Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Betong, Thailand



dad was itching to go out soooo badly, so we went for a spontaneous short 'holiday'. left the house around 7.30am on Monday and went for dimsum. a 3hour drive after, and we were at Betong =)



btw, dont mind the words in green, i copy pasted the info from some website cause i'm a lazy ass. T___T



the sisters.







the weather was sooooooo good. it was sunny =)



the streets



CLOCK TOWER


The Clock tower is situated at the intersection at the center of the town. It is a beautiful construction made of marble and is as old as the town itself. The base of the tower is decorated with a sculpture of 'Hemara' which is an animal in a Thai Myth, and that of a swallow.



woohooo.. the sunny skies.



the view from our car








The people in the car =)


the excited mum.


the camwhore sister



the 'cool' brother



the bored sister.



eh. wait.



put on the sunglasses and....
















LOL. she's soooo gonna kill me. heh =)




weeee... =)


next was the ITHASORN FALLS


These falls lie 2km from the hot spring and 15km from the town of Betong. A small waterfall originating from a nearby mountain and surrounded by a shady forest, Ithasorn Waterfall is a pleasant place suitable for swimming and relaxing.


we went the wrong direction and ended up at the falls. ah well. so we went for white water rafting. nothing hardcore though. cause mum was scared T____T



a super excited me








woohooo =)





WORLD"S LARGEST MAILBOX

The world's largest mailbox is located at the Clock Tower Intersection in the town center. It was built in 1924 by Mr. Sa-Nguan Jirajinda, the former head of Betong Post and Telegraph Office and the Lord Mayor of Betong. The purpose of this mail-box is to distribute news and to give services in posting and distributing mails for the people of Betong. It is made of reinforced concrete, with a cylindrical shape divided into 2 parts - the base and the box. The circumference of the base is 265cm and that of the box is 240cm. At a total height of 320cm, it is at present used as an ordinary mailbox.





PIYAMIT VILLAGE_GUERRILLA TUNNEL


The village of Piyamit located on a mountain surrounded by thick forest was first settled by a group of people called the Thailand Joint-developers in 1976. These people used it as an operation base for the Malaya Communist Guerrillas to escape from air attacks and to store provisions. The village houses a tunnel previously used as a headquarters stronghold for the guerrillas. The tunnel, which took 40 - 50 people 3 months to dig, is approximately 1 km long and some 55 feet wide, and has a seating capacity of 200. Only 6 of the original 9 passageways are left to be seen.


the twelve zodiacs









little did i know that the communist tunnel was an uphill climb away. imagine me in my heels climbing almost 1km of steps up. urgh.



the super excited dad






dad listening to an ex-communist member talking.





the model-wannabe sister T_____T









cant imagine how those communist lived in a tunnel like this





exhibition



the massive amount of fire crackers in the valley


a super exhausted me


HOT SPRINGS


The hot spring is situated at Ban Bo Nam Ron, Tambon Tanah Merah, 5km from Betong town on Highway 410 and another 8km off this highway on an asphalt road. The heat of the spring water can hard-boil an egg in 7 minutes. Both locals and tourist love to bathe in the mineral water which is believed to cure body aches and skin diseases




looks foggy and cold, no? i was sweating like a mad cow. like fishball being steamed =.='' the fog/ mist was actually steam coming out from the boiling hot spring.





mad, no?






boiling eggs =)







Phra Mahathat Chedi Phra Buddha Dhamma Prakat


Literally, 'Lord Buddha Has Made Known His Dhamma', Phra Mahathat Chedi Phra Buddha Dhamma Prakat is located at Budehadhivas, Rattanakit Road. The stupa's structure is an adaptation of the Sri Wichai style architecture. It is 39m wide and 39.9m high. Within the stupa is the Buddha's relics. The stupa is considered the biggest and most beautiful in the South. It was built to celebrate the 60th Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen and is dedicated to the Queen who named it.



gorgeous, no? it was breathtakingly majestic. too bad the gates were closed already when we got there.






the awesome view from the top.









a breathtaking view of the sunset and the giant Buddha. awesome, no?

and no trip is complete without the FOOD







camera sensitive mum T____T




tom yam!!!

minced chicken ala-thai


sweet sour spicy fish


kerabu. bbq lala. eggs.


kam heong squids


thai-style squids


tomyam again =)


long beans =)


sambal petai & prawn *three thumbs up* =)


woohoo. super cute elephants on the streets.

now, dont you also want to go to Betong now? =)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice blog LuVerGal. Looks like you had a good time. Thanks for sharing it.
Cheers
Alfie

Ivy Loh said...

Great blog!

The best info I got on the web. This will certainly helps me to plan this trip for a group of people.

Lovely photos too.

Bravo!

Mat Lan said...

Been to Betong few times but certainly looks like u had a better "short holiday" than mine... feels like going there again very soon...

Anyway, it was nicely done.. & nice pics shoot out, especially when u're in it.. hehehe.. so if anyone ask me about betong, i will refer them to your blog for infos..