mae sot(burmese border!) and umpang(beautiful highlands!) but maybe not alone and not this time since i didn't bring trekking stuff. May even cut sangkhlaburi out cos there are really few people moving round and it's rather way out. Hopefully kanchanaburi is the kind of place to linger at..