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Hat Yai to Trang
16th Feb - Hat Yai to Rattaphum
17th Feb - Rattaphum to Ban Mae Khri
19th Feb - Ban Mae Khri to Patthalung
21st Feb - Patthalung to Na Wong
22nd Feb - Na Wong to Trang
These are some of the sights along the route north from Hat Yai to Patthalung then west over the mountains to Trang.
Distance 179 km - total 236 km.
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Just north of Hat Yai, the countryside turns from the rubber plantations to rolling forest covered hills.
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Dennis stayed in a wat near Rattaphum -
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- within the forests and lakes
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Route 4 from Rattaphum north is the wide dual-carriageway connecting southern Thailand with Bangkok. It is lined with cultivated rice fields and these amazing volcanic outcrops, which are the cores of long extinct volcanos.
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North of Rattaphum
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This one opposite a wide roofed bus shelter is typical of many in the region. The softer tefra has been eroded away leaving the hard volcanic core, which is often quarried for housing foundations and road construction.
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South of Ban Pa Bon Tam
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This new round under construction at Ban Mae Khri shows how it is done. The finely crushed volcanic core material is laid and cambered. It is then rolled, watered and re-rolled several times until it turns into a concrete like surface, before the final tarmacadem layer is applied.
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Ban Mae Khri
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The rice fields on the flat land between Hat Yai and Patthalung are irrigated with a network of dams and canals. The sluice gates control the water flow into the fields.
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Irrigation Dam and Canal at Ban Mae Khri
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Irrigation Sluice Gate
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Down on the farm
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Village Wat
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The Song Bird Man
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These sturdy Mercedes buses ply the routes of Thailand. This one runs from Trang to Hat Yai.
The driver, who also drives the Hat Yai to Pedang Besar route, had seen Dennis several times on his travels.
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One of the Trang to Hat Yai Buses
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Patthalung lies on the north of the Songkhla Lake and its skyline is dominated by Khao Chaison (Chaison Mountain) rising majestically from the flat plane to the south of the city.
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Khao Chaison
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Patthalung
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Patthalung Sunset
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The road west from Patthalung rises steeply to the Khao Chang (Elephant Mountain) range.
Nestling beneath the towering outcrops, high up in the mountains, Dennis found this mountain retreat, the Red Rock Resort.
Run by a couple of mountain people Dennis slept the night on a bamboo bed, under a bamboo roof, beneath the stars.
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Red Rock Resort
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Red Rock Resort
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Mountain Folk
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