We rose at 07:00 and I ensured all my packing was completed before a rushed breakfast at 07:30 in order to get the 08:00 ferry back to the mainland.
The ferry arrived at abouot 08:40 but collected passengers from elsewhere first. By the time we clambered aboard all the few seats were taken so we sat on the luggage at the bow. The next 30 to 45 minutes were spent collecting yet more passengers from other island resorts and packing them into the bow area too. Eventually we set off and had an incredibly calm crossing all the way to Kuala Besut. It was the complete opposite to our outbound journey and my decision not to take a motion sickness pill was again the correct one, luckily.
Laden with gear, getting off the boat would certainly have been hard work had it not been for our soon to be taxi driver who was keen to take us to the Thai border. We didn't argue with him, it seemed to suit us so we leaped into his car and for the next hour or so were driven beyond Kota Bahru to the border.
Departing Malaysia was quick and easy. We then made the 1 kilometre walk across the causeway. Midway across no mans land Ian had an idea for me to photograph the border river with Malaysia on one side and Thailand on the other. By crossing the border into Thailand we instantly gained an hour in our day, but we also lost 543 years as the year 2003 is the year 2546 in Thailand.
We duly completed immigration forms for entry into Thailand and once the queue had dimished we were through passport control and walking towards the station. It felt like a long walk, the sun was incredibly hot and we were dripping wet. Both took their toll with me and I became irritable and despondent. Ian urged me on and a kilometre later we were walking along a pathway, sure we were approaching the station with the railway on our right hand side when we found that the pathway terminated at a solid brick wall directly in front of us! What?! What kind soul bothered to lay a brick pathway that leads to nowhere but frustration and restrained humour? Humour got the better of us and we laughed out loud. Refusing to walk back the length of the path and along the road we climbed over the fence separating us from our route, fully laden with in excess of 20 kilograms, each. Making the 3 foot leap to the level of the road was less fun but successful. Then we had to navigate the mopeds which had been abandoned on the path. With the station in sight we had to cross three railway tracks and then climb up to the platform. We had reached the station building.
Ian exchanged some currency and bought two tickets to Hat Yai. Despite if not departing for another 30 minutes the train was already at the platform so we clambered onboard.
The train left bang on time at 11:50 and slowly made its way North. It stopped at each station on the way. When we reached Yala everyone leaped off the train and seemingly boarded the one on the next platform. Some officals were walking through our carriage and asked us where we were going. We were the only two passengers left in the carriage and we had already commented on Yala being a popular place to alight. One chap told us this train goes to Hat Yai. Another chap, more official looking, told us it was the other train that we needed to Hat Yai, pointing decidedly at the other train. We grabbed our luggage and left the train that we had ridden so far, falling another 3 feet onto the tracks below. We entered at carriage number three and sat down, to then be told that we had to move down the train. We did so through two carriages before finding it to be easier out of the carriages, on the tracks. As soon as we departed the other train it moved off! Our carriage, which we eventually distinguished was carriage number fourteen, was the very last carriage on the train and the solid ground had long since disappeared from beneath our feet leaving us scrambling over big granite stones along the tracks. When we reached the carriage it was some 3 or 4 feet higher than the ground we were stood on. I had no idea how I was going to board the train loaded with my backpack, day pack and camera! Ian set the precedent and I followed suit, raising ourselves up still loaded with backpacks. My back was suffering from the weight for the first time today.
Our seats had been taken which forced us to sit in seats nearby our allocated ones. Then we commented on not being told that we would have to change trains. Oh well. The second train also slowly made progress North, stopping at every station, and eventually arrived at Hat Yai at 15:45. The Hat Yai Central Hotel kindly gave us an indication of where we were by rising above the other buildings as we approached the station.
Throughout the entire train journey people wandered about trying to sell food and drinks. They are very persistent people, particularly one guy who was trying to sell us beer by shoving it in our faces. We had obviously been singled out for the beer sale. We stood our ground and resisted. There was also an incident during the second part of the journey whereby it had been brought to the attention of a conducter that we were sitting in seats that weren't allocated to us. A quick glance at our tickets and the conducter was satisfied that we had taken initiative and sat in adjacent seats to those assigned to us. Then he began questioning the people sitting in our seats who we suspected had alerted him to the issue anyway. How foolish...
At Hat Yai we jumped into a local taxi and were driven 1 kilometre to a tourist information desk where we arranged a 4 hour minibus journey to Krabi departing in 30 minutes.
With only a short time on our hands we went next door to Sugar Rock for some food. The service was excellent. The girl helped us through the doors as we were laden with luggage and to be in a place with air conditioning, if only for a short while, was delightful. Two people attended to us and within 10 minutes we had ordered, the food had been delivered, we had eaten it all and were ready to pay. It was excellent.
Our minibus arrived at 16:45 and we spent the next hour driving around the block, familiarising ourselves with Hat Yai, collecting people and the Thai people in the vehicle were clearly having a joke with each other. Of course we had no idea what that joke could have been. Our Thai is worse than useless. At 18:00 we actually left Hat Yai and drove West. At 20:00 we had a brief stop whereby Ian bought a lighter for the purposes of lighting our mosquito coils. No sooner had he bought it he lit it, very pleased with his first lighter purchase, and our driver wanted to use it to light his cigarette! Ian didn't know what to do, he was so surprised that someone actually wanted to use it. The guy took it from him, lit his cigarette and returned it to Ian, offering him a cigarette. Ian was so pleased! He bought a lighter and someone wanted to use it. Ian, who had never smoked or owned a lighter before, simply declined his offer.
The journey was accompanied by loud music and the constant ringing of mobile telephones, flashing blue and strobe like lights. Each telephone was set to maximum ringing volume too. It was utterly irritating, especially as I had had a headache for most of the day.
We were dropped off in Krabi at 22:00, at the Hollywood Guest House, the City Hotel claiming to be fully booked. We had dinner and beer almost immediately. The facilities here are a little odd. The western style toilets are raised on platforms which makes it incredibly difficult to use. There is no flush in tradition with Thailand on the whole. There are no washbasins. This means that we can not discern a way of cleaning our teeth. Ian is absolutely appalled and rates it as well as Hotel Spencer in Melbourne.
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.