Trip to Haadyai

My parents' 30th anniversary falls on 1st May 2006. Hence I took the opportunity to go back to hometown on that weekend to celebrate with them. We planned to go to Haadyai for one night.

Finally, after years of trying, I've agreed for a trip to Haadyai (or Hat Yai). I've always imagined Haadyai as an ulu place with nothing to entice me.

After sending off my sister at Penang Airport, we headed off to the border town of Bukit Kayu Hitam on Saturday morning. From there we took a taxi to Haadyai. My first impression after crossing the border - seems like a deja vu of my Phuket trip. The buildings, the power cables, the type of vehicles on the roads and the rubber plantations are exactly the same as in Phuket.

We arrived at my uncle's hotel - King's Hotel around 3 (2 local time) in the afternoon. I've always tried to imagine what my uncle's hotel looks like. Unfortunately, the real thing was not as great as what I've imagined.

We checked in to rooms 702 and 704. The rooms are decent for a 40-year old hotel. After taking some rest, we had lunch in a small shop nearby. The price of food is certainly cheap. I managed to snap a few shots of a nice looking lily outside the shop.



One thing I noticed about this place - it's very hot, just like Phuket. Shopping seems to be the main activity for tourists in this city. We walked from shop to shop looking for clothes. Johanna was looking for some office clothes. But there weren't much choices in these shops. They were full of Ah Lian's clothes. Finally we ended up in a department store. What a relief - air conditioner and better choice of clothes. Johanna finally managed to buy few blouses and a suit. I saw quite a number of nice shirts but unfortunately they were all too big for me.

My parents brought us to the busiest part of the city after that. There were many traders along side the roads selling all range of things ranging from local delicacies to imitation handbags and clothes.

We arrived back at the hotel to join my uncle for dinner at a restaurant nearby. I was missing the EPL match between Manchester United and Chelsea. Towards the end of the dinner, I managed to see the score on a TV, 3 - 0 to Chelsea, with minutes left. What a disappointment.

After dinner, my uncle left and we went back to the busy part of the town again. After some exploration, we settled down at a restaurant for some birds nest and ginko soup before calling it a day.


The next morning, we took a tuk tuk to the market area after a disappointing breakfast in a shop near the hotel. The market is huge with a lot of goods on sale. We managed to buy some stuff including some fruits to be given to relatives. We headed off to Carrefour after dropping off the goods we bought at the market.




The Carrefour in Haadyai is very similar to the ones in KL. The price is slightly cheaper though. We managed to buy quite a number of stuff. After walking through the whole store we ate at the food court within the same building before going back to the hotel.

Upon arrival at the hotel, I noticed a signage on top of the elevator - stating that the elevator is the first in Haadyai. Hmm... this hotel has had its glory days in the past.

After packing up, we took a taxi back to the border, the end of our short trip to Haadyai.

This trip has not changed my opinion on Haadyai like the trip to Phuket did. I find the city uninteresting. Other than two tired legs resulted from long shopping trips, there's nothing much I could remember from the trip. And shopping is definitely not something I look forward to in any trips. Looking forward to more exciting trips soon...