Despite the late night for some, we started our sightseeing ride at 8:00 a.m. The route took us to Songkhla Lake and Samila Beach.
Songkhla Lake is the largest natural lake in Thailand. We stopped on the southern Tinsulanonda Bridge for some photographs. The bridges linking Ko Yo island with the mainland are named after General Prem Tinsulanonda, a former Prime Minister of Thailand.
Wat Laem Pho on Ko Yo Island was built in 1787 during the reign of King Rama III. The large golden Buddha image in the nirvana posture was constructed in 1994.
We rode over the northern Tinsulanonda Bridge and took a short ferry ride across the estuary where Songkhla Lake meets the Gulf of Thailand.
A kilometre from the Car Ferry City Side dock is the Golden Mermaid. An icon of Songkhla. This bronze statue was sculpted in 1966 by Jitr Baubus. The Mermaid was a main character in Phra Apaimance, a story written by Soonthorn Phu, the great poet of King Rama II. In this ancient Thai folk tale, a mermaid sat and combed her hair on a beautiful beach on a starry night. A young fisherman met and frightened her, and she fled into the sea. The fisherman waited for her to return, but she had disappeared forever.
We didn’t clamber onto the rock to get close to the statue.
Samila Beach turns into Chalathat Beach as you head south.
It was hot again. 39ºC. We went looking for an air-conditioned place for a coffee. Instead, we found the Nong Keng restaurant. We ordered drinks. Then H looked at their menu and ordered lunch. It was a pleasant eighty minutes in the shade by the sea.
It was 37ºC when we left Nong Keng. We had about 30 km left to ride. Unsurprisingly, we needed another stop after cycling 15 km. A 7-Eleven at a PTT petrol station fit the bill.
We got to the Centara hotel at 2:40 p.m. It was far too hot for a swim. Some had massages. I should have had one too. I had a knot in my right scapula that needed releasing. The need for sleep was strong, though.
I had planned to walk to the See Kim Yong Market to buy dried fruit and nuts.
The market, named after a wealthy individual who owned the original land in this area, is 400 metres from the Centara Hotel. The market closes at 6:00 p.m. I woke up at 6:45 p.m. Just in time to meet the others in the hotel lobby for dinner.
The Kai-Tai-Num restaurant is 3 km from the Centara Hotel. We went there in tuk-tuks. Nine of us unknowingly got into a party tuk-tuk. It was dark, and the tuk-tuk looked like any other. Then the flashing lights, the video, and the music started.
Six tweeters, six mid-range speakers and three subwoofers, all driven by three amplifiers, pump out a lot of sound. M and I were deaf in our right ears for a while.
A waitress said “Sorry Ahhh” to H at the Kai-Tai-Num restaurant. Again, for serving us food that we had not ordered. I wonder if it is a ruse that some restaurants employ to boost their takings.
We discussed the following day’s departure time over dinner. We initially planned to start cycling at 7:30 a.m. That would give us some extra time to cope with any problems along the way and still arrive in Padang Besar in time to catch the 1:50 p.m. Malaysian time train. Fortunately, H remembered that Thailand is one hour behind Malaysia. We would have to leave at 6:30 a.m. Malaysian time to have the buffer time we wanted.
That would prove to be a wise decision.
Old Roots, New Routes 