Next I stop wasPhitsanulok, since Sukhotai was on my list to visit due to being a UNESCO heritage site and the only way to get there from Lop Buri is via Phitsanulok. Of course, you can take a direct bus from Bangkok. However, it does not have a railway running past it.
My trip started in Bangkok with stops at Ayutthaya and Lop Buri and next was Sukhotai. If you’re going from Bangkok that’s easy as you can get a direct bus there. I didn’t see such option from Lop Buri. I used https://12go.asia website to book most of bus tickets and check the schedules. Reading blog posts the only option was to go to Phitsanulok and take a bus or taxi from there. I was considering going by train to Nong To, but also after researching it seems it is a smaller town with less connections and even taxi might be difficult to catch. In Phitsanulok the Bolt taxi was working and taxi would have cost me 650-700 baht. If you prebook the taxi from websites like 12go asia it will be roughly a double price.
I honestly don’t know why I chose to stay in Phitsanulok as I have spent 230 baht for taxi to and from hotel and another 1500baht for hotel, which was quite fancy with excellent breakfast and I needed a good night sleep. The bus was another 117 baht.
I tried to catch the bus on the same day, but the only train available 2 weeks before by train was only 9:44 am departing Lop Buri and arriving 13:43 to Phitsanulok. The last bus was leaving at 14:30 (there are very few buses to Sukhotai early morning, around 11:00 pm and 14:30, but check the exact schedules), which didn’t give me enough time for error as the taxi around 30 min to transfer from train station to that bus terminal. Anyway, the train was delayed and I would have never made it
It took me around 5 hours by train to get to Phitsanulok from Lop Buri and it was delayed by one hour to arrive, due to running behind the schedule at the stops. Despite that, the train ride was interesting as I saw some interesting, huge Buddha statues and temples on my way through the train window (do make sure to sit on the left side of the train!).
One of those was Wat Khao Wongkot, which has a lying Buddha statue.
Another one was a big Buddha statue being renovated, just 2 minutes away on the train from Wat Khao Wongkot, but could not identify the place as it was zoomed with my camera from the train.
And another big Golden Buddha statues was an hour after that, which was also being renovated.
Yet another big Buddha statu after another two hours with an enlightenment halo.
After I got off in Phitsanulok train station I called Bolt. To my surprise Tesla Cybertruck came. First, I thought it must be a mistake, but it turns out it was it. That one was just awesome! I felt like I was in a tank and only 105 baht (~£2.5) for a 20 min ride. The funniest moment was when the driver was going behind a food cart and couldn’t overtake it for around 5 minutes on the road, so we had to go behind it very very slowly for those 5 minutes.
I should have taken a taxi when I arrived at Phitsanulok directly to Sukhotai and I would have saved at least a thousand baht and I would have avoided a crowded bus and that Tesla Cybertruck was so comfortable in comparison and with working AC!!! At least I was right not rely on the train schedule and to stay over in Phitsanulok and have a good rest, and in the morning take a bus to Sukhotai.
I arrived to a The Pride Hotel Phitsanulok, which was a relief staying in a simpler accommodations for few nights. The breakfast was very good and spacious room, though cleaning up the spider webs before each guest would be nice and it does need a new coat of paint on the walls.
After checking to my hotel in Phitsanulok, I went to a nearby shopping mall to buy some snacks for the bus next day. I must say, I was really impressed by it! It was huge and almost looked like IKEA, but just for food! Most of the things were sold in bulk and I needed just a little bit.
In the evening I could smell the burning grass in my hotel room and they say it is a non-smoking room and you breathe in the fume form outside. What an irony! Luckily it did not trigger the alarm in the room, but the smell was not very pleasant to experience. I guess that’s what you get when you come to Thailand in the grass burning season. Sometimes the smog is so strong that you cannot see the sun.
I could see the layer of white clouds through my window hanging above the trees.
It was a beautiful morning at Phitsanulok. I was worried that the taxi might take longer to arrive at the hotel, so I ordered while I was eating. It took around 12 minutes for it to arrive. The taxi car was very good and air conditioned again. I arrived on time to the bus station
On the bus ticket it said to check-in at least 30 min before departure, but I didn’t think it is very important and 10 minutes would have sufficed as it wasn’t busy at all, especially in the morning. Also, there are two bus terminals and this bus was leaving from Terminal 2. So be careful!
The bus arrived on time. It did look a bit rundown.
The bus left on time. The bag was stored inside of the bus as there is no storage under a bus as it is a double decker.
15min later we stopped at Old Terminal Intersection ( Phitsanulok Bus Terminal), where most people got in and it is much more central. I guess it is a better option to board here as the area around Bus Terminal 2 was really industrial and not much around there.
I thought I would have a company as a girl asked to sit by me as there were a lot of people boarding. However, the woman running the bus came and told her to go somewhere else upstairs. So now I am squeezed by a fat man smelling of garlic. There was some smell of food when I got in, but now it is a proper stench and that guy started snoring loudly now. Another man is having a terrible cough. Hope it is not tuberculosis or something else contagious. Just one more hour to go. At least plenty of leg space.
I am sorry for the bad layout as I am writing from my mobile. I will fix it when I get home.
Nice legs! (c) Michal
Sitting in feature estimation session and thinking of you, Gin *-:
Missed you too guys! Thanks for a comment!