Sukhothai and other things

View of Wat Sa Si over the lake

A dog hanging out in the ruins next to Wat Si Chum

Sam and Caroline in front of the 15 meter "talking Buddha" of Wat Si Chum. Legend says that the Buddha once spoke, inspiring the Sukhothai army to go to war. Later, a hidden passage leading to the Buddha's mouth was found...

Attempting to copy Buddha

Sam, Sam and Buddha "subduing Mara"

Buddha "subduing Mara"--one of the most common Buddha poses

Thai school kids paying tribute to one of the Buddhas in Wat Matathat

View of Wat Matathat, the central wat of Sukhothai

This past weekend I set off with two fellow farangs (foreigners) on my first out-of-Mae Sot adventure. We headed to Sukhothai, in central Thailand. Our journey began with a trip through the massive Mae Sot day market, already crowded at 630am, to find the minibus station tucked away behind some vegetable stalls. The minibus trip definitely reminded me of riding the Tanzanian daladala last summer—many people crammed into a small, hot minivan, winding roads, crazy driving. But as we sped out of Mae Sot, I was distracted by the beautiful surrounding area: rice paddies, cloud-covered hills, mountains in the distance. It was definitely a breath of fresh air after having spent a month in noisy Mae Sot.

During the ride, I was also made strikingly aware of the abundance of Thai police checkpoints on the highway. At least every 30 or 45 minutes, the minibus stopped at a checkpoint, where an officer would peer in through the windows and ask passengers for identification (but never from farangs). They mainly do this to catch illegal Burmese refugees—and on a couple of occasions, asked a passenger to leave the vehicle to be questioned, while the van sped off without him.

After a few hours, we arrived in Old Sukhothai. Sukhothai was the first capital of Siam (finally, a reference to my blog title!) and flourished from the mid-13th to the late 14th century. This period is viewed as the “golden age” of Thai civilization, during which classic Thai religious art and architecture flourished. The most famous king to reign during this period was King Ramkhamhaeng, who is credited with developing the first Thai script. Old Sukhothai is mainly made up of the vast Sukhothai Historical Park, which contains dozens of wat (temple) ruins within a fairly small radius. Caroline, Sam, and I spent the day checking out the museum and biking from wat to wat, admiring the 700-year-old stupas and Buddhas (check out my pictures). It was pretty awe-inspiring to be surrounded by the elaborate and extensive ruins of a once-flourishing civilization. That night, we wandered the park even more, when bright spotlights illuminated the temples and we seemed to be the only tourists around. It was pretty incredible.

Back in Mae Sot, I feel that I have truly been getting into the swing of things. I now know the best food stalls to get pad thai, kao mun gai (chicken on rice cooked in chicken fat…yum), sum tum (papaya salad), and tom yam (lemongrass soup). After a few Thai lessons, I can even order meals in Thai! I have found ultimate scrimmages on Saturdays, trivia night on Tuesdays, yoga class across town, the tiny gym across the street, the air conditioned coffee shop, the best place to get a smoothie, and the shop near the office that sells banana chips—my favorite snack.

Still, Mae Sot remains a town where it is very easy to get lost in translation. This week we had internet set up at our house, but it required finding an internet handyman who could speak Burmese, since our landlord only speaks Burmese and English and needed to translate (His wife speaks Thai but not English…I’m still not sure how they communicate). Somehow, with three separate visits and a lot of confusion, internet was successfully installed. But it just demonstrates how many languages are prevalent in this area, and how difficult it can be to communicate with others.

At work, we have been busy preparing for the upcoming Village Health Worker trainings, which start in less than a week. Next Wednesday we’ll travel to Mae Sariang, in Northern Thailand, and the following week we’ll be in Noh Poe, a refugee camp in the South. In early November, I’ll be traveling to Chiang Mai to attend a 3-week Burmese language class with the rest of GHAP. I’m looking forward to traveling during the next few weeks, and I’ll try to post as I go!