We woke up early in the morning and checked out from Palm Payom Village Resort. We would drive back to Hat Yai today thru Songkla City.
On the way to Songkla, we just stopped by a beach nearby and walked down to check the scenery and the seaside.
Then we continued our journey about another half an hour then we came to the jetty as we were taking the car ferry across into Songkla City.
It was a fun experience for us too. We just parked our car after we drove into the ferry. Then, we walked out from our car and took some photographs on the ferry.
The journey did not take long, after we docked at the other side, along with us were the motorbikes and pedestrians as well. The first destination at Songkla City is the Great Serpent Naga.
The Great Serpent Naga is regarded by locals as a sacred site, but spiritual reasons aside, the majestic Naga head does indeed have a monumental beauty that makes it a magical must-see in Songkhla.
Divided into three separate parts, the serpentine head faces Songkhla Lake and pulls double duty as a 9-meter high water spewing fountain. Created in 2006 the serpent’s sea green patina perfectly belies its age and has a beguiling power over visitors.
Unfortunately, it was under renovation and it is hoisted up and we were unable to go near to take the photo together with the Naga head. We just took the nearest that we can.
After which we stop a while at the park as there is a figure monument there to remember the Prince of Chumphon for his contribution to the country. There are some write up about him and torpedo displays.
The serpent’s mid-section is in Sculpture Garden Chaloem Phrakiat as a mysterious u-shaped metallic structure. We managed to find the mid-section and took a photo.
Then we hunted for the tail section. The tail emerges even farther south with even less fan fair, totaling a three-kilometer length from head to tail.
Thus, we came to the famous Samila Beach. Songkhla’s Samila Beach has not succumbed, like so many seafront communities, to mass development.
Its natural beauty and local charm has been well preserved. The length of east coast shoreline is an endless golden sand beach with plenty of shady pine trees.
It is a magnet for locals as well as tourists, especially on the weekends and holidays. We were surprised to find that no one donning swimwear, then only to know that because sun bathing does not seem particularly encouraged or discouraged.
Many of the visitors seem content to simply enjoy the festive, relaxed environment fully clothed. But the shallow sea is calm and relatively clear and certainly splash-worthy on a sunny day.
There are less populated stretches of Samila Beach for visitors to explore and have more privacy. Head north towards Laem Son On (Pine Tree Cape) or south of the Golden Mermaid Statue as Samila Beach becomes Chalatat Beach.
Some areas are more isolated than others, so exercising common sense, safety precautions would be wise. The majority of the beach scene is concentrated in the area of the iconic Golden Mermaid Statue.
It is the most prominent of the statues and sculptures that make their appearances throughout the seafront areas of Sculpture Garden Chaloem Phrakiat and nearby Seri Park.
We can see plenty of vendors congregate along the beachfront, selling everything from cheap eats to Songkhla souvenirs. To our surprise there were so many tourists that wanted to take photo with the golden mermaid statue.
And the golden mermaid statue is not so huge that we thought. It is just a small one. We just took from far the mermaid statue. In the end, we were unable to locate the tail section of the Naga.
It was too hot for us to wonder around the city. We drove through the Songkla Old Town and we were pleasantly surprised to find lots of street art adorning various walls and sidewalks.
At a glance I thought I was at George Town Penang as the art work is of equal quality and variety as the higly popular street art of Geroge Town and Ipoh. I just took some photos in the car during passing through all those streets arts.
The Old Town community art project apparently began in 2016, thus they have only just started and have plenty of room to expand their impressive efforts.
It was already 12 noon when we passed through the Songkla Old Town and headed to our next destination – Khlong Hae Floating Market. It was kind of far from the city, and it took us about an hour to reach there.
We were a little dissapointed as the Floating Market not opened yet. The market itself is can split to 2 parts – one is along the river whereby all the merchant boats are parked along the river and selling the local streets food in the boat.
Another part is at the land whereby all sorts of things from clothing, shoes, soveniors to food can find there. All of the stalls were not open and we were told by one of the vendors that it is only open from 5.00pm onwards.
It was only 1.00pm when we were there. So we decided to drive back to Hat Yai straight after seeing no point that we waited there and we felt as it actually enough for us to see the Khlong Daen Floating Market on this trip.
Thus, we just continue back to Hat Yai and checked into Grand Plaza Hotel, where we spent the last night at Hat Yai. We had our late lunch around 3.00pm near the hotel, then we had a rest and took a bath at the hotel.
We had our dinner around 7.00pm at our favourite McDonald’s at Lee Garden. Grand Plaza Hotel is actually just next to Lee Garden. There is a Lee Garden Hatyai Walking Street just outside the Lee Garden at night.
There were so many variety of streets food here. It is just like a mini Asean Bazaar whereby we can find most of the Asean food here.
We were too tired for the night. We sleep early this night as it is the last night at Hat Yai. Tomorrow we would be leaving and back to Malaysia.
