Transportation Disasters

My my my...

We left the Cameron Highlands after killing a half day eating pancakes (ie. sumptuous, cheap crepes with all kinds of tropical fruit goodies) and wandering around. The bus ride was a little less interesting than the one on the way there, except for the incessant water dripping on my pant leg (on a perfectly dry day), the crazy bus driver and the slippery seats that kept trying to throw us out the windsheild. We arrived in Ipoh, where we would be taking a bus to Thailand, as soon as we could buy some bus tickets. No one at the bus depot could sell us tickets but they called a travel agent who came to the station, arranged us a taxi to his agency and we bought tickets there - we weren't sure if we should believe him or not, but as has been the case every time during the trip, these things seem to work out. Unfortunately, the bus would not be leaving until 1am, about 8 hours from the time we arrived in Ipoh. As a first measure to kill time we attempted loading pictures online at an internet cafe packed with gamers. This was not a fun adventure as you can tell by the few pictures I managed to get up.

We then made our way to the "Ritz" and had dinner. The air conditioning was so cold we both ordered mochas - you know how we love our coffee. After dinner, we found out about the deck, which was where all the normal people were eating. We went out there and after an hour, had cheesecake desert. It is necessary to stretch these things out when killing 8 hours. Another hour later, Kev had a cappucino. An hour after that, we went in for foot reflexology! We were very much looking forward to this experience. The place was quite packed with men beating people's feet and legs in rhythmic fashion. We started with a foot soak and quick shoulder massage then had our own private room with two reflexologists (of the Taiwanese school). It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I looked over at Kev noticing that he had put on his man face and assumed that he was in pain too. The 45 minutes were hellish. I did not tell my guy to ease up because I figured the pain meant I was getting my money's worth. When we walked out I discovered that Kev had in fact thought that reflexology was wonderful and had almost fallen asleep. We both got a laugh out of that. Satisfied that we had both done up Ipoh, we made our way to the bus. As an overnighter, it had very reclining seats, gross towels for blankets and people snoring all over the place. At 4am it stopped at a duty free place that also has breakfast which was great timing because I was starved (go figure). Kev stared at me blankly while I ate rice, noodles and a fried egg but eventually didn't think that I was so crazy and had some too. The meal cost all of 60 cents and was amazing.

Another hour later we reached the Malaysian exit border. Everybody had to wake up, get off the bus, and shuffle towards the immigration officers. It was still dark. After about a half an hour and a race to find our bus we were through. Another 10 minutes later as I was finally starting to fall asleep again we reached the Thai crossing. There we waited even longer as some guy ahead of us was detained for 15 minutes or so. Poor guy. It was starting to get lighter out finally. A half hour later, some guy on our bus who fancied himself a travel agent, told us to get off because we'd reach the bus station that would get us to the port we were looking for. We arrived at this station at 8:00 on the dot. Interestingly, Thai bus stations play the national anthem at 8 and everyone stands completely still. We had been in the middle of a conversation and froze. As soon as it was over all activity resumed, quite a moment.

We took a motorcycle taxi to another bus station that actually could help us. The mini-van bus was leaving in ten minutes, which barely left us enough time for the washroom, ticket buying and loading. The van was packed with us and 11 locals and 3 children on laps. By the end of the two hour ride I was starting to feel quite confused and disoriented. Lucky for that breakfast.

We arrived in the port city, arranged travel and accomodation to an island, Ko Bulon Leh and waited in the agent's living room for 3 hours for our boat - a longtail, which was eventually arranged by standing at the pier and having our agent pick a fisherman to pay. The ride took an hour, in this incredibly loud but interesting boat which is commonly used as a water taxi in Thailand. After some dinner that night we slept like babies.