Thai statues (part 1)

[mistress_elaine]

About half a year ago, I posted a previous incarnation of these photos to a travel photo community and made the terrible mistake of calling the statues and their background tacky. In the discussion which followed, I tried to explain to a South East Asian girl that to my rather austere eyes (hey, I'm from a Protestant country!), the combination of

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[mistress_elaine]

According to Lonely Planet it's Sukhothai, with two Hs. Which means I've been misspelling it for the past few weeks, as well.

Sadly, I never made it to Sukhothai. I had to choose between Ayuthaya and Sukhothai, and since I was a little strapped for time, I picked Ayuthaya, which fitted better into my itinerary. I later came to regret that decision, as I kept meeting people who said Sukhothai was much more beautiful than Ayuthaya. Still, I enjoyed Ayuthaya quite a bit, as well.

I also liked Chiang Mai a lot. I took a one-day Thai cooking course there, which was a lot of fun, had a lot of clothes made and developed quite a taste for the banana roti sold at the night market. I really missed the roti when I left Chiang Mai. However, I'll mostly remember the city for the football game I watched there -- Holland v. Argentina at the 1998 World Cup. It was one of the most nerve-racking matches I've ever seen, but we won, in the end. I'm hoping for a similar outcome when Holland take on Argentina at this year's World Cup next week.

When were you in Thailand?

[mistress_elaine]

OK, one more vote for Sukhothai. Duly noted. I'll definitely go there when I go back to Thailand, whenever that may be. I'm itching to go back to Burma, as well (mostly to see the Mrauk U temples), so one of these years, I'll just have to make another tour of South East Asia.

God, yes, the ladyboys. I got rather fed up with everybody talking about them. Steered well clear of the ladyboy part of Bangkok and headed for the temples instead. And the restaurants, obviously, because I just love Thai food.

As for Asians and their photos, yes, they're bizarre that way, aren't they? I know exactly two Asians who take pictures without people in them: my Korean roommate from my first year in Taiwan and her brother. My roommate told me her whole family thought she and her brother were mad for taking the kind of photos they did. To make matters worse, she refused to wear any make-up, to her mother's dismay, so she really was an unusual Korean girl.

Did you visit any Khmer temples while you were in Thailand?