Butterworth/Hat Yai - a day in motion

Some altruistic local politician decided to make the ferry off of Penang free. The same politician may have also been responsible for making the bus station, train station and pier all close together; something that surprisingly few cities think to do. It was shaping up to be an easy day on the roads. Read on however.

The ferry arrived on the mainland in a town called Butterworth aka Buttwerf aka Butt Whiff. It was a pretty shabby place, but like I said, all major transit stations were conveniently lumped together so I wasn't about to complain. It was unfortunate however, that we had to wait two hours in Butt Whiff for the next bus out. Not much to do except buy snacks and enjoy an air conditioned ATM.

Our next bus pulled in and out, giving us just enough time to hop on. All but two seats were full. It was a double-decker bus and my seat happened to be on top at the very front, providing me with a windshield and a great panorama of the journey.

These frequent bus rides punctuate the journey and offer temporary moments of solace, depending on the comfort level. An excellent opportunity to sleep, listen to music, read, write. I would alternate between these choices, different combinations to maybe make the trip sail by faster. So much time spent in transit. When I was back in Canada, I remember a five hour ride to Toronto seemed daunting. Here, our long rides have attained the rote bearabity of a commute. I might visit Toronto more when I get home.

It was mid-afternoon when we reached the Thai border. It was a zoo of course. A truck exhaust filled zoo. Monkeys swung around the rafters above us as we waited in line at customs. Literally a zoo at that point. The lady stamped our passports. 14 days in Thailand, not nearly enough time. Looks like we'll be dipping into Burma for a visa run after all.

The second we got into Thailand it was like someone pulled the bug out of Malaysia's ass. More colours, more chaos, more playful advertisements. In a nutshell, more swirl. We cruised through the little border town, onward to Hat Yai, our next transfer point.

When we arrived, it became apparent that we walked into something special. Streets were closed off, food carts were rolled out and revellers were singing, dancing and spraying each other with water. It was the first day of Songkran, Thai New Year, and people were celebrating. We felt compelled to stay, but had to press onwards.

The touts tried a new technique on us: tell the disembarking tourist that the bus to their next destination is leaving RIGHT NOW, forcing them to hurry and not take time to consider the price or other options. Didn't work. After Indonesia, our scam radars became finely callibrated. We hopped in a songthaew to the bus station and as we drove off, a young girl blasted us with water. Yep, definitely more swirl.

Turns out we had another long wait ahead of us at the bus station. I seized the opportunity to change my ringgets into baht. I knew that the exchange rate was 10.06. Always know the exchange rate because they try to fleece you if you don't.

Anyways, the bus station offered 9 which was total crap, so I looked elsewhere. Another place I found offered the same, but the lady seemed to have arbitrarily concocted that number. Sensing a chip in her armor, I grabbed a calculator and went about showing her how much money I was losing with her daft exchange rate. She offered 9.2. I countered 9.5. We settled on 9.4 and a free Coke. More swirl.

The sun had gone down back at the station and we bided our time by observing some of the ridiculous buses that passed by. They were all nothing compared to the one we would eventually ride. It rolled up like the belle of the ball, calling everyone's attention to it's arrival. It was two stories tall, adorned with embellishments and wacky fonts and lit with alternating green and hot pink lights. On the inside of the bus. It looked like Willy Wonka's mobile sex disco. "Jesus, is that our bus?" I thought. Yes it was. More. Swirl.

At 2am our bus creaked into Krabi, our final destination. We were pretty damn sick and tired of traveling at that point. We slogged through the dimly lit streets while the garish monstrosity that was our bus drove off in the distance. We landed a hotel room after finally finding a front desk that was being tended. After that it was lights out. Thailand had just begun and it would prove to be a country that would require plenty of rest beforehand.

Outside of the bus to Krabi.

Inside.