SIMPLY (t)RAVELLING

Window Shopping at Wang Kelian

 

Went to Perlis last Christmas holiday for a relative engagement ceremony. Arriving Arau at 11.00am; the hotel check-in only starts at 2.00pm so with a few hours to idle we headed for the border to catch up with a bit of shopping. Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia, just a few hours needed traversing from one end to another. It’s bordered by Kedah on the south and Thai up north, and that’s where we were going.

 

The road at Chuping, bypassing plantation fields of rubber and sugar canes, with limestone outcrops as it backdrop.

 

There are two border exits at Perlis to Thailand, either via Padang Besar or Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan. It was Sunday, so we decided to check out Wang Kelian first.

 

Wang Kelian is a small bordertown in Perlis, and on Sunday it’ll get hectic as traders from both Malaysia and Thai flock the road connecting the two countries, and visitors are allowed to cross over without passport (limited within the 1km span of the market).

 

The Thai border gate of Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan.

 

Thai immigration checks at Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan. A queue already building up at the immigration counter, mostly foreigners who intend travelling up north to Satun and Pak Bara, before hopping to Koh Lipe or Phuket, Thailand’s ‘earthly’ paradises. In contrary, visitors to the market are not required to show any identification, they can walk straight to the other side unchecked. Anyway it is better to have your IC with you, just in case (who doesn’t?).

 

My first overland border crossing in just 5 minutes walking. Done.

 

Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan market. The second border market I visited this month.

 

The market strecthes a few hundred meters down the road. Cloudy day, and walking downhill was easy.

 

The stuffs sell here, simply the same thing found in any Malaysia-Thai border market. Colorful comforter, or mostly referred to as TOTO is one of them, and Malaysian aunties and grannies are so crazy about them. A must in most Malaysian house including mine. Cheap, comfortable, foldable and easy to wash. Handy especially if you have relatives visiting.

 

Another typical reason  for visiting the border market – cheap Indian metal pots! I’m not so much into cooking so I gave it a pass.

 

We spent about 20 minutes just at this booth – sampling session of dried shrimps and anchovies, DH favourite pass time.

 

Owh, not forgetting the brick red shrimp paste, which look more like child clays to me.

 

As for me, I would rather sample these, any day!

 

Tidbits, at Wang Kelian – Wang Prachan.

 

Load stocks of garlics, Wang Kelian – Wang Prachan.

 

Piles on motorbike.

 

Odd-colored drinks in odd looking containers spotted at the market. I was thirsty but the colors didn’t look so appealing let alone the cloudy stains on the plastic containers, so I make do with water bottle instead.

 

Road sign, Wang Kelian – Wang Prachan.

 

Thai officers on duty.

 

Kid on pickup truck, Wang Kelian-Wang Prachan. My watch showed 3.00pm, and the market was about to close as vendors were seen packing and cleaning up. Nothing caught my eyes really, so I left the market, empty handed.