http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.395948647131030.90594.100001476944065&type=3 (I will put some pics in here to give some context!)Actually, there ar a few youtube clips which show the take off from k.l and the view from the skies (as well as some gus playing the pan pipes at a place called Bukit Bintang in K.L)
The links can be clicked on below (note:I am using software which asks for me to pay a fee before they get rid of a tag, so if you see their tag, pretend it isn't there!!!)
The plane journey to Hat Yai from Kuala Lumpur took 75 minutes .
Goodbye Malaysia (again) ,Hello Thailand!
I was a bit worried when I entered this country as I only had a one way ticket here. Sometimes, you might get asked for an onward journey ticket.I am in 2 minds as to where I will be going next so I didn't buy a ticket.Fortunately, the guys didn't ask me so that gives me some time to make up my mind about my next destination after Thailand.
Anyway,After I landed , I noticed that hardly anyone at this airport could speak english and Thai signs sometimes do not have the english equivalent underneath them. eep!!! Either a.) I learn Thai very quickly or b.)I start using my hands and facial features even more such that the local people understand me (or understand that there is a madman standing in front of them!)
I asked a woman (at one of the deli. counters at the airport) what the cheapest method of transportation was ...She told me to grab a taxi or public bus...
I saw a bus and then public bus...
A public bus, as seen from the exit of Hat Yai airport
I asked a guy ,'how much for the bus -- He replied 300baht ,.I walked off as this seemed fairly excessive and I hate being duped (regardless of the money. It's the attiitude of stupid foreigner that I can feel sometimes when people talk to me. I could be completely wrong though!!! ) Later on that week, I took multiple rides from these buses.Let's just say I am REALLY g;ad that I did not take that original bus.
I walked back around the airport and found a private bus ....
The official ticket (I wish all places could have official tickets!)
which cost 80 and the driver said he would help me out if i gave him 20 baht (which he reiterated 5 times in 20 minutes) After driving everyone on the bus into Hat Yai, He drove me to the hostel which was REALLY cool as I did not have a map of the place and It would taken me some time to find that hostel.
I stayed at the Cathay Homestay , There were no dorm rooms available so I grabbed a private room for 200 Baht...the internet costs money here (100 baht per day at this hostel)..I hope the rest of the country is not like that.
My First hostel room in Thailand
Sorry for posting so many pics of toilets. This will be the last one.This is a bit different as you have to use a step to use the toilet!
I have noticed over the past couple of days that the electrical socket seems to be placed in the most awkward part of the room! Any time, i need to use it, to recharge the computer or recharge anything, it seems to be located high enough above the floor that you can't leave the computer on the floor as the wires are not long enough!!
I went for a quick look around the place and noticed a couple of shops with interesting names. I always wanted to visit a 'happy shop' and in Hat Yai, my dream was achieved.
Not a sad shop
I think some shops are trying to tell me something but I am not sure what..I think it could be subliminal!
Across the road from the happy shop, there seemed to be a district full of optician shops.I was really happy to see this as during the time of my stay, I kept getting lost and this became my reference point of finding my location again!
Ah, the irony in using an optician place to figure out where you are going is ...great!
I was caught in a really heavy rainshower at one point. Let's just say that I was really happy to be walking by shops which had room for people to crouch in the corner. Otherwise I would have been drenched as I did not have my raincoat with me (Yes, sometimes I do wear a raincoat! Back in Ireland, I rairly wear them as I have tonnes of jumpers. There is no way, i'd wear jumpers over here!)
The weather is just like Ireland (well, for bout 30 minutes....Before it started raining, it was about 30 degrees, afterwards, The street sellers came out (the guys who sell the street food!) so I didn't really notice the weather but I am sure it was fine (but the heat had gone out of the day by that stage)!)
What about the amount of power lines!! http://youtu.be/BQ9HAeap_70
I noticed that the public bus here is very similar to the Jeepney in the Philippines. i.e: 2 rows of people crammed into one space .There is one differance though. In some public buses, they will have a bench running up the middle of the bus, so there are 3 rows of people AND there are people hanging on at the end of the bus...fun times!!! especially, if i have my 'special shoes' on (Note to self: throw out those shoes as I am getting a few dirty looks at this point!!)
The public bus
It is very common to see 3 people on the back of a motorcycle like in the picture above. This seems to be an unwritten rule in Thailand!
There seems to be an unmerciful amount of power lines everywhere in this place but on the plus side , there are warning signs just in case you miss the mass of wires.
Look at the amount of power lines here..eep!!
But on the plus side, there are warning signs.....I think!!! (By The way, notice the year 2555) this is the Buddhist calendar year, I think so technically, i have gone 543 years into the future!!! (I can tell you the future is VERY different!! but the food is good!!)
It only rained for 20 minutes but the puddles built up in no time at all!! I am not sure if you could fit a third bench running parallel to the other two in this bus!
The public bus/jeepney idea is really cool. It would definately be a winner if someone was allowed to set it up in Blanchardstown/Tallaght.Clondalkin as the public bus system back home is archaic and these come along all the time!! Now, to persuade Dublin bus and politicians that competition is a good thing could take a bit of time but it would be a good idea in the long run!!
I went for a quick stroll around the town, paying a visit to the local footie stadium (which, by all accounts is an impressive site)
stars of the future in action!
A video clip of the stadium (If you are interested) can be found at http://youtu.be/8QsMcLJYH8g
Which one is the Thai green curry?
I guess it's just called green curry here though. Right?
I passed by a couple of Chinese firework stores. A few days later, I heard that fireworks are used quite a bit when couples become engaged/get married....Ah, so that's why they are used. I genuinely never knew!!
If you want to get engaged, come on in. We will help you celebrate your engagement!!
Right in the heart of the town, There is a nice clock tower. It's no Big Ben but at the same time, It's no 'time in the slime' either!
Is that the time? time to find some dinner!
There seems to be shrines outside quite a few places around the town And most of these shrines always have spare joiss sticks if you want to light one up, I guess you can but I didn't bother as I was not sure if the owner was supposed to light them or a passerby!
Nice shrine and very common in Hat Yai
In fact, there are tonnes of buddhist figurines up all over the place here. I am afraid my knowledge of buddhism is up there with my knowledge of knitting (is it add one stitch or drop one stitch?) So , I have a couple of photos but I am not sure of names.
These gods represent different days of the week
ditto, the ones here
Wait a minute, how many days of the week are there!!!!
Serene looking Buddha here
All the lads looking peaceful
These are really colourful tributes
Some people worship a different kind of god.
This is The big mall in Hat Yai...named after a princess ...allegedly( ....by me)
Some of the architecture seemed cool to me .... Have a look at the apartments above the shop here . Also, the block of apartments in the following picture looks very westernised. I took a pic of a wood carving of some other building also.
nice setup behind the house
This could be Anywhere in the western world
wood carvings of a temple
An actual temple
Don't forget, with the praying , there is a more important flipside. Yep, you guessed it. An advertisement to see who can wear jeans in the best possible manner. What do you mean you have not heard of that competition???? shame on you! Here is an advertisement that will bring you up to speed!
I am confused (nothing new there then)
So, is the competition for the jeans or the woman?
I noticed some similar looking shops seemed to have signs that were written in 2 languages.....yes!!!! One of them was Thai (of course) The other one was...
Mandarin.....I need a Thai-Mandarin-English dictionary. Is there any such dictionary out there?
Is this tea in a bag?
MMMmmm Fish and a 'surprise' bag
Local women gearing up for the evening sales
Some nice flowers
A few hours later, I had a look at a night market. This was really cool as I have ever seen a place completely barren and within a few hours, it was jam packed with clothes and bikes from punters!
I think this place was called green fields
The vast majority of people in Thailand (and Indonesia come to think of it) use the motorcycle so parking space is always at a premium
I found a watch that I was looking for for the past 20 years! yay!!
On my way back from the market, I kept walking into more and more shops that just appeared from nowhere...an example is a shoe shop that appeared on the side of the street and a womens clothes shop.
These shoes appeared out of nowhere ! (sorry for the quality of this pic. the shoes look like they are running away from my camera!)
Those mannequins were moved to the side of the road around 9pm. Maybe, people come ou at that time to buy these clothes? I don't think this would happen back home (but that could be due to the inclement weather!)
If you are wondering to yourself, what was John eating durng his stay in Hat Yai. I have a question and a answer. question: why would you be thinking of that question?!? and answer to initial question....I tried out some sambos and milk of course!
you can't beat the sandwiches with milk combo anywhere!
I headed for a jog for the couple of days that I stayed in Hat Yai. It's tough jogging out here as it the weather is sooo warm but the people seem to be genuinely friendly and willing to cheer me on when I jog by them! There are a fair few bikes to avoid when jogging (but nothing in comparison to Indonesia)
I went for a foot massage in a shop in Hat Yai (It cost 250 Baht) and I have to say that it really felt good at the end..
The sign says it all!
I think that this statue is known as the is the god of massages
As most of you know, I can be a bit of a wuss when it comes to cracking your fingers but the woman cracked both my fingers and my toes...At one point,I thought she was trying to rip the toes of my feet! She put all her fingers through all my toes and that felt really strange though it was cool! This massage was a million times better than the one in Melaka (Malaysia). I might give it a go at some other stage in Thailand just to see the differances but my feet felt a billion times better after a few hours...
Anyway, My time is up as regards Hat Yai! On to Songkhla by the best means of transport ever, the local bus!
First person on the bus! that bag took up a lot of space so I had to put it between my legs and hang out the window to make room for the other passengers
how many passenger could fit in this bus? have a look at the following clip... http://youtu.be/xnd3IH4IZZ4
See you Hat Yai, hello Songkhla - home of Bruno Bread...
sounds like some tough bread!
more pics of Hat Yai can be seen on http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.395948647131030.90594.100001476944065&type=1
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