Malaysian and Thai islands are beautiful. The sand is bright and clean, the water is clear, and the sunsets are stunning. Who wouldn’t like relaxing on the beach with a cold Chang after an hour-long massage?
However relaxing they may be, their is a significant tourist factor. The accommodations are cheap on Koh Lipe ($20/night for non-air con room), but it is nearly impossible to find local-priced street food. Everything was greatly marked up for tourists. We decided it was time to move on. We popped in to one of the many travel agencies and charted our course from Koh Lipe straight up to Bangkok.
The plan: 9:00 AM speedboat to Pakbara, 11:30 AM shuttle bus to Trang, 5:20 PM overnight train to Bangkok. It was a long day, but it sounded simple enough.
Here’s how our 27-hour journey panned out:
- 8:00 AM: Drag ourselves out of bed for our march to the beach in flip-flops.
- 9:00 AM: Wade into the water, toss our bags precariously on a long-tail boat, and climb in.
- 9:15 AM: Climb from the long-tail boat onto a floating pier, rip my skirt in half trying to hoist myself up, and then climb down into the speed boat.
- 9:40 AM: After enough passengers have filled the speed boat, set out on the fast, bouncy ride. Running about 40 minutes late.
- 11:50 AM: Something appears to be wrong. The engines sputter and the boat comes to a stop while the crew looks on anxiously. The captain keeps trying to turn the engines over to no avail. Not thrilled about this. Should we get out and push?
- 11:00 AM: A second boat pulls up with extra fuel. Apparently we ran out of gas.
- 11:10 AM: Fail to get the boat running.
- 11:20 AM: A third boat pulls up to fuel us up again. Really? You didn’t fill it up enough the first time?
- 11:30 AM: Success! A few engines start up and we slowly putter toward Pakbara port.
- 11:35 AM: We slow down enough to make a jump for the pier. No railing, ladder, or bridge for us. This is quite a fete for me with my little legs and oversize pack.
- 11:40 AM: Search for a man holding a sign with our names that is supposed to meet us and take us to the shuttle bus. No man to be found.
- 11:45 AM: Wander around holding up our ticket asking strangers for the bus to Trang. Finally stumble upon someone who recognizes our ticket.
- 11:50 AM: Push down some decent Pad Thai as our bus was not leaving anytime soon.
- 12:30 PM: Hand our bags up to the driver who is piling them high on the roof and strapping them down with bungees.
- 12:50 PM: Depart Pakbara for Trang and grow increasingly anxious about our bags. Running about two hours late now.
- 1:00 PM: Driver pulls over to check the luggage after nervously looking in the mirror after every bump and turn. For some reason, we left our MacBook in my backpack, so we get out and ask the driver to hand us my bag so we can remedy the situation.
- 1:45 PM: Pull into Trang, grab a light dinner, and use some super-fast WiFi.
- 5:00 PM: Grab our 2nd class A/C seats (two lower bunks).
- 5:20 PM: Train pulls out right on time for a change.
- 9:00 PM: The conductor converts seats to beds and pulls down the top bunks…for everyone except us. He refuses to convert our seats until the very end. I think he had a thing against Westerners.
- 10:00 PM: Close our curtains and fall asleep in the surprisingly comfortable and clean bunks. Besides a few bugs crawling by our heads, it was a very nice ride.
- 1:15 AM: Wake up to the sound of inconsiderate backpackers boarding the train and climbing into the bunks above us. One sticks his backpack almost inside Clark’s bed and knocks his curtain down repeatedly.
- 6:00 AM: Wake up to the sound of women walking up and down the aisles selling coffee and little fried things for breakfast. Loudly.
- 9:00 AM: Arrive in Bangkok relatively on time, grab a tuk-tuk and overpay for a ride to Siam Square.
- 9:20 AM: Wander around in the heat trying to find the hostel.
- 10:00 AM: Sit at Starbucks and enjoy a frosty drink while Clark continues to try to find the hostel.
- 10:30 AM: Finally find the hostel and try to begin the check-in process. The hostel employee tells us and several other people to wait five minutes.
- 10:35 AM: Try to check-in again and are told to wait five more minutes
- 10:50 AM: Try again. We are asked what room number we are in repeatedly before getting across that we don’t have a room yet, we are checking in. Yet again, we’re told to wait five minutes.
- 11:15 AM: Explain our two Hostelworld reservations to the extremely out of it employee and try to check-in again.
- 12:00 PM: After a confusing thirty minutes, we’ve paid at least. Told to come back at 2 p.m. to get our room key
- 2:30 PM: Come back to check-in. We are asked for our room number. How could I know my room number if I haven’t checked-in yet? They were very confused. Finally got a key and rested before heading to MBK for a little shopping.
Even with the few set-backs we weren’t too exhausted by the time we got to our room. We actually slept better on this train than any of the European sleepers cars we took. For those planning to island hop in Malaysia and Thailand, here’s some advice: Don’t be in a hurry, accept that you will get wet, and try to keep your cool.
There are lots of little frustrations that start to build up on long trips. The screaming kid on the train, the taxi driver who refuses to use the meter, or the hostel employee who has no clue how to check someone in really start to get to you after awhile.
Now we’re settled in Bangkok and quite enjoy being back in a city. Bangkok has just the right amount of chaos and noise. We’ve been shopping a lot and eating some great street food. We’ve even enjoyed a few Western luxuries like pizza, donuts, and Häagen-Dazs.
I’m particularly fond of the hot pink taxis!
Photo by SpecialKRB
Posted from: Suriya Wong, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Kim & Clark Kays quit their jobs for an uncertain trip around the world. Originally from St. Louis, they relocated to Chicago after getting married in 2005. After working for five years in middle school and the Fortune 500, they realized there was more to life than the 9-to-5, so made the crazy decision to exchange money for time rather than the other way around.
Their hobbies include fighting over writing styles and searching for gelato. They think food, beer, architecture, and photography are some of the best things about travel—especially when combined. Their travel blog, To Uncertainty and Beyond, includes long-term travel tips as well as humorous anecdotes from their journey through Europe and Asia. They invite you to experience their journey and learn from their adventures and mistakes.
