I don't know what it is about the bustling city of Bangkok that makes us feel so happy. I don't think it's just because you can get such delicious food around the clock, or have broken conversations with smiley hospitable locals. It could be that it's a place we associate with meeting family, but whatever it is Amelia and I have fallen in love with the place and are always glad to be there. Sadly we could only afford two nights in our favourite city before heading northwards for the second time. We managed to strike lucky with our hotel (called 'House of Phraya Jasaen'), the deal we found on Agoda included eighty percent discount and a free massage (which turned out to be the best Thai massage I've had to date!). The room we were able to choose in the very quirky hotel was simply named 'circle room', for the reason being almost everything in the room was circular, including the bed!
We squeezed in as much as possible during our brief visit, including a quick trip to MBK mall (the mecca of fake goods) for a replenishment of worn out underwear and broken gadgets. We even made sure to visit our favourite restaurant too (Tealicious) which has some of the best Thai food we've ever had - Amelia and I both inhaled their delectable duck red curry followed by a mango sticky rice. The only thing we didn't achieve on our plan was a climb to the top of an abandoned sky scraper in Bangkok. A quick google of 'Sathorn Unique Skyscraper' returns an abundance of ghost stories and conflicting reports about the legalities of entering. Thai's are extremely superstitious and believe the building is haunted. From what I understand the construction project was suddenly abandoned due to the collapse of the Thai Baht during Asia's 1997 financial crisis. Unsure of what to believe, we decided to see if we could enter the huge eerie building. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it, we couldn't enter. Either way we didn't want to trespass and risk being 'banged up abroad'!

To reach Sukhothai, we caught a day train from Bangkok to the nearest station (Phitsanulok). From the train station we squeezed into a tuk tuk (with two other backpackers!) and travelled about 10 minutes to a bus stop.
The distance between Phitsanulok and Sukhothai is fifty kilometres - a journey that would take the best part of a day in Myanmar! On the decent Thai highways, with a typical Thai 'peddle to the metal' driving style, it took us less than a couple hours.
With the aid of our GPS app and a friendly bus conductor, we managed to save some pennies on a tuk tuk fare and hop off near our hotel. As it was Christmas Amelia's dad (thanks David) spoilt us to a fancy hotel for the few nights we were in Sukhothai. The hotel ('Scent of Sukhothai') was nestled outside the ancient walls, but was within just a short bike ride from the main area.
After settling in, Amelia and I decided to spend the remainder of the day enjoying the hotel's swimming pool whilst also doing our best to catch up on the blog - being constantly on the move in Myanmar meant we barely had anytime to put pen to paper, so to speak.
Uncharacteristically (for Thailand), we struggled to find a decent place to have our dinner that night. The hotel didn't offer dinner and their recommended nearby restaurants were empty. So we were left with no choice but to hop on some bikes and cycle to the main strip for street food.

It was a slow start to our Christmas Eve in Sukhothai. But as it was 'the season' we made sure to overindulge on the hotel's buffet breakfast!
Sukhothai's ancient park is inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list for its cultural and historical significance. As of 2015 the park was divided into three parts (central, north and west), which means you can no longer visit all under one ticket. We decided, after a month of looking at ancient Buddhist temples in Myanmar, to purchase the main central entrance ticket and play it by ear.
Although they are of a different era, the ruins of Sukhothai are very similar to its replacement, Ayutthaya (which we visited back in June). But because Ayutthaya is a feasible day trip from Bangkok it's fairly busy. In contrast, Sukhothai is harder to reach making it far less crowded, and in our opinion a much nicer place to explore. Despite being the 'cool season' our day exploring the alluring temples of Sukhothai was sweltering! By midday we decided that we'd perspired enough to warrant a nice coconut and a bite to eat! Unfortunately options for eating were as limited as the previous evening, but we were beckoned into a roadside eatery by a Thai lady screaming "welcome kaaa!!" (as a sign of politeness Thai women say ka at the end of pretty much every sentence).
After a few hours relaxing by the pool in the afternoon and adding entries to the blog, we decided to return to the historical park for sunset. The name Sukhothai means 'the dawn of happiness' but we were undoubtably content with seeing the day turn to dusk and keeping our alarms well and truly silenced during our pleasant stay at the Scent of Sukhothai.

Christmas Day wasn't the festive occasion we craved. Amelia and I started the day with noodles for breakfast, and continued with sticky rice and barbecued chicken satay for lunch and red curry for dinner. Despite going green with envy, the highlight of our day was hearing our family and friends' plans. Hearing what we were missing out on certainly made us pine to be home - It's the third Christmas (2nd consecutively) I've been away, and I must admit it's not easy! If only teleportation was reality.
Even though we both felt a little homesick we made sure to enjoy our day in the best way possible. We got ourselves a few beers and frolicked by the poolside in the glorious sunshine. We had a fun day, but we both definitely know where our hearts lie during Christmas..

As we left Sukhothai on Boxing Day and made our way towards Chiang Mai, I hoped and clenched that we would not be 'bumping' into Rihanna again..