George Town * 22 - 24.04.19

---

My trip to Georgetown was a real adventure indeed. And not the kind I would like to repeat..

I took the ferry from Ko Phi Phi to Krabi and as I got to the port hitchhiking, I thought it would be just as easy to get a ride back into town. I did get one, but it was a creepy middle aged man who first wanted to make selfies, that I allowed, but then he tried several times to give me a kiss and when I tried to get out of the car he wouldn't let me. I thought "how can I be so stupid to go hitchhiking alone" even though I did it so many times before and never had a bad experience. Then he finally dropped me off at the bus station and I angrily ran out of his car without saying goodbye or anything. I went straight to the ticket booth to get a bus ticket to Hat Yai. The bus would leave in 2 hours and the bus trip would take 5 hours. This meant I would have to stay the night in Hat Yai. I didn't have internet on that moment and at the bus station there wasn't any wifi either. I would have to look for a place once I'd arrive there. Once I got on the bus I tried to sleep a bit. Halfway they stopped for the passengers to have some dinner. I stayed outside and so did a monk who started talking english to me. Not many people know english and he was very keen on practicing it with me. The orange-dressed man sat next to me when we got back on the bus and helped me getting out at the right stop. It's not strange anymore to see these bold and in orange shrouded men. They seem to travel a lot and even have seats reserved for them in busses and other public spots.
When I arrived in Hat Yai the horror night began. There were only a few people getting out at the empty bus station and when we did, at least 10 rats ran away from underneath our feet. I ran quickly towards the exit and found myself on a sewage smelling street. Bin bags on the sides of the streets were moving and I was freaking out. All I could do was keep walking. On Google Maps I found a hostel nearby but when I got there it was closed. There was no one around and I would have to get back to that horror street. There was a little bench near the entrance and I almost wanted to just stay there until it was light, but I really had to get some rest. When I heard another rat squeaking nearby it was time to run away. I ran back to the street where I found a motor taxi and told him to get me to a hostel. The place he took me to was very dirty but I didn't have a choice. I still didn't have internet to find another place and I really didn't want to be out on the street anymore. There was only one room with 4 beds. One of them was occupied by a guy that was vast asleep. After getting into some other clothes I went to the bathroom. If you have read about my toilet adventure in the train to Delhi.. this was WAY worst. The smell of sewage, the slithery floor, the hole in the floor and the dirty bucket next to it made me feel so disgusted. I ran back to the room and decided not to shower/brush my teeth/go to the toilet there.
The next morning I got up as soon as possible and literally ran directly to the train station. I didn't want to stay a second longer in this town.

The train to Padang Besar (Malaysian border) arrived pretty soon after I bought the ticket and was pretty clean for Asian concepts. On the border I got onto an even nicer train to Butterworth. From Butterworth I took the ferry to Georgetown, where my couchsurf host was already waiting for me. There was no more time to get into town because he didn't live close to the center, so we just had some dinner and watched a movie at his place. I was tired from traveling anyway and I was so relieved to be inside a clean house.

The next day, my host had to work and I went into town where I met up with Hernan. We met before in Koh Tao, where we both stayed with Nico. Hernan is biking through Asia and because we stayed in contact I knew he was here too.
It was nice to catch up with him and we walked through the town together, looking for the streetarts. He got a map from where to find what. It's the main reason this place is so popular I think. Finding them is like treasure hunting. they are all over town and sometimes a bit hidden. Most of them are paintings on the wall with a real object that makes the picture complete. When we saw most of them, we got some food at a large food court.
Later I met up with my host at a beach bar called Bora Bora, where we stayed for food and drinks.

The following day I wrote my diary and worked on my blog while my host was working. Then I packed my bag and my host dropped me off at the bus station when he got back. I took the night bus to Kuala Lumpur, to avoid spending an entire day on traveling.

---