Overland & Underwater

Getting from Vientiane to Thailand didn’t take long. They picked us from our hostel and drove us to the bus station, where we got the bus to the border. Here we went through the exit procedures, but with one difference; we had to pay 10,000 Kip each to leave Laos due to it now being after 1600 (1609 to be exact); someone has to pay for the overtime.

Once everyone was back on the bus we crossed the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River into Thailand. Having passed through Thai immigration it was back on the bus to Nong Khai. We were hoping they would drop us at the railway station but we went straight to the bus station. We got to the station on a woefully underpowered tuk-tuk. We were there two hours early so took turns using the showers and just waiting.

Our train was a pleasant surprise; it was only two years old and very clean and tidy. The layout was similar to the previous train. Instead of luggage racks, there was more space under the seats. It also had a dining car (complete with wifi) where we had dinner. The food was good, we just hoped it didn’t harbour any malicious bugs. This was a big improvement on the train to Chiang Mai.

We were woken by the train crew about an hour from Bangkok. Looking out the window, we could see it had been raining but was no longer doing so. It was a bit gloomy though. The train was late arriving, which was fine with us as it meant less time to kill in Bangkok.

We left our backpacks with the Left Baggage office then sat in the station waiting for things to start opening. While there we observed a very Thai ritual; the playing of the national anthem. Everyone stops what they are doing, stands up, and faces the nearest portrait of the king (there is always a portrait of the king nearby). We also observed this at Nong Khai station and the bus station in Chiang Rai. It appears to happen twice a day; 0800 and 1800.

Eventually, boredom drove us out onto the streets. We paid for an hour of the brutal physical assault known as Thai massage, then had lunch before going back to the station for our 1300 departure.

Once on the train, we realised the downside of having had such a nice new train the night before; it made us aware that such a thing existed. The train we had just boarded was old and very shabby. There was no dining car; instead, we had a steady stream of vendors offering various foods and drinks. We resigned ourselves to almost 22 hours of slumming it as we headed south.

We had a few hours of scenery to look at through the dirty windows before it got dark. We managed a few hours sleep until 0600 when the food and drink vendors noisily returned wailing about their wares. The train ride passed quite quickly, and we arrived at Sungai Kolok (also spelt Su Ngai Kolok, Su-Ngai Kolok, Su Ngai Golok. You choose.) on time.

We walked from the train, ignoring the swarm of moto-taxi drivers, and made our way towards the border a few hundred metres away. The friendly immigration people stamped us out, and we then walked to the Malaysian immigration office. No paperwork or US dollars were required, they took our fingerprints and photos, stamped our passports, and we were in.

Unusually for a border, there were no money changers or ATMs (we had this issue when leaving Laos; we still have Lao Kip we can’t get rid of). We eventually found someone to change our baht to ringgit. Having asked around about it, we caught the bus to Kota Bharu. Once there, we found the bus stop for our day’s destination; Kuala Besut. We were told it would depart at 1500. The bus was at the stop, but the bus driver was nowhere to be seen. He showed up, and Kiwi asked again what the departure time was as it was only 1400. But was it? We asked a local for the time and found out there is a one-hour time difference between Thailand and Malaysia. We were a bit lucky to get the bus.

The bus driver took us past the bus station and dropped us closer to our hotel. We had to walk back to the bus station later as that was where the only ATM was to be found, next to the only supermarket. Dinner was at a local restaurant around the corner from the hotel.

At 0630 the next morning, we were woken by the call to prayer from the mosque next door. After snoozing until the alarm went off, we checked out and walked over the road to collect our boat tickets and hotel voucher. We were going to the Perhentian Islands. Located about 20 kilometres off the coast the islands are a very popular destination with locals and tourists alike. Our package included three nights accommodation, breakfast each morning, and the boat ride there and back. We would be staying on Perhentian Besar (Big Island), the other main island is Perhentian Kecil (Small Island). It seems they got island-naming lessons from whoever named New Zealand’s two main islands.

The boat departed at 0930. We were the only foreigners on board, the rest of the passengers, about 30 of them, were Malaysians and appeared to be on a group outing. It took about an hour to make the journey, some boats are smaller and quicker, and from what we could see of them, bumpier. On the way, we passed Perhentian Kecil and could clearly see the mosque, which was white. This explains why the mosque is called The White Mosque.

Once on the island, we had to wait for our room to be ready. Check-in time is 1400. This begs the question; why were we booked onto a 0930 boat.

As with all the accommodation on the islands, our room was fine but overpriced. It was a short walk up the hill but close enough to the clean beach, with its clear water, and view of the White Mosque just a few hundred metres away. We could hear the call to prayer and hoped it wouldn’t wake us in the morning.

We spent the afternoon on the beach alternating between swimming and relaxing in the shade of the coconut palms. When we first had a swim, we were surprised to find our legs being nibbled at by fish.

After breakfast on Saturday morning, we decided to go to the next beach along the coast. There are no roads on the islands, but there are walking tracks through the jungle, one of which took us to the next bay. We could have got a water taxi, but the walk was nice and only took about 15 minutes.

Once out of the jungle, we walked along the beach, passing the resorts and scuba diving operations. We had a swim or two, then lunch at one of the resorts. Having satisfied our curiosity, we walked back to “our” beach for an afternoon of relaxation and swimming. We hired a snorkel and mask so we could see what had been nibbling at our legs, and anything else living off the beach. We were delighted to see so many fish, of so many varieties, just a few metres from the sun loungers.

On Sunday we went snorkelling. The boat took us to a place with nice corals and fish, but we were hoping to see sharks (yes, we know sharks are fish). After some time in the water, we all got back on the boat and motored around the corner, and there they were; blacktip reef sharks. These are not the biggest sharks, but a shark is a shark. We tried to get photos with the GoPro, but the GoPro is not the easiest to use underwater.

From there, we motored to where we were hoping to see turtles. When we got there, there were already 19 other boats hanging around. We noticed a lot of people in the water, all floating above the one turtle in attendance. The turtle didn’t look to be in good health; sitting on the bottom and barely moving. It also had a layer of sand on its shell which would indicate it hadn’t been swimming. Its shell was also damaged, possibly from being hit by a boat. We didn’t linger, figuring the poor turtle was probably stressed by all the attention.

Once back at our beach, we had lunch before swimming some more and relaxing. After dinner, we sat on the beach to watch the sky as the sun went down behind Perhentian Kecil. As an added bonus, we saw a lightning show in the huge cloud bank to the south-west. It must have been a long way away as we couldn’t hear thunder. The sun was still above the horizon, causing the lightning and the clouds around it to appear orange. A beautiful way to end a nice day.

We had an early start to Monday. We were on the 0800 boat back to Kuala Besut and were booked on the 1330 bus to Kuala Lumpur. As it turned out we were on one of the smaller, quicker, and bumpier boats so were in Kuala Besut before 0830. We walked to the bus station and were able to change our booking to the 0930 bus. This was the bus we were hoping for in Laos; big, comfortable (only three seats across), and spacious.

The bus ride took us over Malaysia, gaining a bit of altitude along the way, before dropping down to the west coast. Including a lunch break, it took us just over eight hours.

For the first half of the journey, the view was mostly of palm plantations, planted for the palm oil. They have displaced the jungle and all that lived in it. There was more actual jungle for the rest of the way. We had heavy rain on the downhill run and into Kuala Lumpur. By the time we got out of the bus terminal and into a Grab, it was 10 hours since we left the island. The ride to the hotel took another 45 minutes in heavy traffic. A long day, but not too taxing. And that is how we got to Kuala Lumpur from Laos.

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If anyone has any questions about travelling in Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, or Malaysia feel free to contact us at thekiwiandthekraut@gmail.com