So our tour of the north of thailand started on monday...i wasn't sure if was going to enjoy (being a bit of a pampered princess, saying that ive adapted well to this lifestyle) but it turned out to be loads of fun and cultural too!! On monday morning we had to be up really really early to catch the train from bangkok to pitsanoluk, this took about 5 hous. Trains are actually quite good over here...i was freezing though but that made a nice change!!! Got a meal on the train which was intersting-none of us seemed to kno what we were eating!! When we arrived in pitsanoluk we had our first encounter with the squat toilet which was DISGUSTING! Yuck, yuck, yuck!!! After that we all piled into a songthaew (a truck with benches in the boot-you certainly travel in style over here!!) there were 11 of us in one songthaew and it was like a bloody sauna!! So it was another 1 hour until we arrived in sukhothai, this is thailands first capital. We were staying at a place called guesthouse no.4, it was more like shack no.4!! When i first saw where i had to sleep for the next 2 nights i was mortified!! It was a little wooden shack with holes in the ceiling and walls, bugs everywhere (i had to shower with alizard one night) and the bathroom may as well have been outside coz it was just like showereing in public!! After i got over the initial shock it was quite funny!

Once we'd settled in it was off to a local pool for a well needed cool down!!! Was just soooooooo hot!!! This would've been nice had the pool water not been acidic!! All of us statred to stinging and then we saw a big container of HCl by the side of the pool!! Everyone quickly got out!! lol! Back at the shack we had a drink over looking the rice paddies just as the thuderstorm started! They're pretty amazing out here but i wasnt sure the little shack would survive!!! That night our host cooked our tea, traditional thai meal which was really yummy if a little too spicy! Who am i kidding my mouth was on fire!

Day 2 in sukhothai was another early morning! After breakfast we got back in the songthaew which took us to sukhothai historical park woop woop! We went on a bike ride around the park stopping to look at the temples and buddahs(seen so many now we've lost count!!) It was nice to be doing something other than sunbathing but that much activity in the heat was horrible plus i started feeling ill the night before so was hard work! We stopped for a picnic (thai food again) which again was nice but i was already getting a bit sick of rice, rice and more rice!!! Next stop was the ceramics factory which was as fascinating as it sounds!! That was the end of the bicycle ride and we headed back to our luxury shacks! After another trip to the acidic waters, we had thai massages! I'd never had a massage before so wasn't too sure what to expect, at first it was realy weird and we both found it funny!! But after a while we were v relaxed and nodding off! Thai massge is really weird though they use their elbows and feet and climb all over you bending your limbs in all directions fun times!! That evening we went into the town for tea, the restaurant we were meant to eat at was closed for new year (goes on forever here) so we went next door which would have been fine for us non-fussy brit girls but the Mrs NZ had other ideas so we eneded up across the road at a restaurant double the price(i'm still talkin like 2 quid a meal but still...) the snob lol!! Anyway food took forever and we ended up leaving before some people even ate...just shows!! That was the last night in sukhothai, next day we were off to lampang.