Hat Yai

We arrived in Hat Yai with P. A, Wongchan's student, just before dinner time. Bas and her husband took us from the bus station to their house, which was the nicest house we have seen in Thailand. Once we dropped off our luggage, we went to dinner with the two of them and Bas' father at a Chinese restaurant. The food was definitely not like Chinese food at home. Everything was served on a revolving table so that everyone shared each dish until we were all stuffed! They took us for a short tour through Hat Yai's hospital after. Bas is an OB-GYN, her husband is a neurologist and her father is a surgeon and the hospital director, so it was easy for us to walk right in. We saw the outside of the NICU, and went into the cardiovascular surgery recovery area. 

After a good night's rest, we left early in the morning with Wongchan and her husband for breakfast. We went to another Chinese restaurant and had dim sum. Then we went on a road trip with Wongchan and P. A to a resort about four hours away, near Khanom. The resort was eco-friendly with a jungle theme and we stayed in individual huts (with real beds, running water and electricity). We ate a "light" lunch, which made us all feel like we might explode, then went exploring. There was a creek running through the area with the same fish in it that nibble at your feet, so we got another pedicure. These fish were a little more painful than the others but we survived. Over the creek was a ropes course that we played around on for a while before going to the sheep farm. The resort had about 20 sheep that you could pet and pay to feed.

The man working at the sheep farm recommened a beach to us, so we got in the car and went to find it. After just a couple wrong turns, we arrived at a little bay with small restaurants and shops. We got in the water to find out that it was surprisingly warm and the bottom was all clay that we sunk in to our knees. We entertained ourselves for a while with some coconuts we found, took some pictures, then headed out for dinner. The restaurant was on the same beach, and we were seated on the sand and got to watch the sunset while we ate. It was gorgeous!  Dinner consisted of lots and lots of seafood, so we were once again very full. Back at the resort, we all felt in desperate need of a workout so Colleen conducted a water aerobics class in the pool. Now we are all in excellent shape, of course.

Today we woke up early again to grab breakfast and headed back to the beach. We waded out through the clay to a longtail boat, which picked us up for some sightseeing. Apparently the area is known for a rare breed of pink dolphins, but we weren't really expecting to see them. Once the boat was free from the clay, we left the bay, turned the corner and immediately saw three or four pink dolphins! They swam pretty close to our boat, so we threw fish out to feed them. When they were full, we left for a small island of rocks where a famous Thai singer uses the rocks as her stage for some songs. We climbed around, then headed to another small island where we actually ran into the singer! At the top of this island was a small temple with a Buddha at the top that we stopped at before turning around. Just before we arrived back at the beach we spotted some more dolphins, but they weren't pink this time. 

We got back in the car and drove to Wongchan's friend's restaurant in the city. She made us tons of delicious food, then we changed into suitable temple clothes. Wongchan and P. A took us to a pretty famous temple in the city, where we walked around and went to a small museum. It seems like each time we go to a new temple we learn a little bit more about Buddhism and its symbolism. Wongchan's brother works nearby as a photographer, so we stopped at his studio to say goodbye before splitting up. P. A and Wongchan are en route to Trang for a conference and we took a minibus back to the house in Hat Yai.