Thailand Adventure--Day 7

Another long day was in store for us on the next leg of our journey through Thailand. We left at 7:30 after the usual hotel buffet breakfast. We'd lost three members of our entourage who had signed up for a shorter tour. Now we were only about 13 making our full-sized tour bus kind of ridiculous but certainly even roomier. Today, we mostly drove. With still a great distance to travel to get to the northern most parts of the country, we had a long way to go.

The country-side was very rural, mostly rice fields, some tended by farmers, all a lush, newly planted green. The flood that recently inundated the country washed away the crop that should be ripening about now so the farmers had replanted in hopes of a March/April harvest. Sadly, the forecast was for the El Niño effect influencing so much of the world weather right now, to drop more rain potentially ruining a second crop in a row. We experienced rain on and off throughout our trip. Nothing that caused us any trouble but enough to cause local concern since this was supposed to be the dry season.

Anil, our courier, spent a lot of time explaining Thai religious traditions, day to day life, etc. He was a fount of information and had ways to make comparisons with our own culture so that, whatever he was trying to explain, it was much easy to understand. He had statistics and facts at his fingertips. Amazing.

The Thai language is based on the languages of Sanskrit, Mon and Khamir. Anil helped the time fly by giving us lessons on the bus to help us better understand this complex language. Perhaps the most interesting and difficult part to understand was that a particular word's meaning is changed by the way you subtly pronounce it, a lift at the end or a dip can completely change the meaning. That could get you in a world of trouble! And the lettering of their alphabet looks nothing at all like our own english alphabet. Add to that the accent marks placed above and or below the writing and, well, I don't understand how anyone could possibly master the Thai language.

We did make occasional stops at roadside gas stations which also hadconvenience shops, bathrooms and a few street food vendors. We tried various local concoctions like Pomelo candies, mochi, snacks in little chip type bags that would surprise you with extruded spirals or chip-shaped dried and salted fruit, seaweeds, and various local foods. Mostly delicious and exotic, we all had fun sharing our little discoveries with each other. Anil also bought things he would share with us then, when we said we'd like to buy some to take back home, he invariably said that it was only available in that little locale so we couldn't get anymore. Agriculture is king in much of Thailand. The tropical climate allows multiple seasons for growing rice, bananas, mango, coconut, tamarind, coffee, corn, oranges, pomelo, mangosteens, papaya, tomatoes, chilies of all sorts, tapioca, which is made from the root of that plant, and many things for which I have no word to name or describe. The list goes on and on.

In front of nearly every house or business is a raised platform usually with two shrines placed on it.

One with a single pedestal, that is the taller of the two, is for the spirit of the house. The other with four legs is for the family's ancestors. Offerings of food are placed there. Inside will be little statues of animals and people. The spirit house usually looks like the real house. Where it is specifically placed on your land is very important. A Brahmin priest must be brought in to tell you where to put it.

Our destination today was Sukhothai (soo-koh-TIE) another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the first capital of Thailand. The name is translated First Dawn of Happiness. This is where the tribes of Thailand first came together to create this lovely country.

We stopped at a Big C for lunch.

It is a local chain which apparently bought out the French Carrefour chain a few years ago. They had a food court inside where you bought a pre-paid card and then walked from stall to stall picking out what you wanted. We bought 6 chicken satays, our favoritepapaya salad plate, a bowl of duck soup with won ton and an iced chocolate drink and only spent $3.It was a feast for a king. Unbelievable! The store itself sold

anything you could want, from cameras to toothpicks, cosmetics to cucumbers. Quite a place.

We arrived in Sukhothai and spent an hour and a half on a walking tour of the ancient 10th century temples now in ruins but still stunningly beautiful. Water was also everywhere in the form of canals, lakes and ponds. Lilies of all varieties flourish in these waters.

At one point we spotted a group of school children out on a fieldtrip. They happily posed for our cameras while their teachers stood close by watching.

The temple ruins expose the inner construction of these sites.

Made primarily of red bricks, the buildings

originally would have then been covered with plaster and decorated.

Our hotel was a welcome final stop for our day. The Legendha Sukhothai, Thai Village Hotel, was set amid lush tropically landscaped grounds. Our rooms were lovely. Polished hardwood floors and thatched roofs. Right outside our door was a beautiful infinity pool where I headed as soon as I could and enjoyed the cooling, pristine water.

We had spent so much time grazing along our travels today that I didn't feel hungry at all. So, we spent time in the pool, read and relaxed before heading off to bed. Tomorrow, we head further north toward the Thai border with Mayanmar (Burma).