Sawtdeekha everyone- this is Emma here, writing as the designated blogger this week from a small internet cafe in Sukothai, Thailand. We arrived here yesterday afternoon and already have made many great memories in the last 24 hours at this new place! Today was a day full of unexpected rain, joy and lots of laughter. It is definitely one we will never forget!
We left Chiang Mai yesterday morning, after our last rest day there the day before. It’s hard for all of us to believe that we will not be returning to that bustling city; we have come to know it well an all have our favorite spots for mango sticky rice, delicious fruit smoothies, and the best coconut ice cream in the world. Its safe to say that we’ll miss the food the most. We celebrated Leanna’s 19th birthday on March 20, celebrating with amazing vegetarian sandwiches, some well thought out gifts and snacks, and an entertaining night of karaoke in a very interesting mall. It was a good day, and we left the city with great memories and excited attitudes as we headed onto the next place. Yesterday we had a 5 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to Sukothai, on which we chatted, napped and tried to catch up on journaling and reading.
We arrived here in the early afternoon, and checked in to our cute hostel, a place nestled on a narrow side street in the new city part of Sukothai. Yesterday was by far the hottest day we have experienced so far, and we’ve had a lot of sweltering days. The humidity was so dense that we were drenched as soon as we left the air conditioned bus, and the sun was blazing hot by mid morning. And it will only get hotter from here. After depositing our bags in our rooms and unwinding a bit from the bus ride, we caught 2 Tuk Tuks to a local pool, where we spent the afternoon cooling off from the intense heat. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon, and we stayed there until right before dinner time, when we walked to a nearby street market to get food. We are obsessed with markets, and as usual we found great deals, got way too much food, and felt full but extremely happy afterwards. We ended the night with cold showers and Julia reading our group book aloud, everyone strugging to keep cool.
To our surprise, it cooled off overnight, and it stayed that way. We all expected it to get to unbearably high temperatures today, but to all of our shock, the day was overcast and cool. Keep in mind that since we have arrived in Thailand, it has been consistently hot and sunny every single day, so any change in the weather was extremely exciting for all of us. It ended up being a perfect day to explore the ancient ruins of Sukothai. It is a place rich with history- Thailand’s original capitol city- and we rented bikes early, and spent the morning biking around the beautiful temples. We stopped at each wat, taking in the splendor and ancient, quiet beauty of the place, and were overjoyed when we began to feel raindrops! Who knew how much a few drops of water could bring us joy! The sky was cloudy for a while as we biked around, and we felt a few sprinkles here and there,but as we got to one wat, it began to completely downpour. Within minutes the ten of us were shrieking and galloping with joy. We ran around and frolicked in the rain, even turning on music and having an impromptu dance party by an ancient temple. That is something we will never forget. Those are the best moments on this trip; the moments that are unexpected and unplanned, when we are thoroughly in the moment, taking in the utter joy of being in such an amazing place with incredible people.
After the brief and wonderful rainstorm, we continued to bike around, stopping to eat at some road side stands, before heading back into the park for some group reading time. We have been reading “The Road of Lost Innocence” by Somaly Mam, a Cambodian woman who escaped the world of Sex Trafficking and is now a huge advocate for young girls who are still caught up in that horrible life. It is a riveting true story of her life, equally sad and inspiring, and we often spend our group time being read aloud to by Julia. Today we found a shady spot by a peaceful pond, and we all laid on the grass as Julia read us three chapters. It is a good book to be reading at this time, as we will be entering Cambodia sometime within the next two days. Our time in Thailand is quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow and the next day we will travel all day by bus, hopefully arriving in Siem Reap by the evening of March 24th. It is hard to believe that we are half way done with our journey, but we are all excited to see a new country and experience the different culture of Cambodia. Thailand has been good to us, and we are leaving it with countless memories that will stay with us from years to come.
As always our group is positive and excited, enjoying every moment here, an looking forward for what is to come next. Our next stop is the ancient holy site of Angkor Wat, which we are stoked about seeing in a few days. There will be more updates coming soon! We hope this blog post finds all of you happy and healthy back in the US (and Canada!), and we’re sending love back home.
Leanna and I (Emma) pose in front of the ruins
Karenna and Leanna in one of the temples
The group (minus Julia, who was playing photographer) riding around on bicycles
Beautiful ruins and dark rain clouds