This time we only stayed for
lunch. With a mini-van we crossed over to the west side of Thailand,
the Andaman coast, where it is warmer and sunnier.
In Satun we received
a warm welcome in our guesthouse / resort.
Home sweet home
This was our fourth time in Satun in five years. And we
still find it delightful. How come? It’s a combination of many things.
The resort where we stay is beautiful. The cottages are
designed tastefully and maintained well. Comfortable bed and plenty of
space. A private veranda overlooking the well-tended garden. The pool is great
to cool down in the afternoon.
Usually It’s not crowded. On weekdays but a few houses are
occupied, during the weekend more. The visitors are a mix of Westerners living
on Langkawi and Malaysian and Thai families. Almost always quiet people. The
staff is always nice and helpful.
The resort is located on the outskirts of town, between cow
pastures and tall palm and tamarind trees. When the sun rises, there's an
incredible noise of birds and insects, accompanied by the call for prayer in
the distance.
It’s a 15 minute walk down town. Satun is a small town, with
several restaurants that we like. Rich, creamy Thai curry in one, spicy Malay
noodles in another, English pizza at Bobby's, one of the few expats living
here.
Almost every walk in town we experience something new or
unexpected. We discover a new street of a new store, we have coffee in a new
coffee shop, we see cats sleeping in the strangest places, we see a snake
zigzagging across the road, we see a new construction project of a dilapidated
corner.
Outside the city you can make the most beautiful walks.
Alongside rubber plantations and fish ponds, or through the mangrove forests.
In a rubber plantation we saw trees with the cups filled
with fresh rubber. Normally they are emptied early in the morning, or you see
old neglected trees.
Walking through the mangrove forest we came as close as 8½km
to the Malaysian border. As the crow flies. With impenetrable mangrove, swamp,
delta and jungle in between. It would be 80km by road.
We made two trips out of town. The young lady who made us an ice coffee 5 years ago, and who made an impression because of the
mindfulness and love she applied to that, had moved a few times and now had a
coffee stall 30km away. It was lovely to see her again.
Our receptionist invited us for a trip to a fishing
village that until recently was only accessible by boat. Now you drive 10km through
mangrove forests on a wide and winding road. The hamlet is a different side of Thailand:
simple wooden houses on stilts, life here is hard and shabby.
We spoke two volunteers who worked for a year in a similar
village. That’s tough: nobody speaks decent English, never eating good food,
completely depending on yourself.
Red Bull
The only thing that can give you a boost in this oppressive
heat is an iced coffee. Specifically one with condensed milk ánd coffee milk ánd
milk powder. It is refreshing and energizing at the same time. The combination
of caffeine, sugar and milk fats apparently has this special effect - for hours
you are wide awake.
The recipe for Red Bull is derived from this.
You may think that Red Bull comes from Austria. No, it is a
Thai thing, but the inventor had an Austrian partner for the global marketing.
That has proved successful, one might say. The Yoovidhya family is one of the
richest in Thailand.
I’ll take the "original version" - sometimes with
milk and sometimes black - but always with less sugar than the Thai do.
Chinese New Year
Some Thai cities, like Ayutthaya and Trang, have a prominent
Chinese population and CNY eclipses public life for weeks. There are markets,
fairs, stages with music and shows, parades with dragons and drums, everyone
wears new red clothes, and meals are put on a table for their ancestors.
Much less so in Satun. Still, a lot of red lanterns dangle
throughout the city. Many businesses are closed for a few days or a week, so
the already quiet city seems almost extinct.
People are broad minded here, which is prooved by Muslima’s
wearing red CNY dresses.
Cats and dogs
In general you can say that cities are feline territories,
and the countryside is canine territory. That is why in Asia, when you take a
walk out of town, you always need a stick. Cyclists tell me they go right for
the calves. If you are going to cycle here, a rabies vaccination is
recommended. Then you have 48 hours instead of 24 hours to find the life-saving
serum, if you get bitten.
According to this classification Satun is a town - just.
During the day, you see cats walking
around, or sleeping on the sidewalk in front of their house / shop. They push
their head against your legs and let themselves be stroked under their chin and
purr.
But after 8 o'clock at night, when it is dark and it gets
quieter, the dogs take over the streets. Packs of dogs roam, and where you
could easily pass a sleeping dog during the day, now they bark at you. The
first gets the next started, and before you know it you have a whole bunch
coming after you. They are not completely wild though: if they come too close,
it is usually enough to raise a finger (literally) and then they back off.
The cats have withdrawn further, you can still see them
sleeping here and there, but they keep still.
No comments:
Post a Comment