Goodbye Thailand. I will miss you

Sunday 6th December 2009:

We are leaving Thailand, moving down towards Malaysia. So sad to leave this place, but really looking forward to the next part of our little adventure. Was an early start; a pleasant 5am wake up. The walk down the Tantawan steps to the roadside was somewhat treacherous with a backpack, but the Tantawan dogs were there to escort us down. Well that and yap at our feet and get in our way a little bit. Ha. Got a ferry to Surat Thani, then a bus from the port to a very random backpacker place that was a sort-of waiting area. And what a filthy waiting area it was! Lovely experience. Anyway, from there we took a mini-bus to Hat Yai on the border of Thailand. I just have to stress the travel conditions here, because this was the most cramped bus I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Not only cramped were the conditions, but we had the most eclectic mix of passengers I can possibly imagine. The front two seats were occupied by a couple of scantily-dressed Thai ladyboys. Then came the elderly Thai couple on a weekend break, and lets not forget the two young Thai ladies next to them. Behind them was a Sri Lankan family, looked as though they were moving house, judging by the amount of luggage. And finally came the four backpackers. Just remember this is all crammed into one little mini-bus. I believe it was a nine-seater and we had a good fourteen people in there. Oh and it turns out there is a hierarchical system within the mini-bus service in Thailand: the less Thai you are, the further back along the bus you sit and the less leg-room you are awarded. We were pretty much riding with the luggage. The guy sat next to Izzy was dosed up on Valium to survive the trip; apparantly the best way to go over here. I am told that you simply walk into a pharmacy and pay 100 bahts for a handful of the stuff. I opted for perseverance in this instance. Five hours in the life of a tinned sardine; what a journey.

Finally in Hat Yai, not a place to visit by the way, quite a strange atmosphere, not so welcoming to the tourists. Most people travel down here to do visa runs into Malaysia before heading back to Thailand. I certainly wouldn't come again. Simply a stop-off point on our way down. We stopped at a hostel that night, pretty scummy and a bit on the creepy side, but right next to the train station for our train to Butterworth, Malaysia the next morning...