After picking up our Vietnam visas at 9.45am (luckily the lady gave them to us fifteen minutes early), we had 65 minutes to get across the city to the train station, buy tickets, get food and get on the train.

Previous experience of getting taxis in Bangkok told us this wouldn't happen, as normally you have to argue with the taxi driver to get him to put the meter on, then explain to him how to get where you are going, as none of them seem to be able to read maps, and every journey seems to take an hour due to the traffic.

Sure enough he had no idea what I was saying (even though it is the city's main train station, and about five minutes later he pronounced the word exactly the same as we had. Not even the choo-choo noise gave it away!), but he got it when we pointed to signs for it, and we walked into the station just after 10am, bought tickets, got some sushi and donuts and boarded.

About seven hours later we got to Phitsanulok, a small city about an hour and a half's bus journey from Sukhothai.

The next day we made the journey to Sukhothai, founded in 1238 and capital (for 120 years) of the Thai kingdom that was considerably larger than Thailand is now. The historical park is an UNESCO World Heritage site, and every Thai person we spoke to said if you only have time to visit one of the ancient capitals, go to Sukhothai.

Arriving at the park, we visited the Ramkhamhaeng National Museum first, which was disappointing as it mostly told you about the geography of the area, rather than any history.  It did give us a good idea of the highlights of the park though, as well the size, as there is the main walled city where most of the highlights are, but there are also wats (temples) outside the main walls in every direction. The best way to get around we were told is by bike.  After trying out about ten different bikes each we set off, and even though we hadn't rode bikes for years we managed not to crash, despite the fact the brakes barely worked.

The main sites within the walls were Wat Mahathat (the city's biggest temple dating from the 13th century), Wat Sri Sawai (a three-pranged hindu / khmer style temple from the 12th century and one of the oldest structures in Sukhothai), and Wat Sa Sri. 

Outside of the walls we visited Wat Phra Phai Luang (which used to be the most important temple but is now mostly ruins except for one tower still standing), the fantastic Wat Si Chum (which is a massive seated Buddha surrounded by 3 metre thick walls, with a tunnel near the Buddha's head containing some pictures or text about Buddhism, though it's unfortunately closed to the public), and Wat Saphan Hin (a massive standing Buddha, about four kilometres from the centre of the park).

The ruins were less dramatic than Ayuthuya, probably because the city of Sukhothai is considerably older, but Sukhothai has a nicer feel to it as you are not surrounded by thousands of tourists, traffic, and a big modern town, like you are at Ayuthuya. 

Waiting for a bus back to Phitsanulok we got talking to two monks, only one of whom spoke a little English, who gave us a good fortune bracelet each.  They also let us have a picture with them, although we didn't want to ask if Allison could have her picture taken with them, as Monk's are not allowed to touch women,when giving her a bracelet he did it via a rock. Even on the bus they have to pass money to another man so he can pay the female conductor.

It was really nice to have some contact with these people, though we were a little unsure what to say when they asked our religion.  I explained we weren't religious and was handed a piece of paper with his name and address on, which I guess is in case we need some spiritual guidance.  Who knows, maybe we'll write to them.

After a few days of Buddha though we did feel a bit 'wat'ed out, so looked forward to relaxing in Chiang Mai, our next stop and a night train journey away.  We played cards in the hotel to waste away the three hours before our train left at 12.30am.  At nearly 2am we boarded and got off six hours later in Chiang Mai.