So...the books were right about thieves on Thailand trains...

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During our last couple days in Penang Malaysia our plans for the next leg of our journey changed considerably. We decided that we really wanted to see more of Thailand then just a boarder town. The easiest thing seemed to be to fly back to Malaysia from a more major location in Thailand in order to continue our tour of Malaysia. So, without much more consideration we booked a flight from Bangkok Thailand leaving us a week to somehow find our way up the east coast. I wasn't sure if I should tell my mother of our plans so I left everyone in suspense.
So...I cut the French section out of my travel insurance booklet, sliced my bar of soap in half, dumped my shampoo into a pill bottle, forgot my favourite skirt hanging on the clothes line outside & stuffed the remainder of my belongings into Hefalump. Next morning we were on board a van to Thailand, costing 30 RM. While still driving through Penang the van was filled with a most disturbing burning smell. Megan was like "we're getting gassed!", I just hoped that we would reach Thailand in one piece. Maybe you already know, then again maybe I should remind you that I am really bad with directions; however, it soon became evident to me that we were not headed towards the Penang Bridge that connects the island to the mainland rather were circling around George Town. I was not concerned because this van service is recommended by the Dalate School & sure enough my trust was rewarded when we were discovered that we were being transferred to a new van.
The border crossing at Sadao was easy as possible because we just followed the group from our van. I was glad that I had used the washroom on the Malaysian side because all washrooms charge for the use of a squat pot I didn't have any Baht yet. It was what you might expect for any border town, not much money there. The concrete shacks with the coloured plastic covers were everywhere amongst the jungle vegetation. I noticed right away that the signs are all in Thai, the little worms look cool that's for sure but impossible for me to read, recognize or pronounce. I never did figure out how to tell which washroom is male & which one female...maybe I'm just slow. We arrived in Hat Yai at 1pm, heat of the day. God was very good to us, all within a short while we located all the things we needed: money, guesthouse, advance train ticket booking & food. From the train station we started to walk in the direction that the compass concidered at at moment to be east in search of the Cathay guesthouse. I had read about it on the internet, so I had my mind set on finding it. After a while we decided to eat some lunch. We had fried noodles Thai style...for 20 THB. The conversion is something like 35 Thai Baht to 1 CAD. Megan asked the lady there where we ate if she knew where the Cathay house was, a lady behind her piped up "I do! I'm staying there now if you want to follow me back." It turns out that we were walking west & not east at all so we were so very grateful for someone to turn us around. We stayed there for 200 THB/night for two of us. The squat pot was a none flushing kind & it was over all a bit grungy but in a wonderful central location. We spent the rest of that day & all of the next wandering up & down streets, with our packs for some hours because kick-out time at the guest house was 12. We found a somewhat extensive market, the kind that you walk into & can wander around in without exiting for a very long time & then when you do decide to exit you have no idea what direction you came from in the first place. The smell of dried fish is almost everywhere, Megan doesn't mind it but I try to hold my breath when I'm close to where it is sold because it is very unsettling to my stomach. There are dried squid & really tiny fish; there are some dry things that look like leather made from the fish. If the air doesn't smell of dried fish I find that it smells of incense: very sweet & musky. At the back of almost every shop there is a red alter with sticks of incense & fruit on it. There are also little houses that are outside, much like a bird house on a pole, at these places often can be found some pop with a straw in it or some sweets. Some of the motor bikes in Hat Yai have a side cart so the driver can offer rides. I saw the smallest little baby on a motor bike there in Hat Yai, it was holding on to the front by it self but it just about took away my breath to look at it. Now I am accustomed to see families on motor bikes, I have seen very new babies being held by the mother, or a whole load of small school children with their father, but never so small of a child sitting by itself. I saw one lady with a box resting on the seat & also between her hands on the handle bars; she was straining her neck up as far as possible so that she could see a little bit over the box, I couldn't help imagining the results if a dog or something were to run in front of her. I also noticed how many people were wearing bright yellow shirts with a logo on the left side. My curiosity was on high alert. Someone told me that soon it is the king's birthday, he was born on a Monday & the colour for Monday is yellow, so...everyone is wearing yellow shirts in his honour. Interesting.
That night at 6 pm we boarded our 2nd class night train. We were bound for a spot that we randomly chose off the map in the train station called Prachuap Khiri Khan. This place had a very difficult name so that's why it caught my attention; it is just north of the narrowest part of Thailand. We had only a short amount of day light, & then were ever so grateful to be able to climb into our clean white sheets. I said to Megan "you know, this travelling thing is just too easy to be real otherwise everyone would travel, I think something dreadful is going to happen to us so we get the real "backpacker's experience." We were both on upper bunks because they were cheaper, my luggage rack to my satisfaction was about a foot away from me. For a time I considered the dangers of not having a lock for my pack, so I tied some of the straps on to the rack. Before I went to sleep I noticed a young man (next bed to mine) looking at me through the crack in my curtain, however many people look at me so I dismissed the incident without a moments' thought. I slept between each train stop but at 3 am I felt cold so I sleepily stretched out my hand in search of Hefalump, instead, my hand fell on an empty rack. I can't really find the words to describe the feeling in my stomach, truly it was quite remarkable. I lunged across the aisle to Megan's bunk & tore down her curtain, for once I could find no words to speak but she understood my despair without much explanation & sleepily began to tie on her shoes doubting if anything could be done. I dashed first to one end of the car & then to the other only to find them both locked. By the time a guard woke up I was as frenzied as could be. With my luck this guard didn't speak a word of English, but by my frenzied gestures he understood something was wrong. Starting to calm down a bit, I realized with satisfaction that I had taken my valuables to bed with me & what I most would miss was the CD with my pictures from the past month. Next of value to me was Hefalump himself amidst a host of comforts such as a change of clothes, deodorant & digestive aids. Then the same guy that had been peaking in at me got out of bed. He told me in broken English that my bag was tied up in such a way that he couldn't get his bag down without first taking mine down, but I knew him to be a liar because his bag had been nowhere near mine. He opened his curtain & there lay Hefalump on his bed. Megan exclaimed: "oh! he was keeping it safe for you" but that idea didn't hold much water for me & I began to take a quick look to see that my possessions were present. The guy began to apologize both to the guard & to me. All in all I lost a drawing pencil from an inner pocket, gained a towel & had my underwear & bras neatly bagged & then tied in a plastic bag for my convenience. I spent the last of my precious sleeping time repacking the shamble of stuff, trying to remember the punishment for drug trafficking & thanking God for teaching me a hard lesson...the easy way for once!!!

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Photos

Hat Yai
the compass that didn't help us get there

Hat Yai
it actually says "strawberry milk" somewhere on this bottle

Hat Yai
this is how to play with that hollow ball that we brought back last time

Hat Yai
we waited for our train for quite a few hours in front of this school because of the benches in the shade.

Comments

[mommy]

oh,anna.....
I pray for you alot. Now I know why......