Emperor Hotel Hat Yai

... go overland I have a 15 day entry, but if I fly I get 30 days in Thailand. After some stressing out and trying to weigh up all the options, it was too expensive to fly and I would have had to wait 3 days for a 30 day visa from the Thai embassy in Kota Bharu. So I decided to go through the border and try and extend my visa whilst in Thailand. I arrived at Rantau Panjang; the Malaysian border town via bus and walked ...

... profession is easily guessed, no mistakes here, no room for error. If I wanna have a good restfull sleep tonight I might very well give up on my determination of staying at rock bottom dirt cheap hostels but habit as well old time`s sake make me decide to give it one more time. Steep steps bring me to a small guesthouse based over what must be the one and only real Thai food restaurant in Songai Kolok, darkly lit corridors with thin doors ...

... was definetly going to corrupt us. At first it seemed as if Hat Yai didn't have much to offer but it turned out to be the best night we've had in all of our drunken sessions in SE Asia. It was a crazy night with no sleep that would lead into an uncomfortable bus journey the next day, made worse by the person we would meet on the way.

... and every prostitute aiming to please - says "This one is juuuust right." Throw in some pretty impressive right-off-the-beach snorkeling and we had ourselves a little chunk of heaven. I'd also be remiss if I didn't somehow fit in the word "cusp", as in "Man, this place is so just on the cusp!", which Laynni mentioned in an amazed and awestruck tone every day or two. She's right, though, you can actually see the boom taking place, with several new shops and even one ...

... de glaubenswaechsel und d unruhe wo deswaege herrsched duetlich sichtbar worde. herzigi taempel vor de huettli mached moscheene platz, ade waldraend ischs militaer patroulliert und im zug d graenzpolizei. so richtig wohl het mer sich i dere atmosphaere noed gfuehlt. nach de gränzüberquerig simer miteme taxi nach kota bharu und vo döt us diräkt ufd perenthian island "besar".

... auf einem solchen Pickup und war sehr gefragt an diesem Tag, da jedes Kind mich, den "Farang" nass machen wollte. Riesenspass. Am Nachmittag hab ich dann Glom in Hat Yai besucht, wir waren abends was trinken und am naechsten Tag hat er mich zu Freunden (Thais und Hollaender) von ihm gebracht, die zusammen die NGO "Daala" bilden, die Englischunterricht und Kinderfreizeiten organisiert. Sie konnten mir gute Tips geben und vielleicht versuch ich mich ...

... but the good news was Charmaine has another 30 day....then its back to another point in Malaysia where she will get a 3 month extension and then take a Thai Culture class to extend her teaching visa for a year...but hopefully she will be in the US by then....I asked her mother, Mama Evangeline, for the family blessing for her daughter's hand in marriage...she said, "Of Course"....:) I've also put ...

... 20 minutes or so, we located the Cathay Hotel. Almost like an old Victorian building with is intricate colonial detail on the out side but a bit of a dump on the inside - a serious cockroach infestation! We picked the better of the two hideous rooms we were shown. At the end of the day you get what you pay for so we were happy enough with a shower that works and a good bed, oh a a TV wouldn't go a miss. We informed reception we needed to go to an ATM first and they ...

... on a Sunday and it seemed as if Chumphon was closed for the day, there were very few people on the streets and only half the shops were open. We checked into a guesthouse and decided to explore the quiet streets of Chumphon. We walked and walked until we were well and truly lost. After sundown Chumphon transforms into a ...

... hello. I had my backpack and camcord** bag and I thought I was going to get mugged roaming around the streets in the middle of the night. It was like getting dropped off in Harlem with "I hate ******s" tattooed all ov** my body. But just as I thought I heard a car creep up close to me, I ducked into a guesthouse and fortunately th**e was something at the front desk. I got a room and got a train next day to Surat Thani. From Surat Thani th**e is a f**ry to Koh Tao.