Phitsanulok & Sukhothai, Buddhism & Temples (San Miguel Pale Pilsen)

The bus from Bangkok even had a air-hostess. Now that's another first

In-flight meal included. VIP travel or what

A little easier than our arrival in Bangkok, we headed straight for the Lithia Guest House in the centre of town and managed to check in immediately. A great room as well. Spotless with free Wi-Fi, cable TV and breakfast included. A few of days of luxury that was much needed after weeks on the islands living in squalor.

For once we arrive with no problems

More luxurious than it looks, we even had hot water WOW!

Breakfast included even though the toast was like cardboard. They must of thought I was on a diet

Phitsanulok was a great place to spend some time. It was off the beaten trail and allowed us to see the real Thailand. The small town was built on the river with a local market that was open all day and night with amazing food stalls. We even tried a different not Thai beer San Miguel Pale Pilsen. I know it’s Spanish but it is brewed in Thailand and it is very difficult to order something else from a San Miguel Beer Girl.

The towns central round-about paying homage to the Royal's

Overlooking the river that runs through Phitsanulok



Great Markets for the locals



Not so sure about this food offering

The sausages were pretty impressive

SAN MIGUEL BEER, PALE PILSEN, PHILIPPINES, 5% ABV

San Miguel Brewery Inc brews and distributes San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen, which is the Philippines’ Number 1 beer and a leading brand in Hong Kong and South China. The trade name San Miguel is from the district of San Miguel in Manila as well as originating in the local brewery of San Miguel, Barcelona, Spain. It is one of the world’s largest-selling beers and is among the top 20 beer brands in the world. Its products include San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen, San Miguel Light, San Miguel Super Dry, San Miguel Strong Ice, San Miguel Premium Lager, Red Horse Extra Strong Beer and Cerveza Negra.

 

In Thailand the San Miguel Pale Pilsen is brewed and distributed by San Miguel Beer Thailand Ltd. The beer itself had a dull golden colour with a thin rapidly vanishing head. Little lacing on the branded glass but did have a pleasant barley aroma. The flavour started out OK, quite sweet with a little hoppy bitterness but the aftertaste and finish was quite metallic. Not really what I would call a Pilsner but not completely at a loss. I wouldn’t rush out in a huge effort to track it down. Overall the Pale Pilsen is a standard mainstream low quality lager beer.

San Miguel Pale Pilsen on the river bank

Chang Bottled Water. They're all at it!

Phitsanulok also has a famous temple called Wat Yai. It is regarding as having one of the most beautiful Buddha images in Thailand.

Passing the Day Market towards the Temple

Wat Yai

The walk of the Buddha's

Exquisite...

As well as the sights and our visit to Sukhothai which will follow a little later, Phitsanulok will also be remembered for a fascinating group of people that we met and enjoyed some meals and stimulating conversations with. They were two ladies and a gentleman from Russia who were Buddhists and had been travelling so far for six whole years. Quite remarkable really and some of their tails were from parts of the world you just wouldn’t think of travelling. They had all sorts of ideas about how to earn money while travelling and they actually played the stock-market. They even offered to teach us how to meditate but we never got around to it. They were lovely and so helpful with tips. It just isn’t everyday that you meet a group of people that are, Buddhists, economists, psychologists and Russian Snipers all rolled into one.

With Sukhothai being only one hour away by public transport we decided on a day trip out to the old town that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once there we hired bicycles and set out to explore the ancient temples in the Historical Park.

Arriving at Sukhothai & not the amazing Thai Restaurants in Leeds (UK) it was 1 reason we had to visit

By-cycles Rented & Good to Exploire History

Sukhothai’s ancient city is amazingly well preserved and beautiful. It is of no wonder that the name means ‘Rising Happiness’ and is regarded as the blossoming of a Thai artistic sensibility.

The Old Historical Site. Just a fraction of the old town of Sukhothai

Amazing stone sculptures at every turn

I will try not to comment on every picture but the place is extrodinary

Definitely worth the trip

Entertaining myself as always

Sukhothai is considered to be the first independent Thai Kingdom and it emerged as the Khmer empire was crumbling in the 13^th century and ruled over parts of the empire’s western frontier for 150 years. The ruins of the old city are said to be a mini-version of the architectural temples found at Angkor in Cambodia. We will wait to make a judgement on that until we get to Anchor Wat in the coming months. One thing can be said and that is Sukhothai has a pleasant collection of gravity-warped columns, serene Buddha statues and Orchid shaped towers.

Hopping on & off you even had to chain up the pink bike

Map of Sukhothai Historical Park

Built around beautiful gardens & lakes

The famous Golden Hand Buddha & a Buddhist Monk. Quite fitting

A great sight to behold

Show me the hand...

Nearly time to move on

The place is fantastic and has turned out to be the highlight of Thailand so far.

That's us if your wondering & it's time to return the by-cycles

A must visit destination if you are ever in Thailand & not too far from Bangkok

Leaving Sukhothai back to Phitsanulok before heading to Chiang Mai

Just for goog measure we are packed in the back of a pick-up on the school run being unbelievably over priced

With just three weeks in Thailand before heading into Laos we have tried to experience different areas to give us a little taste from the southern beaches to the capital and now part of central Thailand. Next on the hit list is the city of Chiang Mai a northern province.