We left Kauchanaburi and drove across the Central Plains to Phitsanulok. In terms of accomodation we went from the cor blimey to the sublime and booked ourselves into the poshest hotel in town. Mind you it took over an hour to find it in the steamy streets.
Our drive up took us through the Thai countryside which was beautiful with a slight misty haze over the crops which for you geographers included maize, sugar cane stands, papya tree groves, mile upon mile of rice paddy fields - Thailand being the rice basket for all of South East Asia.
Thailand is an enigma - it is very traditional with its reverence for the king and strict cultural norms, the Thais are very religious in their worship of Buddha, it is very modern in the tourist areas and spotlessly clean virtually everywhere and yet there are many very poor people, particularly the further north one travels and finally there is the frequent sight of old buggers with girls young enough to be their granddaughters.
Although we were warned not to drive here the driving we have seen so far seems to us to represent the Thai phrase 'jai yen' which roughly translated means ' cool heart'. They are not supposed to show irritation and try to avoid confrontation which makes for very pleasant driving except in the towns where the mopeds and motorbikes buzz about like swarms of bees. So far I have avoided colliding with anyone!
Finally with happy memories of Malaysia the hawker stalls still give the best quality food and value for money. Breakfast for me today was rice and chicken with hot chilli sauce - lovely
Tomorrow we are off to see a couple of Wats.
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