A Journey to Sukhothai

This is my first time going to Sukhothai, all by myself...

According to the beginning of my 5th year as a pharmacy student, I have 2 internships to do during this summer break (around March to May). The first one I had was at the BNH Hospital in Silom area, Bangkok. It is one of the most expensive ones in Thailand and also very international. If you are interested, you can check out my blog about the first internship here.

Kate and I in our intern uniform

As for this internship, it started from April 17th to May 19th..which was just 2 days after I got back from my trip in Penang, Malaysia. I arrived Bangkok from Penang in the morning of the 15th with a cold then I had to leave Bangkok again to Sukhothai on the next day.

By the way, I do both internships with my friend, Kate, the left one in the pic above. I was supposed to go with Kate on the day leaving Bkk becoz her parents were driving her up to Sukhothai but they scheduled to leave at 7am which was ridiculously early for me but I could suck it up and go with them actually, though, unfortunately, I was too sick that morning to go.

So I ended up going up to Sukhothai alone by myself when I got up and felt a little better. All the info I had was I need to go to Khirimat Hospital in Amphur Khirimat, Sukhothai province. I called the bus companies, checking the website, etc. and finally found one that would leave every hour until 6 or 7pm. This bus company is called Win Tour, a private company not the partly governmental like Transport Company.

The Map of Thailand, showing where Sukhothai is located

The bus routes to Sukhothai weren’t as confusing as I thought they would be. From just asking around on the phone and at the ticket booth at Mo Chit bus terminal I found out that there are 2 main routes to Sukhothai. The first route is from Bangkok-Nakorn Sawan-Kampaengpet-Sukhothai, this route is the one that pass Khirimat town, where I needed to get off. The second route which is the better one for you if you wanna go to the Sukhothai city, this one will go to from Bangkok-Nakorn Sawan-Phichit-Phitsanulok and then pass Kongkrailat town to Sukhothai city.

The map of the northern part of Thailand

It’s pretty tough for someone who has never traveled alone without doing research beforehand like me. I mean, I usually do some research when I go somewhere but this time it was an accident, I was supposed to go with my friend’s parents. I had absolutely no idea where the hell was Khirimat hospital or how to get there from Khirimat town or whatever. But I had no choice, I had to do it.

The Map of Sukhothai Province (thanks to sawadee.com)

Oh FYI, no matter what class of the bus u r taking to Sukhothai, first class, second class, they will stop at the Bus terminal in each province that the bus goes through from Nakorn Sawan and then on, so be prepared.

The bus I took with WinTour left at 12.30pm and it took approximately 6 hours to Khirimat Town..if u wanna go into the Sukhothai city, add 1 hour more. It was the first class ticket, 326 Baht. The bus condition was alright, unattractive bus hostess and u’ll get a free Farmhouse brand bun that comes with a box of yoghurt milk. Oh free soft drinks along the way, too, how impressive! Moreover, the part that’s attached to your bus ticket is a meal coupon that is worth for 12 Baht. That’s one interesting about the northern bus route…they will stop half-way and u get free food!!

So after asking the bus hostess, I found out that the bus would just pass the hospital itself! The bus usually stops for u to get off at the intersection to Khirimat town but if no one else getting off but u, they’ll be kind enough to drop u off right in front of the hospital..if they don’t forget…

This photo wasn't taken in Sukhothai though:P

During the way to Sukhothai on the bus, the cold and cough weren’t enough…just had to make my day worse..the bus broke down! It took them around half an hour to fix it..how great, just make my miserable journey longer. When I told the bus hostess girl that I wanna get off at the Khirimat Hospital, she said that a woman sitting behind me was getting off ther also. Cool then! I had to keep an eye on her, hehe.

My friend arrived in Khirimat around noon, her parents were gonna stay in Sukhothai city for a night, so they invited me to go stay in town with them. All I had to do was just call them when i almost got there and they’d pick me up..in the meantime, they’d go exploring the ancient city aka Sukhothai Historical Park.

The ruins at Sukhothai Historical Park

After getting my ass sore from sitting on the bus for 6 something hours, I finally got off at the hospital..and surprisingly that woman behind me who got off there also was actually the pharmacist that my friend and I were supposed to share the house with!!!

Finally, my friend and her parents drove back from the city to Khirimat town which is 22km away to pick me up. We stayed at a hotel called River View. It was around 400ish Baht a night..and shitty as hell. I was pretty surprised that there were quite number of tourists in Sukhothai city. This town surprised me as well, I had no idea that the main city of some provinces like Sukhothai could be so quiet and boring!This province doesn’t have Tesco Lotus, Carrefour, or any shopping center of any kind except Home Mart..which is a house appliance mall like HomePro…who the hell needs that?!?!

After being around in town for a night…this Sukhothai province is basically..boring. It is only good for a day trip or two to see the ancient city, but that’s it. No fun or any nightlife in town, no clubs, some trying-to-be-western-styled restaurant, shitty hotels, streets getting quiet early…this is SOOO not me!

The next day Kate’s parents dropped us off at the house we are gonna stay for this 5 weeks internship. The house is like 20 paces walk away from the hospital. We were supposed to get a house for our own but due to the occupancy problem..we had to share with a pharmacist and a nurse.

Kate and I share a room…which is a former storage. It just reminded me of the cupboard under the stairs that Harry Potter had to stay in the first Harry Potter book.

Enough whining for now, to be continued with the “shitty house” blog!!