It's a long drive north from Kanchanaburi to Sukothai. New Sukothai is a small,bustling Thai city; rather down at heel we thought, with not much to capture a tourists attention on first sight.Hence we decided to stay 12kms west in Old Sukothai, the World Heritage designated site of the Capital of the Thai Empire, founded in 1238. Guesthouses are cropping up all around the area now but the place is generally lacking any decent restaurants and bars. Early night central! We did enjoy bird watching in the neighbourhood and the following day we were able to explore the whole Sukothai Historical Park by bicycle; which was fun. The ruins are impressive but not on anywhere near as grand a scale as Angor Wat.
The following day we drove to Chaing Mai and after some missed turns ,we found our way to the RCN Court and Inn, where Lisa and Dave were waiting for us.
Location is important when staying in Chaing Mai and I would definitely recommend being within the old city walls. The old city is a bit of a rabbit warren, so I have no idea what corner we were in, but if you are looking for a guesthouse stay near Wat Lam Chang. Soi 7 , Moon Muang Rd.
There are plenty of great restaurants and shops nearby. Chaing Mai is a walking city but the Song Chews and Tuk Tuks are really cheap, so you are never too far away from where you need to be. In fact Chaing Mai is much cheaper than Phuket for most things.
Poor Lisa had broken her foot and was pretty much confined to bed in their 3rd floor room. We went out with Dave or on our own but headed back to RCN to drink Sang Som and diet coke for sundowners with Lisa every evening. We ate the local speciality Khao Soi, yellow egg noodles and creamy curry on our first night.
On day 2 we spent a day walking around the old city doing all the Temples, interspersed with shopping, lunch and massage. There are some very interesting corners of the Old City and its worth being on your feet all day.We ate great Indian food before heading to the nightlife area near Tha Phae Gate. On Loi Kroh it was rather more stop-stop than go-go!
The next day we walked to Chaing Mai's Municipal Market for hours of discovery and photo ops. This may be the best local wet market we have ever visited; a fascinating look into life in Thailand and very untouristy. Not so the Night Market we visited later but we did find the Boys Blues Bar, upstairs in a covered market for the best live music in Chaing Mai. Of course, in our opinion no place in Thailand can rival Phuket for nightlife but Chaing Mai has some great restautants and clubs and an amazing coffee culture scene.
The following day we drove to Chaing Mai and after some missed turns ,we found our way to the RCN Court and Inn, where Lisa and Dave were waiting for us.
Location is important when staying in Chaing Mai and I would definitely recommend being within the old city walls. The old city is a bit of a rabbit warren, so I have no idea what corner we were in, but if you are looking for a guesthouse stay near Wat Lam Chang. Soi 7 , Moon Muang Rd.
There are plenty of great restaurants and shops nearby. Chaing Mai is a walking city but the Song Chews and Tuk Tuks are really cheap, so you are never too far away from where you need to be. In fact Chaing Mai is much cheaper than Phuket for most things.
Poor Lisa had broken her foot and was pretty much confined to bed in their 3rd floor room. We went out with Dave or on our own but headed back to RCN to drink Sang Som and diet coke for sundowners with Lisa every evening. We ate the local speciality Khao Soi, yellow egg noodles and creamy curry on our first night.
On day 2 we spent a day walking around the old city doing all the Temples, interspersed with shopping, lunch and massage. There are some very interesting corners of the Old City and its worth being on your feet all day.We ate great Indian food before heading to the nightlife area near Tha Phae Gate. On Loi Kroh it was rather more stop-stop than go-go!
The next day we walked to Chaing Mai's Municipal Market for hours of discovery and photo ops. This may be the best local wet market we have ever visited; a fascinating look into life in Thailand and very untouristy. Not so the Night Market we visited later but we did find the Boys Blues Bar, upstairs in a covered market for the best live music in Chaing Mai. Of course, in our opinion no place in Thailand can rival Phuket for nightlife but Chaing Mai has some great restautants and clubs and an amazing coffee culture scene.
Sukothai
Chaing mai Market
Boys Blues bar
Clowning around with David and Lisa
.JPG)
