Day #11 (30/6/2020)
Distance travelled: 168.9 km
Morning at the shore of Sadao Lake
The final house we passed last night had a party going on until about 01:00. There was one particular Thai song that was on repeat. I found myself liking the tune and waking up with it in my head; I should have shazamed it and added it to my Spotify list. As we opened the tent door, we straight away commented on how many dragonflies were flying about. There were hundreds! We waited for the mozzie mob to arrive, but none did. Dimi wondered whether dragonflies eat mozzies and he was right; we learned that this is true later on; thank you, dragonflies! Because of you, this day, we were able to laze about and drink a coffee in the tent without our skin crawling.
On the way to Yala
Once Dimi was satisfied with his coffee fix, we packed everything away and I drove us further south. It was a peaceful, scenic route, and the road had us climbing high at times. We spent the rest of the morning in a nice, coffee shop, working. The owner was in awe hearing about our road trip, and before we left, he offered us butterfly-pea flower tea, on the house. For lunch, we went next door, to a Thai woman, on her own, who had cooked a variety of dishes, mainly meat. Dimi helped himself, and I got my usual fried eggs, rice, and veg.
Yala City: Chao Por Lak Muang Shrine
Back in the car, feeling ready to drive the 86 km to the heart of Yala City, I took the wheel and drove us straight there. We parked outside a government building and were greeted with warm smiles by two army guards as we walked over to Chao Por Lak Muang Shrine. The shrine and its park grounds are located smack bang in the middle of a busy, large roundabout. The lady guard followed us over to the shrine and encouraged us to enter inside as we were taking off our shoes to do just that. I always find it enjoyable walking barefoot on the cool floor when exploring a sacred place. It feels very grounding. Back outside, we walked along the pond’s edge and were soon enough pursued by a school of fish, waiting expectantly with their mouths wide-open for food. I didn’t dare ask Dimi again if we could feed them; besides, there were many teenagers doing that job for me. As we walked around the roundabout to continue our stroll, we passed a police station with a line of officers standing to attention outside. We both said it was like a scene out of the film Police Academy; what a throwback!
Yala City: Suan Khwan Muang Park
We came to Suan Khwan Muang Park. It was well-kept and very little littered. Tall, green trees and grass patches surrounded the lake in its midst, which was spanned by a cute, curved bridge. Strolling around, we met a friendly, local girl who enquired, in perfect English, where we come from and what reason brings us to Yala. She and her friend posed for a picture, and before we said our goodbyes, they also asked us to take a selfie together. We crossed the bridge over the lake and got to see just how big and busy the park really was. There we noticed a row of street vendors selling food, and at once, we became hungry. So we decided to go and look at what they had to offer. It was a lively little market, selling only food, mainly fresh fruit and meat skewers. With a bag of pineapple in our hand, we headed towards the lake for a sit-down, passing many locals chilling on picnic blankets along the way. Our last, meaningful encounters, as we left the park to go back to the car, were with a group of lads with a guitar and two playful puppies; both parties were happy to see us. We bumped into no other tourists in the whole city.
From Yala to Bang Lang Reservoir
We left Yala just before sunset to cross over to Bang Lang Reservoir for the night. A large military presence was out in force, patrolling the roads, due to local conflict between the Thai state and the separatist movement of Southern Thailand. The many military checkpoints we had to drive through were encircled by barbed wire and exhibited posters of wanted terrorists. We passed through these checkpoints with no problems, just a quick stare from the guards and a hand wave to keep us moving forward. Some would turn their heads to follow our car. They must have been surprised to see westerners.
Before heading to the lakeshore, we did our usual and pulled up outside a 7/11 to grab tonight’s tea. As we turned the car into the parking bay, we were pounced on by a pair of young sassy lads trying to sell us food. We sat with our ice-creams and watched as they walked up and down, going from car to car and casting a cheeky smile at us when our eyes met. I asked if I could take a picture of them both but they declined with a smirk as they pulled at their hair and sashayed away. In our time spent there, I didn’t see either of them close to a sale.
We entered a narrow Muslim village as darkness fell and a storm gathered right above us. Our plan was to camp beside the lake but the road had us winding steadily up as we travelled further into Bang Lang National Park. After a good time driving, Dimi eventually spotted a track off the main road on MapsMe that would lead us back down to the lake. We took it. It was a tight squeeze but I managed to get us down there slowly to then be stopped by a power plant. What? Where did this come from? Back up we went… Further along the road, I noticed an opening and took us down here, this time passing by several parked scooters. The road came to an end by the lake. Many long and narrowboats were docked here. There was no other space around to move the car or camp, just this one road we had taken. The storm still raged on so we ate our tea and stayed snug in the car for tonight’s sleep.
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