Driving to Wat Chalong Temple, Phuket

The approach and driving in

The road the temple stands on is one of the busiest in the southern part of the island. There are few lanes, the traffic is dense, bikes run along the verges, and exits from yards and forecourts appear every few dozen metres. Driving past your turning here is easy, and turning round afterwards does not happen quickly.

The entrance to the grounds is a gate. The opening is wide for one car and narrow for two, and a kerb runs along its edges which a low front bumper catches if you enter at an angle. Go in straight and slowly, and only after making sure nothing is coming out.

What happens inside

Beyond the gate a yard opens in which cars, bikes, pedestrians and tour coaches all move at once. There are no traffic rules there; only walking pace and constant mirror work function. A pedestrian in a place like that is right by fact rather than by agreement.

The coaches occupy their own part of the yard and manoeuvre widely. Parking tight against their area is a reliable way to discover that you cannot leave until a coach has finished turning.

What that means for the car

The class of car is irrelevant here: asphalt all the way to the grounds and inside them. Size and visibility are what matter. A compact economy car is at ease on this yard, a minivan is an elephant in a corridor and every manoeuvre takes two movements.

A word about mirrors. Bikes ride constantly between the rows of parked cars, and a folded mirror is not excessive caution but the way to keep it. Unfold it just before you rejoin the road.

Rejoining the traffic

Coming out of the grounds onto that busy road is the riskiest moment of the whole trip. With traffic on the left you join the left hand flow and must look right, but you have to check both sides, because bikes regularly run along the edge against the general direction.

A pause of a few seconds before pulling out settles the whole question. Whoever is sounding a horn behind you will not be paying for the accident investigation, and that is worth remembering every time the urge to hurry appears.

Where to park

The yard inside the grounds is the main option, and in the morning there is plenty of room. By the middle of the day it fills with coaches and cars, leaving spaces along the far edge, which is a slightly longer walk but a calmer exit.

Park nose outwards. Turning round on a full yard with bikes and pedestrians around is several minutes of manoeuvring under other people's gaze, and doing it at the end of a visit is no pleasure at all.

Shade and animals

There is shade at the edges of the yard under the old trees. You pay for it with fallen leaves and, occasionally, with the attention of animals: close the windows fully and do not leave bags of food visible in the cabin.

Parking along the road outside the grounds is technically possible but it is the worst option: the verge is narrow, the traffic dense, and passengers get out directly into the lane the bikes are using.

Clothing, timing and conduct

Shoulders and knees covered is the rule for everybody going inside the buildings. A wrap and longer shorts in the car settle the question, and shoes come off before entering in any case, so sandals are the practical choice.

Early morning is the best time. The yard is free, the coaches have not arrived, the paving on the grounds is not yet scorching, and rejoining the traffic afterwards is noticeably easier than in the middle of the day.

The market rows nearby

Trading rows operate around the temple, and they create additional pedestrian traffic straight across the driving lanes. During the busy trading hours keep the speed very low both on the approach and inside the yard, because people step out between cars without looking.

Fitting the temple into a day

The Chalong roundabout is the junction from which roads run south, west and up into the hills. The temple stands beside that junction, so the most logical place for it is the first stop of the morning, after which you head off in whichever direction you need without doubling back.

A good pairing is the temple and the climb into the hills: both require covered clothing, both are more comfortable early, and both sit on the same axis from the roundabout. The only difference is the road, level to the temple and a hill road upwards.

If the south of the island follows the temple, it is convenient to leave the roundabout towards the coast. There is no sense in coming back to the junction for a different direction, because it is the one congested node in the district and each extra pass through it costs time.

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