Leaving our comfy beach paradise in Ko Pha Ngan was sad, since we had been there for ten days we were really comfortable in our surroundings. We had met some great people there, but like always it became time to say goodbye. We debated for a long time about whether to cross into Malaysia by land or by airplane. The land crossing through the South of Thailand goes through areas that have had unrest in the past. The South is a Muslim area and on occasion there have been bombings, violence and terrorist activity. On the other hand, the other option was to fly North back to Bangkok and then take a separate flight into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We consulted the Government of Canada travel website which advised NO travel through the area, but after speaking to other travelers and to Thai’s we decided to do the crossing by land. There are two ways to cross in the South, one is through the east side of the country which is not recommended for foreigners and the other route was through the west, which is recommended, by the people we spoke with, and safe at the moment.
Our travel day was a long one that lasted 24hrs.
- We left our hotel on Bottle Beach at 3:30pm and took the hour long dirt road by 4x4 to the ferry dock.
- Took a 3 hour ferry @ 5pm to the mainland.
- Bused 1 hr to the train station.
- Waited at the train station for 4 1/2 hours, train was delayed by 1 hr. It finally came around 1:30am. There were a few trains that came before ours and by the time our train came we were the only “Farang” Westerners on the tracks. I was a little nervous, and started to wonder why no one else was crossing into Malaysia this way.
- Boarded our 2nd class sleeper train: Both of us had top bunks, which had curtains to block the light. It was our first sleeper experience it was quite comfortable although our big packs had to sit at the edge of our beds. In the morning we were woken up at the early hour of 7:00am and ordered breakfast. The top bunks were folded away, and we lost our comfy sleeping area and had to sit on bench seating.
- We arrived at the border got off the train with our luggage and went through immigration. Only to discover we had overstayed our Thai visa by a few hours, therefore needing to pay a fee.
- Train left 1hr later and we continued on the railway until our final destination in Butterworth. Total train ride: 12 hours.
- From Butterworth we walked to the ferry to take us to our final destination of Penang. Luckily the ferry was only a few minutes.
- Upon arrival we took a taxi to our guest house in the city around 3:30pm, which was 24 hours since leaving Bottle Beach.
It was a LONG travel and a test of patience for us both!
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| On the Road... |
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