To leave Pai, I took the Mini-Van of Death back through the mountains to Chiang Mai, at which point I boarded a bus for Phitsanilok, close to Sukhothai. At first, I thought the bus company people kept saying "Pizza/Noodle", to which I would answer "Pizza". Only later, when the food did not get served, did I realize that they were saying the name of my destination. To add insult to injury, the bus stopped at a roadside food stand long enough to for the driver to get some food, but alas, none for Conrad. About an hour outside of Phitsanilok, I realized that the bus had in fact come the opposite direction than I had expected, and was now travelling through Sukhothai. After a moments hesitation, I decided to save myself a needless back track, and hopped out.

Next, I jumped into a saamlaw, basically like the tuk-tuk, except that the passengers sit in the front. I quick jaunt found me at my guest house, the Garden House. After checking in, I had quick wander Sukhothai, and realized that there wasn't much of interest to tourists aside from the ruins outside of town. A dirty canal, the ever-present market, and lots of stray dogs.

The next day, while waiting for Norm, I had a chat with Wanchai, a Thai pharmacist who hung out at the guest house to practice his English with the tourists. Norm showed up with a rental car, which had apparently been a bit of an ordeal to rent. We were to see the ruins the following day, so I showed him the immediate sights to kill some time. During this little hike, we had the fortune to meet a dog with its scrotum torn open, and seeming not to mind at all. Perhaps its a cultural thing. We kept running into this thing everytime we walked around town, somehow ending up walking behind it and not knowing where to look.

On December 18th, we struck out for Sukhothai Historical Park, where we rented bikes and had a look around. Sukhothai was Thailand's first capital, having its heyday around the 13th and 14th century. The site is centred around a walled city, and various ruins spread out from there about 5 km in each direction, hence the need for the bicycles. We toured around the central bit, then left the central city to view ruins in the outskirts. While en route, I startled a stray dog sleeping at the side of the road. In its confusion, it leapt out of my way, straight into the path of a careening dump truck. After hearing the sickening thud and crunch of the dog richocheting between pavement and chassis, I watched in horror as the truck sped off, and the dog continued sliding along the road. It yelped and thrashed around for a bit, then ran off into the forest. This would explain the tattered appearance and limps of the Thai dog population.

Though we were awed at first, as the hot day wore on it became and a little harder to sustain interest in ruin after ruin. I think Norm cracked first, but should be commended for hanging in as long as he did. Having had our fill of grassy brick for a while, we got back in the car, and in two hours were in the town of Mae Sot, near the border with Myanmar. We checked into a hotel, then headed to "Jumpin'" (A cheesy Thai fast food joint - attempts at prefab spaghetti, pizza, and fried chicken) for some food. As we were beginning the slow and difficult process of digesting our meal, and deciding what to do next, we were approached by an Aussie guy named Chris, who asked us what we were up to the next day....