…The Continuing Road Trip … More Like A Visit To China.
Hat Yai is right next to Songkhla Town, my destination for Night #1, in Songkhla Province. To be honest, I’m never too sure where Hat Yai ends and Songhkla begins. They seem like one long town. Anyhoo, sandwiched between them is Hat Yai Park, which I’m guessing must be in Hat Yai!
It’s big. Here’s what it looks like on Google Maps…
It’s actually only about 2kms wide and 1km tall, but with all the hills and twisty roads, it takes a while to get between the various attractions, so it probably seems larger than it really is. Thankfully buses are not allowed, and the park provides its own transportation, plus, there’s the cable car to get to the top of the highest hill…
But the very first thing I saw after leaving the park entrance was this…
No, I don’t know either. It seems to be a cross between croquet and golf … the latter because you have to whack the ball some pretty long distances.
The idea though, as far as I can figure, is that when you get to one of these “gates”…
… the ball needs to hit the center “peg” to make it rotate. It all seemed very professional, with an official scorer…
From there it was onwards and upwards. First stop was Phra Phutthamongkol Maharat (Standing Golden Buddha) and to see the views from the lower cable car station. Sadly, the day was quite gloomy, but the Central Mosque was clearly visible. The sea, less so…
Oh yeah. They have flowers. So what about this Standing Golden Buddha?…
Next it was the Hatyai City Bodhisattva Guanyin…
You can probably see what I mean about being in China.
From there, I struggled a bit to find the right road to the Hatyai Fourface Buddha. Many of the roads are one way, which is just as well as they’re only wide enough for one car, so it’s easy to head off in the wrong direction. When I finally arrived, walked up umpteen stone steps, I wished I hadn’t bothered. After all the giant statues, I expected something grand. But it’s just a small statue inside a large building…
At least the “children” had fun…
Slightly more interesting was the three-headed elephant…
So that was it. From woodball to elephant. The whole area is impressive. Nicely laid out gardens and lakes. Everything kept clean and tidy. And good views, which could have been better with some clear air. It occupied a couple of hours at least.