Novotel Centara Hat Yai

... touristy of the three islands and very westernized (if that is a word). The main strip looks like a very big Khao San Road but bigger. The people on the island range from retirees, to honeymooners, to backpackers. I enjoyed Ko Samui a lot. Despite getting a bad rep from backpackers as being too touristy, the beach along Chawang Beach was a sight. It was pristine, with restaurants serving fresh seafood ...

... quick stops for food hawkers trying to sell vegetables and bottles of mineral water, other passengers getting on, getting off, men with skullcaps and thin grayish beards covering their chins look at me in a non-commital way, gone are the friendly Thai smiles beaming from friendly and open faces, gone is the gay and colorfull Thai dress code. I feel like I have been parachuted into a hostile and non-Farang friendly dictator ruled state of fear!!! I try to concentrate on what ...

... We were the only people without vouchers and didn't have a clue what to do! We got by eventually though as we always do. We stayed in Hat Yai for 2 nights to get our bearings (and enjoy some modern comforts after being stranded on the island). We got told about a hotel there and it was a real treat to stay in a hotel for the first time in our travels! All for only 350 baht (less than 6 pound).

... 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 ...

... out. Once we get called there's that many people hat it doesn't look like everyone will fit on, but somehow they do. The journey of 4 hours feels quick and i don't fell queasy at all. We dock at Suratthani and then we're taken on a open doored taxi to our drop off point with three lads holding on to the back for dear life as the taxi careers along. We're stuck at this **** hole for 1 1/2 hours as no one seems to want to move to ...

... familiarity. A place where you can call "Home Base". On Friday we took a 14.5hour train ride to Hat Yai, Thailand. Because our train didn't leave until the evening, we had a "sleeper car" - a train car lined with beds instead of seats. Now a lot of people would think, "Neat! You get to sleep in a train!", however it's not as fabulous as it sounds. It's not the smooth-riding, quiet ...

All border towns are the same....the world over! They survive from trade going backwards and forwards and theres no real sense of community or history. Hat Yai isnt as bad as some but its effectively the same, just rather bigger than most. We checked in to our LP approved hovel and bought bus tickets to Malaysia ( Penang, Georgetown) for the next day. Having bugger all to do in this wonderful town we thought we ...