June 26-29, 2014 ---- After visiting all our friends in the South, Nathan and I headed to Phatthalung province to do more research about the Brahmans. We took a morning train from Surat Thani, and three hours later we were in the middle of Phatthalung City. To be honest, I don't know much about this province. I can't think of any tourist attraction that is worth the trip. There hasn't been much advertisement about the province from the Thai Tourism Authority either.
However, when we were wandering around there, we found it to be quite pleasant. We met many kind local people who were happy to help us get around. The locals seemed to have simple and peaceful lives, and the scenery of the limestone mountains, green forests, and rice paddies was so relaxing. There are places that might attract tourists, such as Thale Noi, but I think this province better suits tourists who prefer to enjoy the local lifestyle rather than seeing "famous" tourist sites.
Train Ride: Surat Thani - Phatthalung
The Central Hotel Phatthalung
This is probably the best hotel is Phatthalung City. It's located just a 5-minute walk from the train station. The room we got was clean and comfortable, and we had a nice view of the city too. The receptionist also helped us with arranging our transportation in and around the city, and everything went perfectly as we hoped for. Nothing to complain about at all.
Wat Khao O วัดเขาอ้อ
There were two temples in Phatthalung that Nathan wanted to visit to find some evidence of Brahmans and Brahmanism in southern Thailand. The first one was Wat Khao O located about half an hour of driving from the city. We didn't hire a car then, so we just took a local train (free for Thai citizens) to the closest station to the temple.
Once we arrived, we couldn't find any "motorcycle taxi" around the station, but luckily we met a very kind person who worked at the station and offered us a ride to the temple, and later he took us to everywhere we wanted for a small charge.
Wat Khao O is known for making famous Buddhist amulets. Our little research went well as we got a chance to interview a person who acted as a "Brahman" in many ceremonies for making amulets. It was difficult to understand his southern accent, but we managed it.
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| Free train ride for Thai citizens |
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| Southern style spicy grilled chicken |
Wat Khien Bang Kaeo วัดเขียนบางแก้ว
On our third day in Phatthalung, we decided to hire a car to take us
around so that we could see more of the city. The first place we went
was Wat Khien Bang Kaeo because there used to be a Brahman temple
located somewhere on the grounds of this current Buddhist temple. Also, the temple
has a museum that collects some artifacts found around the temple, and
we were just wondering if there was any Brahman-related artifact we
could see.
After spending most of the day at Wat Khien Bang Kaeo, our driver took us too see some tourist attractions around Phatthalung City. We visited the Old Palace, the New Palace, Wat Wang, Sri Pakpra, and Thale Noi. Among these, Thale Noi is probably the main tourist attraction, but because we went there in the evening, the lotuses weren't blooming anymore. It was still nice to be there, though.
Wang Kao วังเก่า (Old Palace)
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| Thai-style house |
Wang Mai วังใหม่ (New Palace)
Wat Wang วัดวัง
Sri Pakpra
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| fishing nets |
Thale Noi ทะเลน้อย
Khao Ok Thalu เขาอกทะลุ
On our last day in city, we decided to go hiking on Khao Ok Thalu, the symbol of Phatthalung province. This limestone mountain is about 250 meters high with over a thousand stairsteps to the top where there is a big hole that you can look through to the other side. The name "Ok Thalu" can be translated literally as "a hole in the chest" and I think that is how it describes the mountain.
Nathan and I hired a motorcycle taxi to take us to where the trailhead starts, and took the steps all the way to the top. Because it is dangerous to hang around the big hole on the top of the mountain, there is fence protecting you from falling. We didn't stay long up there because it was going to rain and there was no place along the trail that could shelter us. Luckily we got back down before the rain was pouring hard, and there was a kind lady who drove us back to the city.
To Rung Market ตลาดโต้รุ่ง
There are many places you can find good food in Phatthalung City. Nathan and I usually ate breakfast and lunch at a municipal market close to the hotel and had our dinner at To Rung Market located across the street from the train station. Food was relatively cheap in Phatthalung, and we really enjoyed the local dining style there. So much great street food!
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| Pad Thai |
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| fried meat balls |
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| mango and sweet sticky rice |
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| To Rung Market |
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| Mussel pancake |
Train Ride: Phatthalung - Bangkok
Our trips in southern Thailand were really enjoyable. We spent about 2 weeks wandering around from province to province and used a lot of local transportation. On our way back to Bangkok, we wanted to experience Thai long-distance rail, so we booked 2nd class sleepers on an overnight train to BKK. Our experience was terrible! The train was canceled at the last minute, and we changed to a new train that came many hours late, so we arrived BKK several hours behind the schedule....
However, the sleepers were quite comfortable, and the food was good.
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| Lower bed: 2 seats were converted into a sleeping bed |
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| Upper bed: the bed was pulled down from the ceiling |
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| Hot and delicious breakfast |