Sunday 15 July
We're on the night train from Thailand to Malaysia, and reach the Thailand side of the border at about 7.00 am. We are told that we need to get off the train with all our luggage to go into the Customs Hall. Reg and I have been chatting to a lovely Irishman, Mike, who is travelling light; he kindly takes one of our backpacks off the train for us.
Until now, I haven't mentioned the bubbly, laughing Spanish "girls" (probably in their late 30's) who have been sitting opposite me on the train; one of them has an allocated seat elsewhere, but they are travelling together so sit together. They are enjoying a couple of beers and find everything funny; every now and then they disappear, perhaps to the "between the carriages" bit of the train, to have a cigarette. We learn that these girls bought bicycles in Bangkok, and are travelling by bike and train, wherever the whim takes them for the next few months. They each have a hammock, which they say local families often let them "hook-up" for a night in their houses. While one of the girls sleeps, the other chats to me, saying she has been a social worker in Spain for many years, but has given up her career because the government targets and red tape became too much to cope with. Sounds familiar.
The Thailand/Malaysian border crossing is the fastest and smoothest we've ever encountered. We don't even need a visa for Malaysia. As soon as our immigration "exit" permits have been collected by the Thai officials, we walk just a few yards to the Malaysian side of the border, where we're questioned about the content of our luggage, but not searched, and are then waved through.
We're back on the train, and other passengers are gradually returning to their seats. One of the Spanish girls comes back, looking distraught. It turns out that they have overrun their Thailand visas by a few hours and have to pay a fine of 500 baht (£10 each) in order to be allowed to leave the country. They don't have enough money, and the young woman asks if I could possibly lend it to her.
We have only about 60p of Thai money left, but £50 in Malaysian ringgits. This is because we brought with us from England £50 worth of currency for each country we would be visiting - apart from Kazhakstan and Uzbekistan, whose currencies weren't available in England - for those countries we were advised by "Lonely Planet" to bring US dollars. Good advice indeed. For anyone considering travelling to Communist Europe or South East Asia, bring a good quantity of small denomination US dollars with you. Sterling is never asked for - US dollar is king.
I hand over £20 in Malaysian ringgits to the Spanish girl. Their bikes have already been removed from the train. She thanks me profusely and dashes off. The train waits about another 20 minutes while the formalities/necessary paperwork for the fines are dealt with; the girls' bikes are loaded back on the train and the girls return to their seats, this time in sober mood; all the joviality of the previous day has disappeared. They sleep most of the way to Butterworth, where we arrive at about 1.00 pm Thai time, 2.00 pm Malaysian time.
The two Spanish girls cycle off to find an ATM, and it crosses our minds that this might be the last we see of them; but they return 20 minutes later with the money they borrowed. We wish them well on their journey.
With the help of our friendly Irishman Mike, who is travelling alone, and who has lived in South East Asia for many years and knows a thing or two about not getting overcharged by taxis, we manage to get a taxi to take us to our hotel for a fair price. We really like Mike and arrange to meet him across the water in Penang for dinner the following evening.
We're very glad to get to our hotel, where we learn that although the restaurant closes in a few minutes, we can order a meal and have it brought to our room. Such decadent luxury!
We eat, shower and sleep, and then in the evening follow the hotel's directions in search of an ATM. What with breakfast on the train, deposit at the hotel and room service, we've used up all our ringits.
We're on the night train from Thailand to Malaysia, and reach the Thailand side of the border at about 7.00 am. We are told that we need to get off the train with all our luggage to go into the Customs Hall. Reg and I have been chatting to a lovely Irishman, Mike, who is travelling light; he kindly takes one of our backpacks off the train for us.
Until now, I haven't mentioned the bubbly, laughing Spanish "girls" (probably in their late 30's) who have been sitting opposite me on the train; one of them has an allocated seat elsewhere, but they are travelling together so sit together. They are enjoying a couple of beers and find everything funny; every now and then they disappear, perhaps to the "between the carriages" bit of the train, to have a cigarette. We learn that these girls bought bicycles in Bangkok, and are travelling by bike and train, wherever the whim takes them for the next few months. They each have a hammock, which they say local families often let them "hook-up" for a night in their houses. While one of the girls sleeps, the other chats to me, saying she has been a social worker in Spain for many years, but has given up her career because the government targets and red tape became too much to cope with. Sounds familiar.
The Thailand/Malaysian border crossing is the fastest and smoothest we've ever encountered. We don't even need a visa for Malaysia. As soon as our immigration "exit" permits have been collected by the Thai officials, we walk just a few yards to the Malaysian side of the border, where we're questioned about the content of our luggage, but not searched, and are then waved through.
We're back on the train, and other passengers are gradually returning to their seats. One of the Spanish girls comes back, looking distraught. It turns out that they have overrun their Thailand visas by a few hours and have to pay a fine of 500 baht (£10 each) in order to be allowed to leave the country. They don't have enough money, and the young woman asks if I could possibly lend it to her.
We have only about 60p of Thai money left, but £50 in Malaysian ringgits. This is because we brought with us from England £50 worth of currency for each country we would be visiting - apart from Kazhakstan and Uzbekistan, whose currencies weren't available in England - for those countries we were advised by "Lonely Planet" to bring US dollars. Good advice indeed. For anyone considering travelling to Communist Europe or South East Asia, bring a good quantity of small denomination US dollars with you. Sterling is never asked for - US dollar is king.
I hand over £20 in Malaysian ringgits to the Spanish girl. Their bikes have already been removed from the train. She thanks me profusely and dashes off. The train waits about another 20 minutes while the formalities/necessary paperwork for the fines are dealt with; the girls' bikes are loaded back on the train and the girls return to their seats, this time in sober mood; all the joviality of the previous day has disappeared. They sleep most of the way to Butterworth, where we arrive at about 1.00 pm Thai time, 2.00 pm Malaysian time.
The two Spanish girls cycle off to find an ATM, and it crosses our minds that this might be the last we see of them; but they return 20 minutes later with the money they borrowed. We wish them well on their journey.
With the help of our friendly Irishman Mike, who is travelling alone, and who has lived in South East Asia for many years and knows a thing or two about not getting overcharged by taxis, we manage to get a taxi to take us to our hotel for a fair price. We really like Mike and arrange to meet him across the water in Penang for dinner the following evening.
We're very glad to get to our hotel, where we learn that although the restaurant closes in a few minutes, we can order a meal and have it brought to our room. Such decadent luxury!
We eat, shower and sleep, and then in the evening follow the hotel's directions in search of an ATM. What with breakfast on the train, deposit at the hotel and room service, we've used up all our ringits.
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