"Ralf, tell me, what kind of hotel do you get for 12 dollars?"
To satisfy your curiosity I am staying in one now.
The advantages are cost, and location. It is 12 dollars a night, and it is a 5 minute walk from the center of Sukhothai, a great location. Another plus is a very good wifi connection in my room.
The room is very clean, I have a private bathroom with a shower. The shower has no temperature control, it is simply there to control the water flow. The water is room temperature, which can be refreshing. No soap, no shampoo, but there is toilet paper.
The air conditioning unit works very well.
The word basic comes to mind when I describe my furniture. It is minimal, one very large bed, a coat rack, which becomes important, and a bookcase. The bed is huge, I am sure a family of four could sleep in it comfortably, if they are Japanese. The only problem is that it takes up 80% of the room. The mattress is another matter. It is about an inch and a half thick, and I have never seen a foam mattress like it. Hard is too kind a word. I lifted one corner, and it was like lifting a sheet of plywood, no sag. I am sure that if you dropped an egg on it it would break, rather than bounce.
It is formfitting as long as your body is perfectly flat.
I understand that two kinds of people like this kind of firmness, the Japanese and dead people. I am, unfortunately, neither.
Surprisingly I slept fairly well.
Another challenge in my room are the electrical outlets, which I need to recharge my iPad. iPod, and my camera batteries. I have two outlets, both situated halfway up the wall, beside the door. The difficulty I have is that my charging cables aren't long enough to reach the floor, and the plugs aren't strong enough to stay in, when the tablets are attached to it. Here is where the coat rack comes in. I moved it near the outlets, hung a bag from one of the hooks, attached the items, put them in the bag, and then hung the bag from the coatrack. Works perfectly.
I spent a good part of the day visiting the Historical Park of Sukhothai. Before the 13th century what is now Thailand was a series of city states, dominated by the Khmer empire, centred at Angor Wat, in Cambodia. At this time several Thai rulers combined their forces and pushed the Khmer out of Thailand. They established their capital at Sukhothai, and ruled for about 150 years, when the Burmese invaded and defeated the Thai. Sukhothai was abandoned. It was not restored until after WW2. The present day city of Sukhothai is about 12 km from the ruins.
The best way to see the site is to take a local "bus" to the site. These buses are basically pickup trucks, with an extended back, so that up to 30 people can be squeezed in, a row down each side, and a board down the middle. No padding. But it only costs a buck for a half hour ride.
The original city was quite large, it covered 70 square kilometres. There are two parts to the site, an inner walled part, and the outskirts, what used to be the suburbs. The only buildings restored are the almost 200 temples and other religious statues. No other buildings survived, because they weren't made of stone. The most sensible way to see the sites, especially the outer ones is to rent a bicycle (1 dollar) and pedal away.
The inner city is very beautiful, lots of canals, with purple lilies floating in the water. The site is well maintained, and because of the size, not overcrowded. The statues are different from the Khmer temples at Angkor Wat, they are more graceful, and pleasing to the eye.
The other nice thing is that even though it was a hot day, there was a lovely breeze. I spent about 3 hours pedalling away, and once you went outside there were very few other tourists. I stopped in a little village, that had some cattle. Aside from the peaceful atmosphere there wasn't a lot to see. Most of the structures were similar, and not that impressive. The inner city was much more impressive.
I did the tour in about 3 hours, and only fell down twice, both times after I had stopped, and tried to dismount. My big fat tourist ass was caught by the saddle. And I landed lying on the ground. No injuries, just embarrassing.
I took the bus back, and had a rest. That went well, but I did wake up once with a painful cramp. The old body isn't what it used to be.
Ralf
One of three furniture items in my room. It came in handy when I charged my iPad
The main temple in the walled city
The most graceful statue I have seen so far
A slim graceful Bhudda
I love the water buffalo
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