Sukothai 3/28/14-3/30/14

When we got to Sukothai we were a bit exhausted from all of our bus rides, so we walked to the nearest guesthouse. Luckily, we only had to walk a few hundred feet. We checked in, freshened up, and made our way out the door in search for food. After consuming a diet of dried fruit and nuts for our  twenty five hour of bus ride, we were craving real food. About a mile from our guesthouse we came across a restaurant packed with Thai people. With hungry curiosity we walked inside. There were two large buffet tables filled with food. On one table were fruits, vegetables, and meats, and on the other table was already prepared dishes; pasta salad, fried rice, and gelatin desserts. We looked around at the tables and saw that every table had a small charcoal burner, and on this burner people were cooking their meats and veggies. As we stood there in amusement watching people cook their own food, a man approached us asking in Thai if we would like to eat. We nodded yes and he led us to an open table. Unable to communicate because of the language barrier we were unsure of the price and how it worked. We sat at our table for a moment and watched others. After a few minutes I walked to the buffet tables and repeated similar steps to what others were doing. I filled a basket of veggies; cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, and brought it back to the table. I returned to the buffet table and filled a plate with watermelon and pineapple and another with shrimp and chicken shish kabobs. When i returned to the table our waiter brought us a small charcoal BBQ that he placed in the center of the table along with a metal shallow pan. He filled the pan with water and pointed to the vegetables showing me that it was for you cooking veggies. We sat there in excitement for the experiencing of cooking our own food; something we had been greatly missing since being in Thailand. We ate our delicious meat, veggies, and fruit. Through out our meal a few employees would walk over to us with a plate of food; fried rice, meat, or noodles. They would put it on the table, give us a thumbs up sign, and smile. We noticed that they were only doing this for our table. After looking around and noticing we were the only white faces among a hundred Thais in the restaurant, they must not get many foreigners. Because of this they were treating us like royalty, making sure we tried everything. After about an hour of nonstop eating, I couldn't eat any more. As Ryan paid the bill I sat stuffed to my gills at the table counting 22 empty plates on our table. It was by far the most fun and most satisfying eating experience I've ever had.When we left the restaurant I was glad we  walked so we could help digest some of  our food. The next day we rented a motorbike from our guesthouse and road three miles to the ruins of Sukothai, which is known as the "Angkor Wat" of Thailand. Just outside of the entrance to the ruins we rented bicycles. With our bicycles we rode around the ruins and took pictures of the amazing sites. There were old buddha statues, pagodas, and ancient structures. Riding our bikes through the area was a lot of fun. Although it was fascinating to see, a lot of the structures looked the same, and after an hour we had seen it all. After returning our bikes we hopped on our motorbike and road into town and got dinner. The next day we hopped on a five hour bus ride to Chiang Mai.