After breakfast, we would tour more temples and then hit the road North. The owner at Pae Krung Kao insisted that Kasma bring our group back this morning for breakfast, so we set aside our hotel buffet coupons and loaded back into the vans. We would feast on numerous bowls of congee (rice porridge).
Wait — was that a verb-subject mismatch? The feasting actually involved various strongly flavored side dishes served with the porridge: a salad of salted duck eggs with pickled mustard greens; grilled garlic pork; mild pickled radish squares with egg; pieces of deep fried crispy salted fish (meat and bones); and morning glories stir fried in a mild bean sauce. I asked for an extra order of the crispy fish, and it did not go to waste. After filling up on congee, we received individual bowls of dessert noodles: soft, fat rice noodles in a sweet cold sauce.
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More Ruins
Our first stop was the former forest monastery Wat Chai Mongkol, which was spared much of the deliberate destruction inflicted on the other Ayutthaya temples. A small family participated in a blessing ceremony, and then draped the reclining Buddha with glittering gold cloth (with assistance from a nun and her staff). Tour guides speaking a variety of tongues described the spirit house dedicated to deceased children. Stuffed animals with large, anthropomorphic faces grinned from their plastic bags inside the spirit house. A particularly fat Buddha was flanked on each side by a pig. It’s a fun temple, with a bit of shopping out front to boot.
The more serious shopping — and snacking — would take place at our next step. Wat Phra Mongkol Bophit is a modern temple adjacent to the ruins of Wat Si Sawai. The large Buddha here survived being burnt and was discovered to be hollow and contain numerous smaller Buddha images. In the adjacent marketplace we sampled two kinds of deep fried crispy fish skins, crispy fish skeletons, and a local dessert named roti sai mai. You start with a crepe flavored/scented/colored with the extract of pandan leaves (somewhat like a stretchy and lightly sweetened mu shu pancake), add threads of sugar, and roll into a tight cigar before eating. All empty calories, but not as overly sweet as it sounds.
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The Road to Sukhothai
This odd combination of snacks would have to tide us over until our surprisingly good “fast food” lunch. Kasma selected her favorites from the steam table of a Thai truck stop. These included a rich and smooth red curry fish mouse with dark leafy greens (hoa moke); a cassia leaf curry; catfish curry with lots of “lesser ginger” (gkrachai); crystal noodles (mung bean threads) stir fried with chicken and vegetables; a spicy shrimp dip with fried mullet, squares of cha om and egg, deep fried eggplant slices, various raw vegetables; and a bitter melon soup with beef; and slices of deep fried mudfish.
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There probably was something sweet as well, but up the road we stopped to sample fresh bananas, dried bananas, and banana chips. We also had sweets in the van, including rich sticky rice and coconut cakes in various vivid colors. It’s a miracle we have any appetite at mealtimes.
Sukhothai
Meaning Dawn of Happiness, Sukhothai was the first unified kingdom in Thailand. It eventually ceded power to Ayutthaya, and that might explain why it was spared much of the destruction visited on Ayutthaya. Still, as the center of power moved South, eventually to Bangkok, the main temple complex fell into disrepair and we can only imagine it in its full glory. We’ll go do that first thing in the morning.
The hotel where I had stayed on my previous visits closed down, so Kasma now stays at the Pailyn Sukhothai Hotel, which is closer to the ruins. Confusingly, I found two different sets of air conditioning controls in the room. While I was trying to figure it out, the guy who brought up my bags pointed to the in-room system and remote. The wi-fi works only in the lobby, so mosquito repellent is recommended.
Dinner in Town
We dined at a modest establishment that delivered big flavors. Our lemongrass salad really packed a powerful lemongrass punch, as though we were eating and smelling lemongrass for the first time. Thin slices of catfish were coated with a delicious glaze-like sweet and spicy chilli sauce. Ivy gourd leaves (dtam leung) were cooked with mild ground pork in a light sauce flavored with fermented soybeans. The curried cockles (blood clams), chopped pork with kaffir lime shreds, and chicken (roughly chopped through the bone) were good, too, if less transcendent.
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For the first time in a while we do not have to get up early to re-pack in the morning. Instead, we’ll have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and then head North to take in traditional weaving, a village known for mud-washed textiles, and perhaps for me the most anticipated item, delicious Sukhothai-style hot and sour noodles. I’d better set the alarm now.
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