Sukhothai to Chiang Mai

 Another long bus ride today.  We were meant to go and see the sunrise from a hill , we did wake up and saw it was pitch dark . Not the safest to ride our bikes without lights on roads with the traffic, so skipped it .

The owners of our hotel were so generous, when we were leaving they gave the kids gifts and food for the journey . We have been so lucky, so far .

The bus ride was definitely a downgrade from our last one, less room, no lunch stop and a rude conductor . 

We booked a hotel because it had elephant beds but we didn’t get them, instead we got round beds. It’s my childhood dream coming true. 

Went to stretch our legs and explore Chiang Mai at night. The Christmas lights are still up everywhere and there are some beautiful Christmas trees on the water . 

So many markets here and so colourful, kids want to buy everything!! We aren’t collecting any souvenirs, so have to make do with lots of photos instead .

Sukhothai

Lost a tooth !

 We got to explore this beautiful place on bikes .

It is harder to get to and because cars aren’t allowed in a lot of area , it is so quiet and calm . Most people tour on bikes or buggies . 

It is one of the older capitals of Thailand and the remains are quite majestic . The Buddha statues are well preserved. My favourite two were one top of a hill and the other that you got glimpses of through the pillars before you actually get to view it .

It’s also the place where the current Thai script originated so there are shrines of King Ramkhamhaeng celebrating him . 

The kids started off the day being grizzly towards each other but mid morning something switched and they have declared themselves BFFAY ( best friends for a year ) . They made song and dance routines and lots of piggybacking had them both in a happy mood through the day .

We biked back in the evening to watch the sunset , it was the busiest I saw the area . It was the type of place I expected to see a wedding proposal . 

In the night markets we saw neon green guavas in the fruit stalls , I looked it up they are peeled guavas soaked in green sugary dye ! Noooooo ! 

I am really glad we came to Sukhothai , it was such a peaceful place and biking around really mixed it up for us .

Ayutthaya to Sukhothai

 Today was basically a travel day . The kids first long bus drive . 6 hours of travel including lunch in between. The bus was great and with a nap thrown in the time passed quickly .

I read a book - My sister the serial killer. I enjoyed it , it’s based in Nigeria and some of the bits the author wrote at the end really resonated with me. She states how Africans are all different and they don’t want the same stories and that is how I felt about Indian authors growing up . So good to have a wider variety of Indian stories now . 

We are staying in the Old town of Sukhothai so went exploring in the evening. The temple in the city looked beautiful with the colourful reflections in the water . 

There was some drama at dinner when a set of customers left with our paying and the owner of the restaurant had to chase them down . It was fun for us to watch . 

New Years at Ayutthaya

Our new year started in Ayutthaya and it seems a lot of people had the same idea with crazy traffic in town . We weren’t expecting it so was a pleasant surprise to find free entry everywhere as a New Year gift ( ticket prices are meant to double in 2024 ). 

Ayutthaya is the old Capital of Thailand so we got to see the remaining ruins of the temples and palaces that were there . Some have been restored like the reclining Buddha . Others have found a way to become a symbol in themselves , like the head of a Buddha’s statue that fell, got entwined in the roots of a tree as it grew. It is now the face of Ayutthaya.  The kids favourite temple was the one with roosters , there were 100s of clay roosters in it , they are meant to be  offerings to God .  Savik found a little building in the ruins still intact which was filled with bats . He also developed a new fascination for bricks so we have many photos of different styles of bricks ! 

It felt hotter than Bangkok and we were depleted after a few Wats . I wanted to visit the floating market but no one else did and as a lot of it was shut due to the holidays we have left it for next time . 

Luckily we are staying in a very relaxing B&B along the river , run by a Thai lady who has returned to Thailand after living in the US for 30 years . 

I grew up visiting temples on New Year’s Day so felt quite nice doing it again . 

Overall a hot but a good start to the year . 

Bats !!

Too hot for Aanya to walk .

Bricks !