Hat Yai and Songkhla, Southern Thailand
Anna's entry:HAT YAI
We returned from Malaysia to Thailand by the same train route back to Hat Yai, Southern Thailand. Train ride was about five hours, no one spoke English, but smiles and gestures were universal. This was the first time I tried quail eggs, and some crazy fruit looking like a hairy nut and tasting like a strawberry... As I mentioned in my previous Thailand entries, Lower Southern Gulf provinces, also known as Muslim Deep South, gained a reputation for being dangerous areas (because of the Muslim separatist activities and bombings a few years ago). Therefore, very few tourists come here these days, which is fine with us, it is great to be away from the western crowds, and get an authentic welcoming treatment. Rob and I enjoy dealing with a Muslim part of population - I don't like generalizations, but Muslims seem to be more honest and more genuine to us compared to other local groups. We almost always get a local price (instead of over-charged foreigner price), and overall we feel we are treated very well by them. So, when we returned back to Hat Yai, we went to the same restaurant we visited about a month ago, run by a local Muslim family. Similarly to our last visit here, we got great service, good food, and very good price. Despite of Hat Yai's reputation to be the most dangerous location to visit, we liked it. We didn't have any problems crossing it twice, and have only positive memories.
SONGKHLA
Songkhla 'the great city on two seas' hasn't experienced any of the Muslim separatist violence plaguing nearby Hat Yai, but it's still catching the same bad press. That was a good news for us - westerners are scared away from visiting this great city, which makes it more genuine place to visit, not-spoilt and over-run by tourists. This is exactly the reason for choosing Songkhla as a stop over - get back to the authentic local Thai hospitality. We were not disappointed - locals don't get to see many "farang" (foreigners) around here, which is reflected in their attitude. The place we were recommended to stay at was the nicest family run house. In the morning, the lady owner offered us fresh mangos and bananas from her brother's village, coffee, tea, etc. She made sure we felt at home and were taken care of. While walking around town, we received a lot of smiles, hello!'s, waving hands, etc. In one of the streets, a wedding was starting, we were motioned in, and were presented with local sweet treats, and invited back later when the orchestra would be playing. We did come back later, and were presented with a big bottle of beer, a bride's relative sat down with us, and then a bride and a groom asked to take pictures with us. Nothing like that in other parts of Thailand we visited a month ago - places are over-run by western tourists so much, that locals would not even dream about inviting a stranger foreigner to the wedding!
Rob and I also walked along the eastern coast of the city (Hat Samila) facing the Gulf of Thailand. This is where the symbol of the city is located - the statue of a bronze mermaid sitting on the rocks and squeezing water from her hair. Apparently, you can rub her breasts for good luck, so her breasts are really shiny. Yes, I rubbed them too, of course. :)
To "redeem" my breast-rubbing sins we stopped by at a local Buddhist temple, which actually turned out to be also a monastery. Being the only foreigners there, and probably in a long while, we got some curious looks and smiles, and a young boy appeared shortly with fresh water saying "I give you water". It was a very sweet gesture. We walked around the shrines, and in one of them we stumbled upon a huge golden statue of reclining Buddha - I would guess probably good 10 meters long (about 30 feet), maybe more.
In the morning of departure Rob and I went to the top of the hill with the Royal Pagoda as a center piece, views were fantastic - you could see the 360° panorama of the city from there. Unfortunately, it was a relatively short visit for us, we had a bus to catch that morning to our next stop, Hat Sichon, on the Gulf of Thailand.
Songkhla 'the great city on two seas' hasn't experienced any of the Muslim separatist violence plaguing nearby Hat Yai, but it's still catching the same bad press. That was a good news for us - westerners are scared away from visiting this great city, which makes it more genuine place to visit, not-spoilt and over-run by tourists. This is exactly the reason for choosing Songkhla as a stop over - get back to the authentic local Thai hospitality. We were not disappointed - locals don't get to see many "farang" (foreigners) around here, which is reflected in their attitude. The place we were recommended to stay at was the nicest family run house. In the morning, the lady owner offered us fresh mangos and bananas from her brother's village, coffee, tea, etc. She made sure we felt at home and were taken care of. While walking around town, we received a lot of smiles, hello!'s, waving hands, etc. In one of the streets, a wedding was starting, we were motioned in, and were presented with local sweet treats, and invited back later when the orchestra would be playing. We did come back later, and were presented with a big bottle of beer, a bride's relative sat down with us, and then a bride and a groom asked to take pictures with us. Nothing like that in other parts of Thailand we visited a month ago - places are over-run by western tourists so much, that locals would not even dream about inviting a stranger foreigner to the wedding!
Rob and I also walked along the eastern coast of the city (Hat Samila) facing the Gulf of Thailand. This is where the symbol of the city is located - the statue of a bronze mermaid sitting on the rocks and squeezing water from her hair. Apparently, you can rub her breasts for good luck, so her breasts are really shiny. Yes, I rubbed them too, of course. :)
To "redeem" my breast-rubbing sins we stopped by at a local Buddhist temple, which actually turned out to be also a monastery. Being the only foreigners there, and probably in a long while, we got some curious looks and smiles, and a young boy appeared shortly with fresh water saying "I give you water". It was a very sweet gesture. We walked around the shrines, and in one of them we stumbled upon a huge golden statue of reclining Buddha - I would guess probably good 10 meters long (about 30 feet), maybe more.
In the morning of departure Rob and I went to the top of the hill with the Royal Pagoda as a center piece, views were fantastic - you could see the 360° panorama of the city from there. Unfortunately, it was a relatively short visit for us, we had a bus to catch that morning to our next stop, Hat Sichon, on the Gulf of Thailand.
posted by Rob and Anna @ 3:39 AM
1 Comments:
Hello Rob and Anna,
I've enjoyed reading some of your recent entries.
Rob, I had question for you but apparently I don't have a current email - can you send me your address?
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