Day 10: Hat Yai, Monday 17th June 2024
Cloudy, 31°
NZ$1 = THB22
THB1 = NZ$0.04
Up at 8:00am , down for breakfast, filled up on the usual fare of eggs, chicken sausages, pastries, juice and coffee. Back up to the room at 9am, packed and left at 10am. We walked a couple of blocks north to Wat Chue Chang temple ( Wat is Thai for Temple, and the same in Khmer ( Cambodia )). We had a look around inside this impressive temple for a bit ( we felt impressed and blasé at the same time; Temple fatique is a real thing and it can be hard to get excited about another temple which often looks similar to the last ones, even though you know they are amazing buildings ).
We caught a grab ( THB100 ) to the Hat Yai Municipal Park, and our driver drove us up to the top at 11am ( THB100 through Grab to get to the bottom of the park, and another THB200 ( paid in cash ) for him to take us to the top! ). We walked passed the closed gonolda station ( which heads across the mountain to a seperate temple ) and around the the large gold Buddha Statue and then to the temple underneath. This temple contained 4 lifesize realistic ‘manequins’ of monks, which the locals seemed to find amusing and were using for their selfy shots.; they were a little too realistic and a little creepy.
We walked down the steps to the next statues ( Confusious and a Laughing Buddha ) then further down to a Bodhisattva Guanyin statue, and then walked down the road to the lake at the bottom then across the bridges and back out of the park at 11:45am. A very pretty park ( and we only saw a small part of it ) but parts of it had a slightly abandoned feel; mainly the parts that you couldn’t drive to!
Walked across the road to an Amway store ( which had a café ) and bought some drinks. The staff seemed very confused to see us come in for a drink and not to look at the Amway products, but they were very helpful. Sat in the AC for a while to cool down.
Caught another grab at 12:30pm back to the hotel.
Rested for a bit then out to a laundromat near the Wat Chue Chang temple and did some washing ( THB40 for wash, THB40 for dry ), then walked back to the hotel via the 7Eleven and got some “lunch” ( 2 yoghurts, 2 custard buns, 2 drinks, 1 bag of cashew nuts: THB177 / $8 ) at 3pm and back to the room.
Out at 5pm to Hat Yai Central mall ( via Grab ), walked around the massive mall. Found a a corner of the mall that had a small market going on, and a collection of animals for sale; not just the usual dogs and cats either.
We then walked to the Asean Night Market next door, only to find it doesn’t open on a Monday. So we caught a Grab back to the hotel, then walked through the night market in the street outside, Liz bought a small bag ( THB400 / $18 ) then to Starbucks for drinks and cake.
Back to the hotel at 7:30pm