Day 23: The Longest Travel Day from Penan, Malaysia to Thailand (Saturday June 3rd, 2023)

This morning was an early morning, waking up at 4:00. I had mostly packed the night before, so I quietly gathered my things to not wake up my dormmates and brought everything into the lounge. I got ready, gathered my laundry that was drying, finished packing, and left the hostel at 4:30. Although it was 4:30am, I was already sweating. I was hoping for a break from the heat for my walk since it was so early, but I guess that's not going to happen. It was a 15min walk to the bus pickup point and I wanted to be early for the 5:00 pickup.

When I got there, there were two other girls waiting, which is always a good sign. We waited until a van came and picked us up. The van was nice and air conditioned though. 

It was a slow journey as we stopped several times along the way to pickup more people. Then we stopped for gas. Next we stopped to put air in the tires. Again we stopped at a bus terminal, but this was to get a customs slip. By 8:30, we reached the boarder.

The line at the boarder was tremendously long! We got out of the van to walk through Malaysian immigration and meet him on the other side. It was at least 9:30 or 10:00 by now. 

Next, we had to go through Thailand immigration. We met up with the driver and went through the same process on the Thai side. We got out of the van and waited in line. The line one so long, we were barely moving. After 30min, we were maybe 33% there. 

One of the girls in the van was from Thailand, so she could skip the line and go through the Thai passport side. She asked the immigration officer if she could get her friends through, and they agreed. She came out and flagged us (all 8 people) out of line saying that she could get us through. So we followed her, skipping the entire line to enter a side queue that was for Thai citizens. We were all through in 5min. One guy did have an issue with his passport and had to go into the room, but thankfully that only took 10min. Everyone had a restroom break and we were on our way!

 

I don't even know what time it was by now, but I was worried about making my connection. According to google we were 5 hours from Surat Thani, where I was connecting to a bus to take the ferry to Koh Phan Ngan. 

The first stop was Hat Yai where we had to do a van transfer. We arrive at 11:55 and needed to leave right away if we had any chance of making our connecting buses and ferry. By this time, it was only one other girl and me traveling to Koh Phan Ngan. Everyone else had already transfered to go elsewhere. 

The guy at the transfer tour center said we would leave in 1 hour. So I took the time to go to 7/11 so that I would at least have cash, food, water, and a sim card for the remainder of the journey. I waited back at the transfer point, and we finally left around 1:15. There was no wha we were going to make it I thought. 

This ride was slow too as we picked up people along the way. The highway speeds are also not the same as what they are in the U.S.. We were probably going about 45mph. Not exactly flying. 

We stopped about halfway as a rest stop at a restaurant. Although this was a nice break to use the restroom and finally have a proper meal because I had just been eating snacks all day. So I got rice with an egg and spicy green beans and a chicken puff on the side. I also would have skipped it if it meant getting to Surat Thani on time.

At the rest break, the girl I had met informed me that Thailand is an hour behind Malaysia! So instead of it being 4:30, it was 3:30. That gave me a little bit of hope. 

But by the time we dropped everyone off and made it to Surat Thani, it was 5:50pm. We were supposed to arrive at 1:00 and my next bus was at 4:00 to catch the 6:00 ferry. You have to transfer in Surat Thani to a bus because the ferry is an hour from the town. 

When I got out of the van, some guys asked me where I was going and what ticket I had. I showed them my ticket, which was for a different travel company, and they told me I was late and missed the ferry. Obviously. I knew that. 

I asked him what my options were. He said that there was a night boat that left at 10pm and arrived at 6am, so you sleep on it. It's 850 bhat ($24 USD). I thought about it, and agreed. I figured having a guaranteed ticket is worth it rather than trying to get a hotel here and then try to sort out with my tour company in the morning and hope that there's still room on the ferry. 

I gave him the money and he said he would return at 6:30 with my ticket. He said to go over to a different ticket office to wait. The only reason I felt comfortable giving him the money while he left is because that other girl was going with him to get her ticket too. So then a random woman appeared and he told me to follow her to the other ticket office. I was so confused. But I just tried to trust the chaotic system. 

I waited at the other ticket office and around 6:20 the guy showed back up and informed me that the ferry was full. 

So I asked him what my options were, again.

He said I could take the ferry in the morning for 400 bhat ($14) for bus and ferry. I said no, I paid 430 before for my ticket. He said okay 480, I said 450 ($13) and he agreed. 

I paid him and got my ticket. Then he asked where I was staying and I said "I don't know". I quickly looked on hostelworld and found one for 250bhat ($7.26) for the night. I also checked booking.com to see, and found the same hostel on same for 150bhat ($4.36) so I booked that. He told me he could get me a hotel for 500 bhat, and I said no thank you. Then he offered to get me a taxi, and I said no thank you, I'll walk. 

Everyone is always trying to sell you something.

On my way to my hostel I had at least five people ask me where I was going and I just said "I'm going to my hotel". Then they would ask "do you want a taxi?" I would just say no thank you and keep walking. 

I finally made it to my hostel, which was nice and had good a/c. I put my things down and was very hungry for dinner. I had only had one proper meal today with a lot of snacks. 

Thankfully, there was a bustling night market happening on the street behind the hostel! It was filled with vendors selling shoes, clothing, watches, odds and ends, food, and some live street music. I walked around looking at all of the different foods and vendors. There was such a variety of fruits, juices, fries cheese sandwich, sushi, fried silkworms, satay, corn, etc. 

Everything looked so good, I wanted to try a little bit of a variety of things - so I did. I got half of a tuna grilled cheese sandwich for 10bhat ($0.30), two beef satay for 20bhat ($0.060), pad see ew with pork and veggies for 20bhat ($0.060). So my entire meal, cost 50bhat or $1.50. Plus I had a gorgeous view of the moon while I ate on some steps of the park. 

I also wanted to get some mango as a dessert. But when I asked the lady if I could just have a few pieces and not the entire mango, she didn't understand. But an entire mango was too much for me now. Eventually some strangers passing by overheard the struggling of our conversation and stepped in to help. I explained what I was looking for, just a few pieces and not a whole mango. They translated for me and she said that she can't do that. So I said no thank you and went on my way. 

After eating I wanted to check out the clothes and get another shirt and pair of shorts. I found a pair of jeans shorts (which I wish I had just brought with me in the first place) for 100bhat ($2.90) and two simple shirts for 139 bhat total ($4.03). 

Afterwards, I was ready to head back to my hostel. When I got back, I chatted with the guy who was also in my dorm room. Then I showered and went to bed. I needed to be up at 5:00 the next day to go to Koh Pha Ngan.