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| thailand |
| south |
| I flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok on December 3, 2005. After running around all evening in Bangkok International, I managed to get a flight straight to the South of the country. I flew to Hat Yai and arrived late in the night. Personally, now that I've visited Bangkok, these smaller southern towns were a much better introduction to Thailand and I'm glad I saw them first. I had just caught the end of the monsoon season and almost everyday it rained. I saw about three other tourists in my time there, most of these cities aren't visited very often. From Hat Yai, I took a minivan to Songkhla and later I went by bus to Nakhon Si Thammarat. All sleepy, quiet and muslim influenced towns in architecture, food and dress. |
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| The third largest reclining Buddha in the world in Hat Yai. |
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| A view off my balcony, during one of the many rainfalls in Songkhla. There was a huge colony of bats roosting just to the left and I could hear them squeaking all night, |
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| The first beach I saw in Thailand, in Songkhla. It was nice, but the incessant monsoon wind and rain were a bit much. |
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| The legendary Songkhla mermaid on Hat Samila. You can see 'Cat' island behind her and in the photo on the right is 'Mouse' island. Songkhla was once a pirate stronghold of the south. |
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| Just a few minutes walk from Hat Samila in Songkhla is Khon Kaen or "Monkey Mountain." There's a funicular railway you can take all the way to the top. At the top, there's a nice temple, a couple of Buddhist chedi and a great view of the town and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, due to the monsoon, I didn't see a single monkey. The people who ran the railway snapped my photo before I got on. When I came back down, they tried to sell me a plate with my picture in the middle. I've now realized this is quite common at tourist sites in Thailand. They don't tell you what it's for when they are taking it thus you usually end up looking very surprised and stupid in the picture. People rarely buy them and it's too bad dammit because who doesn't want a plate with their picture on it. |
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| The main attraction in Nakhon Si Thammarat was this beautiful, first class royal temple, called Wat Phra Mahathat. There were several ancient chedi stupas and a Buddha's footprint just outside the temple walls. Hundreds of golden Buddha images can be found hidden within the chedi and thankfully there wasn't a single other tourist as far as the eye could see. |
| A golden Buddha housed within a chedi. |
| And of course, it started to rain and pour and I was soaked. |