On the ferry back from Penang we bumped into a backpacker we had met previously in KL, called Neil. It was great to have a conversation with a native English speaker and to exchange travel stories and tips. Neil was a really interesting guy. He was on a career break too and had actually been travelling for the past two years. He was a hardier traveller than us though, as he had a biked all the way from England. He had to leave his bike in Singapore as the trains didn’t allow him to take it any further. So he left with a friend and is planning on picking it up on the way back, before biking home; pretty incredible! We got some good tips from Neil on places we were about to visit and also things to look out for when hiring things like scooters and mopeds in Asia.
We caught a train from Butterworth to Hat Yai. It was a sleeper train as its ultimate destination was Bangkok (a 20 hour train journey from Butterworth) luckily it was only five hours to Hat Yai. We were surprised to find the train was really comfy. We had two sleeping berths (just like bunk beds), which folded back into seats. We didn’t bother assembling the bunks for our short trip.
We caught a train from Butterworth to Hat Yai. It was a sleeper train as its ultimate destination was Bangkok (a 20 hour train journey from Butterworth) luckily it was only five hours to Hat Yai. We were surprised to find the train was really comfy. We had two sleeping berths (just like bunk beds), which folded back into seats. We didn’t bother assembling the bunks for our short trip.
The train journey was pretty good, apart from some stops on the line. The train was rather rickety however, and was pumping out some thick black smoke at some points! Another interesting quirk about the train was the toilet...Arran told me it was actually just a whole in the ground. I thankfully didn’t need to check this!
We left Malaysia and crossed over into Thailand about an hour before our stop. At the border crossing all the locals disembarked the train straightaway. It looked just like another train station, so it took us and some other backpackers a couple of seconds to figure out what was going on! (They don’t tend to announce stops on the train over here). It was funny to see a woman selling a small selection of duty free, just a short distance from the immigration checks desk!
We were anxious to get through the queue quickly as we are now constantly a little nervous about public transport leaving without all the passengers. In fact, we think the train did leave a couple of people behind who nipped upstairs to buy food!
As time rolled on we started to look out for our stop (you can’t really tell which stop is yours by the time, as the trains never arrive on time so you really have to look out for your stop an hour before it’s due and an hour or so later!). It wasn’t until we approached a stop that looked like it was in quite a sizeable city that we started to look for clues. I decided to find the conductor and check where we were. His English wasn’t too great, but I think he tried to say it wasn’t a main stop, but when I asked how long it would be to Hat Yai he said quite quickly “this is Hat Yai!” We grabbed our bags and jumped of the train just as it was pulling away!
Our hotel was fantastic. It was a beautiful, old fashioned four star hotel right in the heart of the CBD, with lots of shops and restaurants nearby. It wasn’t until we arrived at the reception desk that we realised English would be a bit of a problem in Hat Yai (if the front of house staff couldn’t speak English we thought we’d have no hope out and about in the city!) Still, we managed to check in and order some lovely room service for dinner.
All the channels were in Thai, apart from one movie channel which had English subtitles. So we spent the night watching a badly dubbed Thai version of Footloose! (At least the song at the end was in English, that’s all that matters really).
The next morning, we remembered that Neil had said that the clocks were around 3 hours forward in Thailand (compared to Malaysia). As we didn’t have a clock in our room (and we hadn’t invested in WIFI access at this point) we had to take him Neil his word. We woke up quite late and figured out it must have been around 10am. We jumped up and headed down for breakfast hoping it was still open.
It wasn’t until we were downstairs, yawning, with bed hair while sipping coffee, that we spotted a clock. There is in fact only an hour’s difference between Malaysia and Thailand and Thailand is an hour behind, so it was only 7am! (No wonder we felt so tired)
After breaky, we headed across the road to McDonalds to make use of the free WIFI (all the McDonalds around the globe so far have had free WIFI, it’s been really handy). It was here that we discovered there’s quite a strong security presence in the centre of town. This is due to a bombing a couple of years earlier and apparently stop searches are still pretty common.
The next morning, we remembered that Neil had said that the clocks were around 3 hours forward in Thailand (compared to Malaysia). As we didn’t have a clock in our room (and we hadn’t invested in WIFI access at this point) we had to take him Neil his word. We woke up quite late and figured out it must have been around 10am. We jumped up and headed down for breakfast hoping it was still open.
It wasn’t until we were downstairs, yawning, with bed hair while sipping coffee, that we spotted a clock. There is in fact only an hour’s difference between Malaysia and Thailand and Thailand is an hour behind, so it was only 7am! (No wonder we felt so tired)
After breaky, we headed across the road to McDonalds to make use of the free WIFI (all the McDonalds around the globe so far have had free WIFI, it’s been really handy). It was here that we discovered there’s quite a strong security presence in the centre of town. This is due to a bombing a couple of years earlier and apparently stop searches are still pretty common.
From what we could find out, there are no direct trains to Phuket (our next destination) so we decided to get a bus. A lot of forums and blogs advised going directly to the bus station counter staff to purchase the tickets and warned against using pushy ticket touts. They also advised travelling in a “VIP” class of bus to ensure a clean, air conditioned and shorter journey (the better buses take fewer ‘rest stops’).
Picking up our tickets was a bit of an ordeal. Mostly because in the first instance we went to the wrong bus station (it was a bit out of town and was more like a van terminal) but also the English barrier made things a bit tricky. We made sure to write down our destination and preferences, to make things a bit easier. After successfully purchasing our tickets and making sure we were actually booked on a VIP bus (we opted for business class, as this is apparently above first class over here), we jumped on a tuk tuk back to the hotel.
Picking up our tickets was a bit of an ordeal. Mostly because in the first instance we went to the wrong bus station (it was a bit out of town and was more like a van terminal) but also the English barrier made things a bit tricky. We made sure to write down our destination and preferences, to make things a bit easier. After successfully purchasing our tickets and making sure we were actually booked on a VIP bus (we opted for business class, as this is apparently above first class over here), we jumped on a tuk tuk back to the hotel.
Hat Yai is a lovely city, but it’s predominantly visited by Malaysians and Singaporeans, which is why English is not a necessity. In fact, we really surprised to find the best English speaker was working in KFC, when we went in for a quick drink and to get directions to the bus station.
Overall, we had a great stopover in Hat Yai and enjoyed some the best food and drink of our journey so far!
Overall, we had a great stopover in Hat Yai and enjoyed some the best food and drink of our journey so far!
Some funny things and highlights from Hat Yai...
- The hotel breakfast Рsuch an amazing selection of Western and Thai food. The oriental breakfast was a great start to the day Рsaut̩ed vegetables, noodles and rice.
- English speakers are few and far between – anytime we tried to ask the hotel staff a question, they instantly thought we were trying to check out!
- The Bell Boy could speak the best English in the hotel and knew enough to give us some tips on Phuket (and to tell us his friend lives in Edinburgh).
- Pictures on Arran’s Ipod came in very handy. We used a picture of the bus station and a taxi to book a taxi from the hotel!
- Drinking a pina colada from a pineapple while listening to the house band
- Our first ride in Tuk Tuk
- Living like kings and paying only £180 in total for accommodation, food and cocktails!
