Hatyai, Thailand
I had never been to Hatyai before October last year, but I realise that it's usually when you expect nothing from travelling to a place that you get so much more in return. Here's to some tasty Thai #foodporn, 30 baht Hello Kitty mugs, and an exclusive makeup haul too.
My dad drove us there in the family Innova (Toyota please sponsor us, we love your cars), and I swear the van is perfect for road trips like these. The drive was about 6 hours, and we didn't think of putting sunscreen on our faces, so we got sunburnt. :) I know you'd think you wouldn't have to put on sunscreen when you're in the car, but we found out the hard way that you actually do, haha.
But taking the car was the best decision we made because there is no limit to what you can carry there and what you can bring back home. So you can imagine the amount of shopping my family of three women did (we're missing Ashleigh, who would've made it four women versus my dad, but let's not get too excited).
Crossing the border, the internet/lines immediately go dead - and this really made me think about how countries operate their telco systems (would love if someone could explain to me in detail about how this works, I love learning about things like this). However, there's no real need to get roaming. Here's how my family did it:
Before the internet got cut on our phones, we looked up our hotel on Google Maps so we would have the route established. Now if you go the wrong way it won't recalculate, but the location services continue to work even without the internet. So you can just figure out where you need to go by following the blue dot that designates your location. #firstworldnavigation
Plus, the hotel, the malls, and most anywhere you go in Hatyai will have WiFi. If you really need to stay connected (and I'm against this because vacation time should really be about being present), just have one person buy roaming and hotspot it. Easy.
The hotel we stayed at was actually really cute. And I know I overuse those words but I mean it literally this time - the place is built like a long driveway with lots of tropical greenery leading up to a tiny roundabout anchored by a stone fountain with angels. The rooms are basically semi-D villas, and each has a porch for you to park your car and I'm crying as I'm typing this because it just sounds so ridiculously adorable - like a mini Stepford neighbourhood. 😭
Just so you know, and for future reference to any of the travel posts I write, my family does not like to tour. We like to wing it. So we visited a lot of market streets, did a lot of roadside shopping, and we also went to some of Hatyai's really gorgeous malls. Most of them are as good as KL's if not even better because of the different selections of foreign brands. I swear I've never bought so many Soap & Glory products in my entire life (Boots carries their makeup line on top of the regular skin care products you can get in KL).
My dad even snuck in some time to go fishing. If I haven't mentioned this before, you'll now know that my father loves fishing, I love to learn about fish, and Lesley loves to eat fish. At any rate, your best bet for fishing ponds, diving spots, and islands across Malaysia (and I guess a greater part of Southeast Asia) is to ask him. Or me, and then I'll check again with him.
I'm not gonna lie, the Klonghae Floating Market was actually where I took the bulk of my photos. We parked a little ways off from the entrance of the market near this area pictured below, and walked the rest of the way. As you can tell, it's very scenic and we had a lovely stroll towards the river. We were in luck too, it was cloudy overhead with no rain so we didn't get sunburnt this time, but the pictures did turn out a little moody.
You'll find that it's not just foreigners who visit the place, but a lot of locals go by too, and it feels way more like a community than a tourist spot honestly. You'll have fellow Thai folks buying goods off the boats, looking after each other's kids at the shops; we were even fortunate enough to witness their national anthem being played and everyone stood still or got up in respect for it. And I feel like it's these little things that make travel worthwhile - it's not so much about luxurious hotels or fancy restaurants, it's about experiencing another culture and the way people live outside of your own world.
So to more explorations.
With love,
Megan
My dad drove us there in the family Innova (Toyota please sponsor us, we love your cars), and I swear the van is perfect for road trips like these. The drive was about 6 hours, and we didn't think of putting sunscreen on our faces, so we got sunburnt. :) I know you'd think you wouldn't have to put on sunscreen when you're in the car, but we found out the hard way that you actually do, haha.
But taking the car was the best decision we made because there is no limit to what you can carry there and what you can bring back home. So you can imagine the amount of shopping my family of three women did (we're missing Ashleigh, who would've made it four women versus my dad, but let's not get too excited).
Crossing the border, the internet/lines immediately go dead - and this really made me think about how countries operate their telco systems (would love if someone could explain to me in detail about how this works, I love learning about things like this). However, there's no real need to get roaming. Here's how my family did it:
Before the internet got cut on our phones, we looked up our hotel on Google Maps so we would have the route established. Now if you go the wrong way it won't recalculate, but the location services continue to work even without the internet. So you can just figure out where you need to go by following the blue dot that designates your location. #firstworldnavigation
Plus, the hotel, the malls, and most anywhere you go in Hatyai will have WiFi. If you really need to stay connected (and I'm against this because vacation time should really be about being present), just have one person buy roaming and hotspot it. Easy.
The hotel we stayed at was actually really cute. And I know I overuse those words but I mean it literally this time - the place is built like a long driveway with lots of tropical greenery leading up to a tiny roundabout anchored by a stone fountain with angels. The rooms are basically semi-D villas, and each has a porch for you to park your car and I'm crying as I'm typing this because it just sounds so ridiculously adorable - like a mini Stepford neighbourhood. 😭
My dad even snuck in some time to go fishing. If I haven't mentioned this before, you'll now know that my father loves fishing, I love to learn about fish, and Lesley loves to eat fish. At any rate, your best bet for fishing ponds, diving spots, and islands across Malaysia (and I guess a greater part of Southeast Asia) is to ask him. Or me, and then I'll check again with him.
I'm not gonna lie, the Klonghae Floating Market was actually where I took the bulk of my photos. We parked a little ways off from the entrance of the market near this area pictured below, and walked the rest of the way. As you can tell, it's very scenic and we had a lovely stroll towards the river. We were in luck too, it was cloudy overhead with no rain so we didn't get sunburnt this time, but the pictures did turn out a little moody.
You'll find that it's not just foreigners who visit the place, but a lot of locals go by too, and it feels way more like a community than a tourist spot honestly. You'll have fellow Thai folks buying goods off the boats, looking after each other's kids at the shops; we were even fortunate enough to witness their national anthem being played and everyone stood still or got up in respect for it. And I feel like it's these little things that make travel worthwhile - it's not so much about luxurious hotels or fancy restaurants, it's about experiencing another culture and the way people live outside of your own world.
So to more explorations.
With love,
Megan
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