Basket.

Right... typing this from downtown Sukhothai. Just want to let everyone know that Roger, Elgin and me arrived safely and are having a ball of a time down here. Since I have time now and the Internet access here is really cheap... here are my journal entries relating our experiences so far.

DAY ONE

Somewhere in the sky
15/11/06, 11.50am SGT

Well, our trip is under way at last, after all the assorted scares, difficulties and frustrations. Normal though, all part of travel, all part of life. It is around two hours to Bangkok, and I've found that flying is no longer such an awful experience. I can even take the aircraft disinfectant smell, when it used to make me gag.

It is such a pity that Zihao cannot be with us. As so often happens, the practical course of action does not square with the desired, and in this case I am forced to admit that it was better for him, and for us, that he not come along. His health has to come as top priority.

I suppose that should be all for now. It has been a cramped, but uneventful flight. More, perhaps, when we get to Thailand.

Sukhothai
16/11/06, 12.50am local time

"Amazing" Thailand. Well, our first day has indeed been an amazing one - amazingly fortunate. It did not take long for us to discover our most elementary but potentially serious error: we had counted on landing at the wrong airport. Instead of Don Mueang, we touched down at Bangkok's spanking new but not quite completed international airport - fifty whole kilometres across the city.

A reasonably-priced taxi ride fixed the problem, but left us somewhat behind schedule. What it taught me, though, is that Thais have no time for basic traffic safety; changing lanes at will, overtaking fellow motorists whenever and wherever they feel like it - and I did not see a single motorcyclist wearing a helmet. Even the traffic policemen didn't. All this, they do at speeds in excess of 120 km/h. I laughed when I saw a road sign stating "60" as the speed limit because absolutely no one - not even th heaviest trucks - was following it. Our own taxi was going at twice that speed.

Soon enough (given such speeds, literally soon enough), we got to our destination, the bus terminal. And here came our first stroke of luck/sampling of legendary Thai hospitality. Our driver, after somehow believing that he could hypnotise us into paying him the outrageous sum of four thousand baht to send us to Sukhothai, turned incredibly helpful and helped us get tickets for the 3.30 coach there instead. Otherwise, I have no idea how we could have hurdled the language barrier.

Sometimes, having lived in Singapore all our lives, we just cannot perceive how large other countries can be. It takes us maybe an hour-and-a-half to get across Singapore island. Our coach trip from Bangkok to here took seven hours, and we felt every single minute.

Eventually, we arrived: at 11pm local time, dropped off in the middle of a deserted street. Prepared in the time-honoured SAF tradition to "bash" our way to somewhere to stay using only our wits and a compass, or sleep on the streets, we were saved from such abject destiny by yet another stroke of luck/extraordinary act of kindness. A middle-aged Thai woman actually approached us to ask where we were going, and got her husband to send us there in his pick-up. When we discovered on getting there that our guesthouse of choice was full, she actually then took the time together with her equally-obliging husband to help us source for one with vacancies. When we were on the point of giving up, and asked her to send us to the exorbitant Sukhothai Orchid, she dissuaded us and insisted on trying yet more guesthouses. Eventually we found one, reasonably comfortable and priced, and amazingly conveniently near the main bus terminal to boot. Without her help, I have no idea where and how we would have spent our first night in Thailand; ghostly wanderers in an unfamiliar land. Though she will not read this, we thank her from the very bottoms of our hearts and wish her well for now and always.

And so here we are now, settled for the time being. It is late and sleep beckons; this is certainly shaping up to be quite the holiday.


DAY TWO

Sukhothai
16/11/06, 4.30pm local time

Spent the entire day so far exploring historical Sukhothai, once capital of the eponymous kingdom. The modern town of Sukhothai is a typical rural small town, with its kindly folk, countless stray mongrels and rickety buses, but the splendour of the former capital is readily appreciable from the sheer number and scale of the ruins. Sukhothai, after all, was once a major regional power until the Khmers superseded it in the 14th century. It certainly shows - and I have plenty of excellent pictures. Maybe too many, because my camera is dangerously running low on battery.

Travel in Thailand, I have found, is actually pretty easy, at least on the local level. There will always be someone around who will approach you with an offer for a taxi or bus ride. Name a price, and you're off within minutes. They don't (always) try to shaft you, either. All in all, travel has been a rather pleasant experience.

We'll be leaving later, after the sun sets so that it is less hot, to look around modern Sukhothai. It ought to offer up a few delights itself.


For my travelmates' perspectives on our trip so far, and perhaps for more detailed accounts of our trials and tribulations to date, you may visit our travel blog.