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Thailand

January - February 2017
A 30-day adventure by LouisaJames Read more
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  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 17

    Chiang Mai - Day 5 and Louisa's 40th

    January 23, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    A few presents at breakfast (all pack flat or are light for easy transportation courtesy of the night market). A day round the city on bikes, more temples of course plus the local park which is a hang out for yoga and climbing community travellers. Fed some holy Catfish at a temple, they were huge and plentiful, hopefully loaded up with good karma now. Also are travelling with a third person for a few days until we manage to get rid of them...... somehow James has a burrowing worm thing in his foot, probably from a cat/dog deposit on a beach. Boots the chemists (really) sorted him out and should be rid soon - might even miss the critter! Thanks for all the messages and birthday wishes, raising a toast to all of you. Out to dinner, trying to find somewhere that can offer a glass of wine- not as easy as you might think! Persevered and tracked one down - success!!!Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
    Day 18

    Leaving Chiang Mai (slowly!)

    January 24, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Time to move on again by bus to Sukhothai. We were super organised and got our bus tickets the day before so were quite surprised when we turned up at lunchtime for our 5 and a half hour bus journey to be told, 'no bus / problem and given our money back! Not ideal when we had accommodation sorted for that night. Annoyance decreased once we found out there was a different one that evening. It meant 7 hours of hanging around near the bus station. So what did we do - hang out in McDonalds to borrow their Wifi and play cards in a disused cafe in a shopping centre! A comfy bus ride and we got here at 1am, poor guesthouse owners who insisted on collecting us from the bus stop in their pickup truck.Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 19

    Sukhothai - Historical Park

    January 25, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Back on the bikes (are we ever off them?) to look around the Sukhothai historical park central zone. There are over 90 major ruins and many minor ones, 70 of which are within the main central zone. This is where the old town is located and where we are staying, with the entire town surrounded by moats and walls - each side of the wall is around 1.5km long. The ruins are supposedly the first kingdom of Thailand in 1238. Some have had minor renovations to stop them collapsing, others are left as they were. The main area is a bit more tended to than the outlying ones and has a lovely peaceful atmosphere (the area isn't that well known and so not at all busy).Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 20

    Sukhothai - Western & Southern Zones

    January 26, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Came across a local weekday market on our way to the Eastern zone so stopped to stock up on essential items like shoes and a coconut peeler! While looking at all the forest temples we came across a huge scout camp (Baden Powel would have been impressed if it wasn't for their pink shirts). James's bike was straight out of the 1970's with huge chopper style handlebars and low frame - great fun! As this was out of the main area we had the whole place to ourselves, with a handful of other people around. In the afternoon we headed out into the countryside on random roads through villages and more ruins, some in very good condition. Their estimation of 20 odd temples outside the central zone is a bit off, they are everywhere- hidden away behind woods and copses. Great fun exploring and seeing the country beyond the 'touristy' areas. At night we gained a tree frog on our bedroom door, reluctant to move even when opening and closing the door! (As a foot note, James's parasitic pal is no more, just waiting for the 'track' to heal).Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 21

    Sukhothai - Northern Zone

    January 27, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Amongst others, Wat Si Chum was the main temple that we visited today which is also one of the most popular due to its grandeur and impact when you enter the inside from what is a very plain and dull exterior. That said, we only saw about 6 other people there!
    We decided to explore further afield on the bikes in the afternoon going for a ride along very quite roads and tracks through farmland and small villages. All the people we came across were very smiley and friendly, and quite surprised to see us. Wish we could say the same for some the dogs we met and the birds that swooped us as we must have got too close to their nest in the paddy fields! Not sure the bikes were really made for some of the tracks we found ourselves on but they are still in one piece so will do it all again tomorrow. They don't serve the best food in this town, which is a surprise and disappointing since Thai food is some of the best you can buy anywhere in the world. However, they have great fruit so have been enjoying their grapefruits which are huge and pineapple, both dipped in a salt/sugar/chilli mix. We also found a great selection of sweets at a small village shop to keep us going...    Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 22

    Sukhothai - Bike Ride

    January 28, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We decided to take the trusty single speed bikes that have wobbly cranks and brakes that rub on a bit of a journey today. We think we rode at least 45km around the countryside through farms and fields again but this time to the south. Met more surprised people but it was too hot for dogs to be bothered! It was only possible to navigate the tiny dusty backroads using a brilliant free maps app that doesn't need the internet to work. Thank goodness for technology as it was a fantastic ride - never happier than when we are on a bike as it gives us a real sense of freedom.Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 23

    Ayutthaya

    January 29, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Left Sukhothai this morning on 7+ hour bus ride to Ayutthaya. Unesco Heritage site that used to be the capital of Siam (12th to 17th century). It promises many more, larger and better preserved temples and sites similar to Sukhothai - if so it should be amazing. Arrived to outskirts of city, then caught a locally made tuktuk into the town. These three wheelers are capable of scary speeds and are reminiscent of Reliant Robins - but in a pick-up format. They can be purchased new for around £400 (and 2nd hand for only a bit less), wish we knew that before we used buses..... Met Thierry, an interesting Canadian cyclist 6 months into year around the globe. Carrying a lot of kit including a big stick for the not so friendly country dogs! Great to have bike chat with someone who's interested!
    Arrived on the 2nd day of the Chinese New Year, so town was very busy with people, food stands, music stages, temporary temples and lots of noise, smoke and dragons! A lot of fun.    Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 24

    Ayuthaya - temple ruins by bike

    January 30, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Once we got ourselves another set of wheels we went to look around some of the more popular ruins. Like with Sukhothai, the temples are free to visit till the end of the month, in memory of the King who passed away. Noticed the heat and humidity again, now that we have come further south so struggled a bit in it. Found a nice coffee shop and then a good place for pad thai to escape the midday heat. Took a bit of a ride out beyond the 'island' in the afternoon to the lovely, Wat Chai Wattanaram. It has a 35m-high Khmer-style central prang that tried to resemble the Cambodian Angkor Wat and is in quite good condition. We passed elephants on the way giving rides to tourists and while we have done this in the past we have learnt since that it may harm them so as much as we love the animals we refrained from doing this. We also came across a load of tourist police - how many policemen does it take to change an inner tube? We ended the day with a quite meal and beer until the dragon-lion dance came along the street and visited every business offering them a prosperous year (if they donated generously!). It was great to see it lit up and then dance through the pub complete with mobile band and generator.Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 25

    More of Ayutthaya

    January 31, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    More mileage on the bikes around the hundreds of sites in the town, varying from virtual ruins to newly (and still being) renovated. First stop was a 42m long reclining Buddha at Wat Lokayasutharam, wrapped in a huge orange robe. As the town is just over 1.5 hours from Bangkok, the more popular sites get swathes of tours turning up, take a photo then disappear, leaving the site quiet again. At Wat Na Phra Men the largest (one piece) stone Buddha can be found. It's been moved between Thailand and Myanmar several times during wars - surprising as it's huge!! As it is the Chinese New Year there was a parade for over two hours of bands, religious floats and plenty of dancing dragons. In the evening a massive market/food market/fair/light show marked a 100 years of something?! No one really seems to know, but it was packed with people and interesting food options including fried insects which seem to be popular in this region. Highlight was the Wall of Death! Super noisy, full of fumes, a wee bit scary and very rickety as the wall moved everytime the car or bike passed by. The man riding the bike side saddle with hands outstretched wins for craziest person.Read more

  • LouisaJamesThailand
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    Day 26

    Ayutthaya - Further Afield

    February 1, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Was given a good route to follow today by the lady who we hired the bikes from. First stop was at Wat Phanan Choeng, which has the largest ancient Buddha in Thailand and it was massive. Turned up in time to see something that is done here daily but at other temples is only done on special occasions. People buy the orange robes and after a blessing they get handed over to be tied together. This then gets passed back to the people to place over their heads before it gets pulled over the Buddha's shoulder. Quite a fascinating ritual to see. Another temple, where we had our picnic lunch in the shade by a reclining Buddha, was quite pristinely kept. James is in for some good luck as he managed to get his coin to 'stick' onto the food of a Buddha! We also popped into other sights of interest on the way, like the Dutch settlement, Japanese village a floating village and other temples.Read more

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