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| Central Hat Yai, Thailand |
Day 12 - Thursday Dec 1 2022 - after a 17 hour of sleeper train ride from Hua Lamphong > Hat Yai Junction; upon arrival, our group put up a night in Red Planet Hotel, Hat Yai (last minute shopping !) & enjoyed our free time either resting in our hotel or visiting the nearby Kim Yong market & Lee Garden Plaza & Hotel Night Market. As for me, I made use of the afternoon & visited 3 Buddhist temples & street art in central Hat Yai ! In the evening, our group savoured a bowl of duck meat rice noodle & bite-sized snacks / desserts nearby the Lee Garden Night Market !
1) Hotel Accommodation (final night stay) - Red Planet Hotel (3 star), 152, Niphat Uthit 2 Road, Hatyai, Thailand - Standard double room, online booking 543bht (Rm70=US$16.30) per night, ideal location, within walking distance to the Hat Yai railway station (approx 400m) & Lee Garden Night Market & Kim Yong Market.
2) Inquiring & buying bus tickets for our return bus journey from Hatyai > Kuala Lumpur, our group decided to buy our bus tickets from New Alisan Golden Coach Express & Tour Company Ltd, Hatyai - one way bus ticket Hatyai > Kuala Lumpur - 620bht (Rm80.60).
3) Our group breakfast at a Food Stall near Red Planet Hotel, KM's delight - a plate of roasted pork rice @70bht & my wife preferred chicken rice @ 70bht (Rm9.10 = US$2.10)
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| Roasted pork rice 70bht (Rm9.10) |
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| Chicken rice 70bht (Rm9.10) |
4) Last minute shopping in Kim Yong Market, Hatyai, Thailand; bought home a few varieties of pork dumplings, petai (bitter bean plant), nian gao (Chinese New Year cake) & cashew nuts etc.
5) Bought home some Thai delicacies, pork dumplings, Chinese New Year cake & cashew nuts etc
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| Pork Dumpling @30bht (Rm3.90) |
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Triangular Shaped Dumpling
@20bht (Rm2.60) |
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10 pieces Red Bean Dumpling
@100bht (Rm13) |
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| Petail (10 stalks) 100bht (Rm13) |
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| Nian Gao @100bht (Rm13) |
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| Cashew Nuts 340bhts (Rm44.20) per kilo |
6) Jalan Jalan (Walkabout) in Hat Yai town centre at my own leisure while my wife had a well-earned rest at the hotel after an overnight 12-hour train ride from Bangkok! Visited Buddhist temples, Street Art etc ...
Wat Chu Chang, 55, Supasarnrangsan Rd, Tambon Hatyai, Thailand
Wat Thaworn Wararam, Chua Khanh Tho, Soi Watthavorn, Tambon Hatyai, Thailand
Wat Lian Hua Ko, Tambon Hatyai, Thailand
Street Art, 149, Tambon Hatyai, Thailand
7) Downtown Hat Yai, Thailand - my stray walking, just walk & walk & get a feel of this popular town in Southern Thailand - a Malaysian favorite's tourist destination ! I see, I hear, I smell so put your six sense in action & explore this Hat Yai town, light & easy !
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| Robinson Department Store, Hat Yai |
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| Kim Yong Market, Hat Yai |
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| Odean Department Store, Hat Yai |
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| Wungnoy Hotel, Hat Yai |
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| New Season Hotel, Hat Yai |
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| Mayflower Grande Hotel, Hat Yai |
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| Regency Hotel, Hat Yai |
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| Lee Garden Plaza Hotel, Hat Yai |
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| Sakura Hotel, Hatyai |
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| Grand Pink Hotel, Hat Yai |
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| Grand Plaza Hotel, Hat Yai |
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| Food Court, Hat Yai |
9) Group dinner at a popular Duck Noodle stall behind Lee Garden Plaza & Hotel - 2 bowls of duck meat rice noodle soup + 1 bowl of bitter gourd filled with ground meat noodle soup + 1 plate of siew mai (dim sum snack) = 200bhts (Rm26), also bought 3 assorted individual wrapped packets of bite-sized snacks / desserts from a nearby street food stall.
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| Siew Mai (Dim Sum Snack or Dumpling) |
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| Duck Meat Rice Noodle Soup |
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| Bite-Sized Snacks / Dessert |
10) Group evening visit in Lee Garden Night Market, Hat Yai, Thailand, lesser crowd at the night market as it was a weekday ....
Day 13 - Friday 2022 (Final Day) - a long 11 hour arduous bus journey from Hat Yai (09.15) > Kuala Lumpur; my preference is to take the KTM train but unfortunately all the KTM train tickets were fully booked (after checking the KTM website) on our day of departure ! Our bus arrived in BTS Terminal at around 20.30 ! Due to the monsoon season, so expect gloomy weather, heavy rain & slow traffic along the North South Highway !
Travel itinerary: Hatyai, Thailand > Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (approx 542km) by bus.
1) Tuk Tuk pick up from Red Planet Hotel to Alisan Golden Coach & Travel Company for our boarding of Alisan coach departing 08.30 (but due to unforeseen circumstances, there was a delay of 1hr 15 minutes) from Hatyai > Bandar Tasik Selatan (BTS) Terminal, Kuala Lumpur ! A better option is to take a shuttle train from Hat Yai Junction ETD 07.30 to Padang Besar, Thai / Malaysian border if you had pre-booked a KTM train ticket for your return journey from Padang Besar, Malaysia to KL Sentral or spot buy the train ticket from the KTM Ticketing Counter in Padang Besar, Malaysia if tickets are still available for sale !
2) Suburban scenery as viewed from the bus windows along Hat Yai town > Sadao, Thailand.
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| Asean Plaza, Hatyai |
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| Central Festival, Hatyai |
3) Sadao Immigration Check Point, Thailand - no major hassle, just queue up (Thai citizens had a separate line up) & present your passport for stamping together with a copy of your departure card, queuing may take 15 to 20 minutes depending on the crowd !
4) Malaysia Immigration Check Point - passport screening & luggage scanning before boarding the coach for our return journey to Kuala Lumpur, no undue delay & just a short queue up waiting for your turn to present your passport for processing.
4) After the Malaysian Immigration clearance, a 20 minutes short break at a Food Court near Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah, ordered a cup of hot coffee (Rm2.40) & savoured a Thai pork dumpling as my simple lunch of the day !
5) R & R Highway Stops - 3 short breaks for toilet runs & light refreshments along the North South Highway - oldies like me (at aged 72) needs washroom visits (answer the call of nature) every 2 to 3 hours !
6) Country roads take me home to the place I belong ! But gloomy weather, scattered thunderstorms, heavy rain greeted us along the North South Highway ! Rain or shine, my group was too eager to get home ....
7) Arriving at the Bandar Tasik Selatan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - waiting for my son's pick up at the TBS Main Lobby Complex, observed long queue of cars lining up, picking passengers, family members or friends on arrivals! Home Sweet Home at last after a 13 days whirlwind free & easy visit to Hat Yai, Songkhla, Hua Hin & Bangkok together with my wife & 3 of my travel buddies! This was my 2nd overseas visit (Singapore was my first) during the post covid-19 period! Well done, KM & his travel group - another great outcome as my last visit to Thailand was in Jan 2019! What's next? Laos (high speed train rides & Mekong River boat cruise) or Vietnam (Sapa & Halong Bay) .... but from now on, I need a good rest to recover my energy ....
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