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Friday, January 10, 2020

Khao Chaison Hot Spring Phatthalung 26 Dec 2019

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After completing our boat tour, it was already nearly 4.30pm. Alvin drove us to the Khao Chaison Hot Spring.

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The entrance is free but we need to pay for the parking as the parking fee is 20 Baht.

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I was pretty disappointed as how the place is kept, I personally think that there should be a lot upkeep and cleaning need to do at the compound area.

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There are private rooms and function hall to rent here. There are providing Thai massage here too.

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The water is really hot and I can barely put both of my feet inside the pool earlier. After a while then it is ok.

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It is too much for Annabelle to bear the hotness of the water! The locals smile to us when they saw her reactions.

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We were a little bit tired thus we just only soaked our feet in the public pool for about 20 minutes.

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The mountain behind this hot springs is so beautiful and stunning. We do not have much time as we need to check-in to our next hotel at Phatthalung city. We left about 4.45pm.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Tham Nam Yen @ Khao Chaison Phatthalung 26 Dec 2019

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After our lunch at Tonnam Café, we continued our journey to the Tham Nam Yen. We arrived there about 3.15pm. By the time there were quite a number of tourists were waiting for their turn to boating inside the caves.

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We immediately went straight to the information centre to check and wanted to buy a ticket here to go boating to explore the cave. Only that we noticed that the opening time is from 9.00am to 4.30pm.

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There are several activities her, there are 2 types of guided tour: Tham Nam Yen Cave Boat tour costs 200 Baht per boat ad Lorkor Cave Tour costs 200 Baht.

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We do not know if we managed to catch the boat by that time looking at the crowds there. The lady told us to standby at 4.00pm after she calculated the queue in front of us.

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Alvin and I were relieved as we managed to reach here after our delicious meals at Tonnam Café. We walked around the nearby park before we came back for the boat again.

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Tham Nam Yen is a local park in Khao Chaison District of Phatthalung province. It is quite a famous tourists destination in Phatthalung Thailand.

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At the back of the rocky mountain is the Khao Chaison Hot Spring. It is just a walking distance from here.

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This park is big and within the pond, one can do paddle boating here. The park is suitable for picnic too. Locals bring their own mats and food here to have a picnic.

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The place has a lot of trees which shade you from the heat of the sun. It is a good place for relaxing and taking photos. There are public toilets, small stalls, and an restaurant or juice bar.

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After almost nearly 4.00pm, we went back to the boating area and wait for our turn. The ticket to go boating inside the Nam Yen Cave and Lorkor Cave for 200 baht per ride.

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Maximum of 4 people per boat and 30 minutes cave exploration with 2 tour guides. The entrance to go inside is narrow and the tour guide told us to lay down on the boat to enter the cave.

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We entered the cave with a big spotlight provided by the guide, and slowly as the front tour guide rowed the boat into the cave.

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The local tour guide cannot speak English well and fortunate for us, one of the guides able to speak Mandarin and he is trying to explain what is inside the cave.

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Inside the cave are the different rocks formations and stalactites some of them glitter and a lot of bats of coarse.

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Jelly fish

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Elephant head

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Marble patterns

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The tour guide was joking about these look like boobs?

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Looks like coral reefs under the sea

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More formations

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A lot of small bats in the caves

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Waterfall like formations

We are not sure what is the water level inside the cave and the cave smells a little bit bad. At some points of the caves are, we would need to lie down completely on the boat to be able to pass.

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It make us feel a little bit like the real explorers. It is such a good and brand new experiences for all of us!

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Tonnam Cafe @ Kaeng Nam Hu Rae Phattalung 26 Dec 2019

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We left the Stainless Steel Temple or Phra Maha Chedi Tripob Trimongkol nearly 1.00pm. We continue our journey towards north. Our following destination is to have our lunch.

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According to Alvin, it is a place that a little out of the main road and it is a cafe or restaurant which is built along or upon a river. After an hour drive, we reached the place – Kaeng Nam Hu Rae, a stream or river.

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The place do not have a proper parking space so we just park our car under the rubber trees. The place was not so crowded, may be it is because it was already 2.00pm when we arrived.

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Tonnam Cafe is the place we had our late lunch. We came to the kitchen and the indoor dining of the cafe, which there is a small cottage house like nicely decorated and filled with tables and chairs.

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Further down, we saw the riverside is filled with some wooden take took us to the small huts on the river. The place is breezy and has a good atmosphere for relaxing.

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We can see a lot of locals come here on lunch break and late afternoon. The waiter helped us to clean up a hut and we sat on it.

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The river water is moving slowly or normally and it is not deep. The water in the river is cold, crystal clear and clean.

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While having we are having our snacks or lunch here, Alvin and the children soak their feet to feel the coldness of the water.

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One can enjoy swimming too, so its good for a family outing. The river is not deep so the children are safe to swim.

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They serve local foods and it is reasonable price. From the menu, we ordered some delicious dishes.

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Ground Pork Salad

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Green Papaya Salad

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Stir Fried Mince Pork with Basils

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Deep Fried Pork with Garlic

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We love all the dishes here, or may be it is because all of us were too hungry as we ate our lunch only at 2.30pm.

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Finally we had the cooling and fresh iced lemonade to conclude our lunch here. All of us were so satisfied with our lunch here.

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The price is reasonable but the service is little bit slow but still bearable. Maybe they have a lot of orders in queues. Overall is a good experience that we were eating on a small hut on top of the river.