Onto Malaysia

Our ferry from Koh Samui was at last a proper car ferry. No more sea sick passengers as we previously had on the smaller ferries. We soon arrived back on mainland Thailand and were taken to the bus station in Surrathani (possibly spelt wrong). We decided to go to Hat Yai as it was a fair way south, and we've hardly moved geographically over the last 2 weeks and also we were told it has good transport links to the Malaysian border. The bus journey wasn't one of the best. We were only in a mini-bus and first of all we sat around for over an hour as nobody really seemed to know what was going on. I think even the driver was getting frustrated. Once we did finally get away we made a usual stop for a break at one of the roadside food places where you can attempt to use the disgusting toilets or try the food which will make you have to use the disgusting toilets. It was only as we pulled away that we noticed a mini-mart next door where we could have bought some proper snacks. Our bus was full but the driver decided to squeeze in one more person. One more very large person.

We arrived in Hat Yai in the early evening. At this point we decided it best to just stay for one night and then head on to Malaysia. There didn't seem to be much going on here and besides our toilet in the hostel we were in was just a hole in the ground! I haven't really tried any Thai food since i've been here and promised myself i would before i left. So we went for Pizza Hut! And we were joined there by the only 2 other english people on our bus.

The next morning we got up at 7.30am to book our tickets and by 9.30am were on our way to Ipoh in Malaysia. We had the option of travelling the more rural east coast, where we'd get to more beaches and be able to relax for a few more days, or go west and hit the more built up areas. We opted for west as this way we get to visit Kuala Lumpur, we are getting bored of beaches anyway and the transport links are better. The bus journey was brilliant, we were on the most spacious bus so far, and i found them more comfortable than the sleeper buses we used in Vietnam. The border crossing into Malaysia was a formality and took no longer than half an hour and despite losing an hour as we again moved time zones (now +8 hours on the UK) we arrived in Ipoh by 4.30pm. We'd already planned on staying at The New Caspian Hotel as it was 1 of only 2 options in the book we had. We didn't know where it was as we have no maps so we took a taxi. The driver drove the wrong way for a bit and then dropped us off - i realised the next day that it had been just around the corner from where we were.

I was surprised at how everything here is in English. First of all they use the english alphabet so you can at least guess what signs might mean even if it is in a different language. But everyone here speaks english anyway. We've booked in for 3 nights as after here we make a 3 hour journey to Kuala Lumpur, and from there we will go straight to Singapore. Ipoh has a huge shopping complex with a cinema so on the first night i went and saw 'Quantum of Solace' for only 6RM. That's about 1 pound and 25p. Then i spent the evening drinking beer (which is twice the price of the cinema!) on a street corner amongst the locals.

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