Eleventh Day, Road to Sukhothai

You define life by its end. This is one of the things that ancient Greeks taught to humanity.

The end of Bangkok was a taxi driver singing songs from the radio and checking Facebook, while driving.

Taxi drivers in Bangkok are supposed to go by meter. The price is cheap for an European, but it's more than enough for a Thai.

But taxi drivers want to profit more with tourists. They propose you a fixed price, and you need to bargain. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes annoying. It depends on your mood and the attitude of the taxi driver.

Usually I don't like to bargain with taxi drivers. They have to go by meter, by law. It is as if a taxi driver of Milan had different prices for Italians and for people from Germany, or from Bahrein. Usually they are richer, they can afford a higher price. Discrimination of prices, it's more efficient. But isn't this also racist?

I needed to take a taxi to the bus station. It is quite far from the hotel. Every taxi driver next to the hotel asks a high fixed rate. 20m far from that street you can find honest taxi drivers.

The third one accepted to carry me using the meter. I had to pay extra for the highway, fair enough.

He was a great guy. He showed me the pictures of his friends on Facebook. They were on their honey moon in Italy.

And he sang (or pretended to sing) every song from the radio.

We arrived smoothly at the bus station and I gave him a good tip (for Thai standards).

Best way to leave Bangkok.

The bus to Sukhotai took way longer than expected. We left at 12 and arrived at 20, with half an hour break to eat. Padang food: rice with one choice of meat or vegetables. I chose the wrong meat: minced meat and bones super spicy. I don't care about the super spicy, but the bones weren't supposed to be minced, I think.

The countryside of northern Thailand seems wealthier than the south one. Villages had all free wifi, and we could spot some beautiful villas. Outside the villages it was all rice fields and temples. Perfect for sleeping.

Sukhothai is a nice village. A modern one, developed next to the old capital. It's touristic but pleasant and quiet.

My guesthouse is built in teak, and it is next to the Yom river.

I went to the night market to eat. I didn't find the place advised by the guide. Instead, I stopped at an open restaurant ran by two chubby nice Thai ladies.

The noodle soup was delicious. But the best part was the company. A German 70 years old guy speaking only Thai and German. At the beginning only Thai. He knew English, just didn't want to speak it.

He was wearing a jersey of Juventus F.C., which made him look very foolish. Apart from that he was a nice guy.

We had some talks and he praised Sicily's beauty. Ich habe auch ein bisschen Deutch gesprochen, aber es war kein gut.

Enough for the night. Tomorrow running, sightseeing and travelling to Chiang Mai.

Auf wiedersehen.