From Buddha to Allah by way of the Night Train
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
85
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Kota Bharu,
Malaysia
Monday, September 3, 2007
We left Koh Tao (Thailand) by high-speed catamaran to the mainland town of Chumphon. We had a few hours to kill, waiting for the night train to Malaysia. So we walked through town, just wandering the same street. What started out as a few food stalls close to the station, turned into a full-out night market several blocks later. We were the only farangs (foreigners) in sight, and received lots of curious looks and friendly smiles as we wandered about the market. This was truly a local's market (versus the touristy ones noted in guidebooks) - with cart after cart of freshly prepared Thai cuisine. We snacked on some Seafood Pad Thai, some unknown noodle concoction, and fried things. With full bellies, we wandered back to catch the 9:30 night train to Malaysia.
We arrived at the border after our night train to Malaysia tired, hot, hungry and in need of money
Chumphon - the Catamaran
. The train ride was not too bad. We got on the train at 9:30 pm and quickly found our bunks (2nd class, air conditioned - 1200 Baht per person, including the catamaran ride and transfers - approx $35 USD). After a few photos of the two of us hanging off of our bunks we closed our curtains and tried to sleep. Around 7am the next morning we rolled out of our bunks to check out the train. To our surprise the bathroom, a squatter, was an open hole right to the tracks. So I guess it would be polite to wait until the train is moving and not parked at the station. Around 9am the train attendant closed up the beds and we grabbed a window seat to watch the country pass by. Along the way we saw a bunch of farm fields and small towns but the best was when Kay saw a man riding an elephant down the road as if it were a horse. I unfortunately missed it but take her word for it. The train pulled into the small border town on the Thailand side (Sungai Golok) around 11:30 am and we walked about 20 minutes through town to the Malaysian border town (Rantua Panjang). One quick form, no fee to cross, a quick x-ray of our luggage, move the clock up an hour (12:30) and we were officially in Malaysia. According to a sign and to a police officer, the ATM was about 150 meters away. Well after walking for about 30 minutes we finally found an ATM. However the ATM was the bank of Islam and somehow knew we were not Muslims because it did not take our card
Night Market - Eggs
. We then found another bank, and after waiting for the lady in front of us to withdraw money from 3 different cards, we finally got some cash. We quickly found the bus to Kota Bharu and hopped on board. It was only 40km to the town but the ride took 1 and 1/2 hours.
Kota Bharu markets itself as "The Islamic Town". And true to it's description, everyone in the city is visably Islamic, women covered in colorful burkas and covering their head with veils and men wearing hats. Though Malaysia does allow and sell alcohol, we did not see a drop for sale anywhere. Even our guesthouse had a posted sign up stating that if you do drink on their property, you are forbidden to dispose of bottle/can in their trash bin if it contained any alcohol.
We finally got there and found Zeck's Travelers Inn, a false recommendation by Lonely Planet. It was not the best but it was for only one night (40 RM for a private room with shared bath - about $12 USD). We wandered around the little town and were not impressed. There is really nothing to see there and the market we saw in Chompon had much better food. Sadly we ended up eating McDonald's fries and some KFC for dinner
Night Market - food stall
. I have not eaten McDonald's in 3 years after seeing the movie "Supersize Me" and was a little disappointed in myself...but the fries were so good. I promise this transgression will not happen again. And I will go to confession tommorow.The lady at Zecks is a wealth of knowledge, as Lonely Planet states, but only about transportation and lodging of relatives of hers. She kept pushing the Mira lodge on Perhentain Kecil that we finally told her to book the room to leave us alone. All we really wanted was a taxi to the docks at Kuala Besut so we could pick a ferry company but she booked us passage through her travel company. To be fair I could have been tougher and said no but she was relentless. We will not stay there again and do not recommend it because the relentless and unending pitches about her services do not allow you to relax. And the bathrooms could use a good cleaning and had no toilet paper. Enough of that.
On Tuesday morning, we woke up bright and early to catch a taxi to the ferry and were on the Island by 10:30am. What island? The Perhentian Islands - two beautiful islands just off the northeastern coast of Malaysia. Scuba diving, beautiful beaches, and lush jungles.
Cheers,
Frank
