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lupestripeIt was another relatively early start as we had a four-hour drive south to Gao's hometown of Nakhon Si Thammarat. We still had time for disappointing white bread and jam in little plastic potties from the hostel though, along with some fishy crispy sticks and chocolate Oreo-type things. We loaded Gao's car up pretty quickly and were soon on the road. The dual carriageway was of high quality, while I was surprised by the sheer number of businesses lining it. This is the main arterial route down the country so there was no surprise that there were many lorries using the route too.
We rarely stopped, although we did swing by a shop selling oysters to see what they had. These were priced by size and just looked like grey lumpy rocks to me. We did manage to go to the toilet here though, while Gao brought a few snacks to thank them for using their facilities. We were then back on the road, only deviating to check out the scenic route which follows the coast near Nakhon Si Thammarat. This was quite a winding, twisty road but the views over the sea were incredible. There were little pagodas set up at various viewpoints where bats nested in the eaves, as evidenced by the pile of bat shit that was coating the floor. At one such stop, we picked up an ice cream, which was served in a piece of white bread. I got coconut jelly with mine and we ate it overlooking the ocean, hoping the bats would not defecate on our treat. The green rolling countryside, which was particularly lush as we were in the rainy season, was in sharp contrast to the pale blue of the ocean. Later on, we even got down to the shoreline itself, where they were selling plots of land to build your own house by the sea. The prices here were pretty reasonable and it is a genuine retirement option. We were the only people down here once a gentleman had left in his range rover, and I found being alone here quite humbling.
About an hour out of Nakhon Si Thammarat, we swung by the town of Tambon Tha Sala as Gao knows a good restaurant here. Child Lane does British-style fish and chips, which I thought was definitely worth a try. You can pick up this delicacy in Bangkok too, but apparently this is the best place in the country. As cod and haddock are both cold water fish, these were unavailable, with the restaurant substituting sea bass instead. This is a moister, less flaky fish, so the texture was a little off but it still worked incredibly well. The batter was quite light, while the chips weren't too far removed from their British equivalents. The tartar sauce was certainly on point, while the small pot of pickled vegetables cut through the greasiness of the dish quite well, acting like vinegar does in the UK. Around the back of this restaurant, which wasn't too dissimilar to sit in place in Britain, there was a brightly coloured claw machine that shocked me as I went to the toilet.
The heavens started to open once we approached the outskirts of Nakhon Si Thammarat, which was the first time I had seen rain during my trip. While Bangkok was out of the rainy season by the time of my visit, the southern parts of Thailand were still firmly in it. This did make things a little difficult for the rest of the day, but it still wasn't too bad. Nakhon Si Thammarat is basically a garrison town and there is a huge military base right in the centre of it. This meant we had to drive around it before looping back into the city centre. The first thing you notice is the metal carvings of the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac on the lampposts, while the downtown area looks rather bustling with its tight shops and raised walkways. There are only two main streets in the city, so congestion is quite common, while we were approaching the area just as the schools were finishing. Still, we got to our destination, the main temple pretty quickly so it didn't stop us.
The temple is quite modest but it is very famous as Nakhon Si Thammarat used to be an incredibly important city. Its star has faded a little of late, but it still feels like a key place in Thailand. There was no real place to store my shoes, which we had to take off before entering. In the end, I had to put them on a wall and hope the rain stayed off them. There is a modest museum in the building too, which showcases various artifacts from the region. Alas, by the time we got there, it was almost closing, so the whole thing was quite whistle stop. Unfortunately, I was also being distracted by work and this put a huge dampener on the day. Essentially, I was being backed into doing something I didn't particularly want to do, or at least I wanted more time to consider my options before committing. In the end, this resulted in me having to go back to the hotel far earlier than I liked to deal with it, which made me feel a little bad about leaving Gao behind. It was 9pm by the time I retired, but would have rather had a few more drinks with my friend, not least because he discovered that his hometown has a number of craft beer bars which all looked like they were worth a try.
After the temple, I was quite flustered about the work situation, so we went to a chocolate place called Cote Paradai to try some of their wares. They had decadent little morsels and we decided to try two of them, one of which being a chocolate inspired by a popular soup. These were very nice and I have since discovered that this little chocolate shop is so famous, I can buy some of their chocolate in Germany. We sat in the cafe here while I bounced WhatsApp messages back and forth, wanting to get this business situation sorted as soon as possible. Alas, this continued as we walked around the town, spying the crenelated old wall of the city as well as the evacuation plan should there be flooding. This is a real problem in this part of the world - two weeks prior to my trip, the city of Hat Yai endured the most rainfall in a single day than it had experienced in 400 years - and so details of specific water measurements and flow rates are given on a sign right at the heart of the city. There is also a flag, in this case green, highlighting the current state of play regarding the rainfall and water capacity of the various rivers and streams that make up the area. I found this particularly fascinating, not least because it's the sort of thing we almost certainly wouldn't ever do in the UK. Our rainfall is much lower of course.
There are two shopping malls in Nakhon Si Thammarat, but the old one is closing down as a new one has stolen all their custom. This has shifted the focus of the city to its southern fringes, and is damaging the prosperity of the shops at its northern end. We headed to Central Plaza to go to KFC, as Gao had told me that Thai KFC is amongst the best in the world. Before we went there, though, I thought it would be fascinating to check out a local supermarket. It was largely the same as ones back home, except the fruit they had on sale was somewhat different. The KFC itself, admittedly, was better than any in Europe but I always find KFC disappointing. As is so often the case, the chicken had spent too long under the heat lamps and was somewhat dry. The original chicken was particularly average, but the extra crispy one did at least preserve the moisture of the meat. We also tried some rather anemic looking nuggets, while the fries are much the same as anywhere. After this, we had a pleasant amble around the mall, checking out the local shops. Gao wanted to go to the cinema and see what Zootopia 2 merch they had, but there wasn't too much. We also saw a cute green dragon advertising a local Bar-B-Q place.
Night had fallen by this point, so we decided to check out the city at night. The temple is particularly striking when lit up, with the gold aura adding a mystic air, but of course the complex itself was closed. This meant there was little to do but drink and Gao was delighted to discover a number of craft beer bars to choose from. We ended up in one called Rusty, where we sat outside in their beer garden and had a pleasant craft beer. The one Gao had chosen was too strong for him and I ended up finishing it, but I didn't want to have too much as I may have turned into the vomiting Pingu that the sign above the sink warned me about. As I have already said, I wanted to stay out later, but I had to deal with this work issue so Gao drove me to my hotel shortly after 9pm. We did also have a very early start the next morning to get to the airport in Krabi for our flight to FURUM. I really enjoyed looking around Nakhon Si Thammarat as it was a real slice of provincial Thailand that I would otherwise have not seen. Gao was also a great host so hopefully I can come back.
We rarely stopped, although we did swing by a shop selling oysters to see what they had. These were priced by size and just looked like grey lumpy rocks to me. We did manage to go to the toilet here though, while Gao brought a few snacks to thank them for using their facilities. We were then back on the road, only deviating to check out the scenic route which follows the coast near Nakhon Si Thammarat. This was quite a winding, twisty road but the views over the sea were incredible. There were little pagodas set up at various viewpoints where bats nested in the eaves, as evidenced by the pile of bat shit that was coating the floor. At one such stop, we picked up an ice cream, which was served in a piece of white bread. I got coconut jelly with mine and we ate it overlooking the ocean, hoping the bats would not defecate on our treat. The green rolling countryside, which was particularly lush as we were in the rainy season, was in sharp contrast to the pale blue of the ocean. Later on, we even got down to the shoreline itself, where they were selling plots of land to build your own house by the sea. The prices here were pretty reasonable and it is a genuine retirement option. We were the only people down here once a gentleman had left in his range rover, and I found being alone here quite humbling.
About an hour out of Nakhon Si Thammarat, we swung by the town of Tambon Tha Sala as Gao knows a good restaurant here. Child Lane does British-style fish and chips, which I thought was definitely worth a try. You can pick up this delicacy in Bangkok too, but apparently this is the best place in the country. As cod and haddock are both cold water fish, these were unavailable, with the restaurant substituting sea bass instead. This is a moister, less flaky fish, so the texture was a little off but it still worked incredibly well. The batter was quite light, while the chips weren't too far removed from their British equivalents. The tartar sauce was certainly on point, while the small pot of pickled vegetables cut through the greasiness of the dish quite well, acting like vinegar does in the UK. Around the back of this restaurant, which wasn't too dissimilar to sit in place in Britain, there was a brightly coloured claw machine that shocked me as I went to the toilet.
The heavens started to open once we approached the outskirts of Nakhon Si Thammarat, which was the first time I had seen rain during my trip. While Bangkok was out of the rainy season by the time of my visit, the southern parts of Thailand were still firmly in it. This did make things a little difficult for the rest of the day, but it still wasn't too bad. Nakhon Si Thammarat is basically a garrison town and there is a huge military base right in the centre of it. This meant we had to drive around it before looping back into the city centre. The first thing you notice is the metal carvings of the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac on the lampposts, while the downtown area looks rather bustling with its tight shops and raised walkways. There are only two main streets in the city, so congestion is quite common, while we were approaching the area just as the schools were finishing. Still, we got to our destination, the main temple pretty quickly so it didn't stop us.
The temple is quite modest but it is very famous as Nakhon Si Thammarat used to be an incredibly important city. Its star has faded a little of late, but it still feels like a key place in Thailand. There was no real place to store my shoes, which we had to take off before entering. In the end, I had to put them on a wall and hope the rain stayed off them. There is a modest museum in the building too, which showcases various artifacts from the region. Alas, by the time we got there, it was almost closing, so the whole thing was quite whistle stop. Unfortunately, I was also being distracted by work and this put a huge dampener on the day. Essentially, I was being backed into doing something I didn't particularly want to do, or at least I wanted more time to consider my options before committing. In the end, this resulted in me having to go back to the hotel far earlier than I liked to deal with it, which made me feel a little bad about leaving Gao behind. It was 9pm by the time I retired, but would have rather had a few more drinks with my friend, not least because he discovered that his hometown has a number of craft beer bars which all looked like they were worth a try.
After the temple, I was quite flustered about the work situation, so we went to a chocolate place called Cote Paradai to try some of their wares. They had decadent little morsels and we decided to try two of them, one of which being a chocolate inspired by a popular soup. These were very nice and I have since discovered that this little chocolate shop is so famous, I can buy some of their chocolate in Germany. We sat in the cafe here while I bounced WhatsApp messages back and forth, wanting to get this business situation sorted as soon as possible. Alas, this continued as we walked around the town, spying the crenelated old wall of the city as well as the evacuation plan should there be flooding. This is a real problem in this part of the world - two weeks prior to my trip, the city of Hat Yai endured the most rainfall in a single day than it had experienced in 400 years - and so details of specific water measurements and flow rates are given on a sign right at the heart of the city. There is also a flag, in this case green, highlighting the current state of play regarding the rainfall and water capacity of the various rivers and streams that make up the area. I found this particularly fascinating, not least because it's the sort of thing we almost certainly wouldn't ever do in the UK. Our rainfall is much lower of course.
There are two shopping malls in Nakhon Si Thammarat, but the old one is closing down as a new one has stolen all their custom. This has shifted the focus of the city to its southern fringes, and is damaging the prosperity of the shops at its northern end. We headed to Central Plaza to go to KFC, as Gao had told me that Thai KFC is amongst the best in the world. Before we went there, though, I thought it would be fascinating to check out a local supermarket. It was largely the same as ones back home, except the fruit they had on sale was somewhat different. The KFC itself, admittedly, was better than any in Europe but I always find KFC disappointing. As is so often the case, the chicken had spent too long under the heat lamps and was somewhat dry. The original chicken was particularly average, but the extra crispy one did at least preserve the moisture of the meat. We also tried some rather anemic looking nuggets, while the fries are much the same as anywhere. After this, we had a pleasant amble around the mall, checking out the local shops. Gao wanted to go to the cinema and see what Zootopia 2 merch they had, but there wasn't too much. We also saw a cute green dragon advertising a local Bar-B-Q place.
Night had fallen by this point, so we decided to check out the city at night. The temple is particularly striking when lit up, with the gold aura adding a mystic air, but of course the complex itself was closed. This meant there was little to do but drink and Gao was delighted to discover a number of craft beer bars to choose from. We ended up in one called Rusty, where we sat outside in their beer garden and had a pleasant craft beer. The one Gao had chosen was too strong for him and I ended up finishing it, but I didn't want to have too much as I may have turned into the vomiting Pingu that the sign above the sink warned me about. As I have already said, I wanted to stay out later, but I had to deal with this work issue so Gao drove me to my hotel shortly after 9pm. We did also have a very early start the next morning to get to the airport in Krabi for our flight to FURUM. I really enjoyed looking around Nakhon Si Thammarat as it was a real slice of provincial Thailand that I would otherwise have not seen. Gao was also a great host so hopefully I can come back.
