Room 16 on the Second Floor Was Mine

Location: Trang, Thailand

NP: Alexandra Stan – Mr. Saxobeat

Mood: Relaxed

Sri-Trang Hotel has a motto: You’ll call it HOME. I can see it. I can see myself staying there longer and feeling right at home. The hotel was excellent, the best one on the trip so far (Cha-Am’s Nirandorn 3 is a close 2nd) mainly because of small details. In particular the excellent staff (especially the younger Thai man at reception – he was the most helpful receptionist ever – and the singing cleaning lady) and the homely feel of the place with sturdy wooden floors, bookcases, hangout places and steep staircases that offered a little view of the fish pool. I liked the room, too, especially the one I had and not Mika’s, because they were different and mine had an extra space with a table beside the bed.

Room 16 on the second floor was mine.

The door of the staff room opposite mine. Snu would approve.

And then there’s the town of Trang with its busy night market and little else. Little else that we saw, mind you, for the town seemed keen on pouring water on us when ever we tried to go and explore further. We did manage an expedition or two, and the thing that I seem to recall the best were the golden dancer statues on the street that ran past city hall and a few local women driving by on their mopeds shouting hello at us and waving happily.

Rainy day at Trang. View from Sri-Trang Hotel lobby.

Trang has about the same population as my home city of Oulu. In Thailand it’s a relatively small city, but in Finland it’d be one of the biggest. The buildings and places that we saw weren’t anything special, sheet metal roofs and decaying concrete, but I do suppose the city might grow on you should you spend more than two nights there.

We did manage to discover one of Trang’s secrets, however. It was the most delicious omelette we’d had in Thailand (or anywhere for that matter), hidden in a small restaurant next to the night market by the train station. The place’s name escapes me, but unlike Wunderbar restaurant (which was also good, and happened to play “Wish I Had an Angel” from Nightwish while we ate there), they didn’t serve me ants in a glass I was supposed to drink from.

Trang Night Market about to open. What is that red fruit the two ladies are looking at?

Spending only two nights in Trang, we headed for the bus station with a public taxi by the railway station in the morning. Some tuk-tuk drivers were trying to offer us a lift right next to the public taxi stop for 250 baht (“Bus station very far away”), but I kept chuckling at them and asking for the public taxi which they finally pointed out for us. The public taxi cost only 12 baht for the entire trip. Quite a difference!

We proceeded to buy two tickets from a vendor on the bus station for a minibus to Hat Yai on the southern border of Thailand. The ride was as uncomfortable as usual, except that the minibus wasn't full of people.

Knees on plastic. This is why I don't like minibusses.