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We travelled to Songkhla on a nice comfy air con bus with the usual Thai pop video showing the same old stuff — boy meets girl, girl meets other boy, jealousy, heartbreak sad ending and, of course, the happy ending (happy for us cos it’s finished!!!).

Eventually found what is probably the cleanest digs in Thailand. Spotless, maintained and bright and airy. Excellent value at 450 Baht. The town is on a peninsular with an estuary on one side and sea the other. As you can see some from some of the photos it was a tad damp when we arrived and all the next day it absolutely hissed down…..perfect beach weather and, yes Paul, very warm rain! Note the pics of the sad rain capes!! Neil was sporting a matching red version…how twee! Funnilly enough, every shop was selling capes and umbrellas in all shapes, colours and sizes.

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A really pretty city with lots of well paved boulevards which explains why this is such a popular resort in season. We appreciated the lack of pot holes and open ditches and craters! There is very little beach side development which was refreshing. As it was out of season there were few eateries so the first night we ate at the night market in the dodgy part of town where Cheryl was pleased to observe a rat the size of a small Doberman running around collecting scraps. (He obviously thought the food was good).

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The weather did pick up and we walked miles and miles (about 15-20 over the 3 days) seeing some interesting bits of scenery. The best bit was the serpent in 3 sections. The head (see photo) was at the headland where estuary meets sea. The others, middle and tail, were spread over the promenade about 2kms apart. We didn’t get pics of the middle and tail due to the previously mentioned inclement weather. We also saw a mermaid, just like Copenhagen, also viewed in the rain.

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There is a pic of Neil on top of the hill overlooking the whole town which housed a Chedi. We visited it twice, once via the cable car and second time, foolishly, following up the Naga staircase not really knowing how steep a climb it was going to be. (No kids, not one of dads shortcuts, a joint decision made in error….).

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We did find a stonking breakfast which sadly was in Farrangs Ville (tourist area containing, and I quote Cheryl, “fat ugly blokes looking for totty”!! Sorry Chloe, definitely not eye candy).

One morning at breakfast the ice delivery man arrived on his motorbike with sidecar. Neil thought he was a little simple because he had to think about everything he did for ages before carrying out the simplest task. Then he fell over and the girl at the restaurant explained that he was blind drunk (happens every morning!!). After delivering his ice he slowly climbed on his bike and drove off.