A Stranger in a Familiar Land

After a hearty breakfast the next morning, I asked the guesthouse owner if the sawngthaew that regularly plied between New Sukhothai and the park for 30 baht were running. He said they weren't. It certainly wasn't business as usual. He advised me to flag down a samlor (a pedicab powered by a motorcycle), and that the going rate was 150 baht. I certainly am having to pay more because it isn't business as usual. But, I am sympathetic to all the people in the informal economy whose livelihoods were upended when the tourists stopped coming.

Sukhothai Historical Park is roughly divided into three zones - the main park itself, a northern zone, and a western zone. My samlor driver Khun Thorh (this is the closest transliteration of his nickname that I can think of; the intonation is similar to the second tone in Mandarin) dropped me off at a bicycle rental place and told me to call him if I needed a return ride. I then hoisted myself onto my rickety rental bike and ventured into the main part of the park. The bike rental cost 30 baht (US$1)!

My first stop was the Wat Mahathat, which was a huge and spectacular ruin. The highlight of this ruin was two large standing Buddha statues. One statue had one hand raised, and the other did not. I was mildly amused by the cliched sight of two westerners meditating in front of one of the statues while listening to a recording of a Buddhist chant.

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