Sunday, March 11
This week I have a small window of opportunity to do a little travel inside Thailand, so Todd, Jason, and I rented a small car and hit the road this morning. Our goal was to make it to Nan, to see (as the Lonely Planet Thailand book describes it) "green hills and lush river valleys."
We didn't want to drive the entire 600+ kilometers to Nan in one day, so we stopped half-way to spend the night in Phitsanulok. I have written about this small town a few times, and it really is one of my favorite places in Thailand. And that is partly because it is the home of one of my favorite guesthouse/hotels in Thailand -- the Lithai Guesthouse.
Phitsanulok is a festive place, for a small town. They have a lively night market on the banks of the Nan River that stays open late. After dinner, we found ourselves here listening to a band of college-aged guys play English and Thai hits while we drank Singha draft beer and enjoyed the breezes blowing off the river.
Phitsanulok might also have the distinction of being the only place in Thailand that still has their Christmas decorations up... in March. Santas and reindeer were spotted all over town, and every street had strings of colorful lights above it. Fantastic!
So tomorrow we will make our way to Nan, stopping at a few provinces along the way just to "see what's there."
