The Places Lonely Planet Fails to Mention

Last weekend I went on a trip to Pattalung to help run a Junior Tourist Guide English Camp. Before we left I wanted to read up on where we were going so I broke out my lonely planet (edition oldish cause I bought it at the used bookstore) to see what they had to say about Pattalung. The only problem was that once I got to the Southern Thailand section Pattalung didn't have it's own sub-section...they were just a place on the map that LP decided wasn't interesting enough to mention. I'm sure Surat would be given the same treatment if they weren't the most convenient way to get to Samui (and LP basically says you don't want to get stuck here on our few pages). Well after becoming highly disappointed in my handy-dandy guide book I shrugged my shoulders and packed an overnight bag.

For some god-forsaken reason they decided that we had to make the 3 hour trek to Pattalung on Saturday morning which ment we had to leave at 5am. I was not a happy camper when I was told that but I woke up at 4:30 got ready and then promptly passed out in Tor's car once we hit the road. Once we arrived in Pattalung we headed to Lampam Resort to start the camp. We spent all day Saturday teaching the students about being a good tourist guide, I taught them how to introduce themselves and give directions. We had a lot of fun...especially when they got to correct me because I screwed up the readings or couldn't find the 15th word on the WordFind (because it was freaking backward).

After we had dinner we had yet another session (I'm pretty sure 12 hours of teaching is a Thai thing) where the students wrote and practiced their groups tourist guide speech. I had to help them adapt their speeches from the examples they were given because they didn't realize that they couldn't copy word for word since most of it wasn't relevant to the group they would be leading. After this ridiculously long day I got to go crash in my bungalow which surprisingly I didn't have to share.

On Sunday we woke up at 7am for breakfast and then piled into the buses after it stopped pouring rain. We went to 6 different 'tourist attractions' around the town. We started at Lampam 'beach' which was basically across the road. It wasn't really a beach...more like a walkway on the edge of Songkhla Lake which was huge!

The next stop was the old/new palace which was an interesting example of old Thai architecture. For the homes of the provincial lord the palaces were pretty small. They were just a couple bedrooms, cooking area, and a few rooms that weren't described.

The third stop was Wat Wang (or the low temple, because it's in a valley). We didn't spend much time at the temple and we weren't able to go inside. But I did get the students to explain to me why the year on one of the signs was from the 'future' 2536 (AKA 1993).

Then we went to Wat Khu Ha Sawan (or the high temple, because it's on the mountain) which was the first royal temple in Pattalung. At first it looked like just a normal temple with a little more glitz but then we went into a cave behind the main temple. In the cave there were a bunch of Buddha statues including a large reclining Buddha (which the students called a sleeping Buddha) and a large sitting Buddha. Also in the cave were the initials of the royals who have visited the temple. The initials were carved into the walls and gold leafed. Honestly, this temple alone was definitely worth the trip down to Pattalung.

Our fifth stop was a small 'temple' in the middle of a roundabout. The Buddha was a gift to the province from the king.

Our last stop was a meditation retreat. We climbed up part of the mountain and got to see an awesome view of the city. Then Tor, Ying, and I were given gift baskets full of Pattalung treats before we headed back up to Surat.

While Pattalung city was not the most breathtaking city in Southern Thailand and the sites were not the most exciting...except for Wat Khu Ha Sawan. I am so glad I went on this trip since I never would have made it to Pattalung otherwise.

Pictures will be up soon.

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