so i got to KL aftwer a long buss journey with stops and starts at the malaysia/singapore border. it was incredibly tiring. the local bus from singpaore took me to johor bahru first- a southern town in malaysia and form there i had to take a "big bus" which is basically an AC coach to KL. things took a turn fro the worse here when i g\forgot the first rule of travelling- at every port/station/dock you will be hassled by a flock of ticket touts ready to pounce on you and your foreign money. so i naively allowed muyslef to be swept up by the first man that laid his eyes on me and he subsequently had his wicked way. he led me to his "double decker" bus and allowed me to pay in Singaporean dollars. i didnt know waht was the usual price to pay for this route so i trusted he wasnt ripping me off. he soon came back to me haivng exchanged my money into ringitt and demanded more dollars. this is when i became slightly wary. i questioned why he needed it if i'd already given him more than the original wuote. to this day, i still dont udnerstand his justification for needing extra, except that he wanted to rip me off. all i remember that happened next was a torrent of abuse! he suddenly became very aggressive when i questioned him. i was met with a barrage of verbal abuse. it got very scary and peaked with him chucking m money in my face and calling me a " f*&king shit" in front of what had become a large audience on the bus. it was at this point that i learned vital lesson #2 that is as a lone traveller esp. female- never ever argue. this guy was a scary, Malay man with bright red eyes and i was severely shaken up. in the end, i had to get on the bus as it was the first to leave for KL but let me tell you i did not sleep easy for the 8hrs that followed on that bus.
I finally got to KL and sods law, the main bus station- "pudaraya" was shut so i was dumped someplaceoutside of town and ahd to jump into the first taxi that came my way. I got to the main backpacker area and proceeded to look for a place to stay. the cabbie and many others over the course of the 24hrs spent in KL continued to warn me about the perils/dangers of present day KL. Great!!! Just what i needed! When locals themsleves dont have positive things to say about their country and that combined with my bus experience it was becoming very hard to remain positive. all those SIngaporean voices kept ringing " i told you so" in my head.
But i was there and had nowhere to turn back to so it became a case of making the best of a bad situation. however, the siutaiton was about to get a whole lot worse as the taxi driver warned me of the difficulty i would face in getting a room for the night. it happened to be "Hari raya"- a public holiday cleebrating the end of Ramadan during which oards of muslims- malays, indians, bangladeshis you name it- flock to KL. YThis meant that most rooms were full and that more and more people were susceptible to muggings/pickpocketing etc. I was indeed potential prey. After much traipsing up and down many a road, in the end, i settled for a hsotel called "green hut lodge" which had a bed in a female dorm/ I vaguely remembered reading about it online prior to my arrival and decided to cut my losses and stay there for the night.
it wasnt the most aesthetically pleasing of places but to be honest i just needed a bed and this place seemed to house a lively backpacker crowd. this is often a compromise that has to be amde when travelling- let go of some (not all!) of the creature comforts and be around people you trust and who will help lift your spirits. I certainly made some friends at green lodge- some i'll keep and others i'll happily never see again. I shared my dorm withb a lovely girl from Nottingham who cheered me up by taking me under her wing on my first night. We ate dinner at a local hawker centre and visited the beautiful petronas towers by night together. SHe talked me through my fears and helped me decide what to do next as i was keen to leave KL asap. I can honestly say that without her, I dont know how i would have coped- a true angel! Though my mind was now at rest, neither of us slept at nigth due to the not so angelic bed bugs and mosquitos which gnawed away at our arms and feet all night! he next morning i was outta there!
At this point, i stumbled across angel #2- the lovely owner of a boutique hostel just 2 doors down. he sensed my anguish and guided me as to the best way out of KL. This was unfortunately only by way of an overnight bus journey. I had my HUGE bag adn 9hrs to kill prior to leaving so he kindly let me use all the services of the hostel and relax for as long as i needed to until it was time to leave. it's hard not to lump all people in the same category when all you've had is bad experiences BUT this man showed me otherwise. Proof that human compassion does exist, it just takes a little longer to find sometimes! So, i chilled oput and [planned my onward journey.
at 10.30 i boarded the "big bus" to hat yai, a southern thai town close to the border and shared my journey with a charming 23 yr old fellow traveller from St. Albans. We got on like a house on fire and he passed on 20 months worth of travelling tips, do's and dont's along the way. We arrived to the sleepy town of Hat Yai early morning on the 22nd where we parted ways. I was headed to the island of Koh Samui and he was off to BKK. Bus and Ferry ticket in hand I waited around in a town where not one soul spoke or compreheneded Englsih. I think this was the lowest point of my travels thus far and my poor parents were on the receiving end of a 4am wakeup call with me wailing down the phone! Sorry mum and dad!~
with no accomodation planned, no acess to the internet, no-one tot alk to, very little sleep, a bad experience in KL and very little time to relax and think in betweeen it all peaked at this point. A local Thai man saw me slumped by the roadside temple and came over with a list of websites to search for accomodation.Another angel- where he came from i do not know but it was a reassuring, friendly face at a really lonely time.
Crying over, tears dried, I made my way to Koh Samui determined to tackle what lay ahead. I have been nicknamed a "turtle" since ive been here by many people because of teh size of my bakcpack and the pace at which i subsequently walk with it on. It provides locals with agreat deal of amusement- glad someone finds it funny!
KOH SAMUI
it's becoming a routine now- turning up to an unfamiliar place, realsiing all the research ive done is either useless or places you intend to stay do not exist! (the lonely planet is not always up to date!), having to befriend a fellow traveller en route to your destination and ahving to keep a level head when checking out tonnes and tonnes of quite frankly, shit places to stay. That's how i'd summarize my first 3 hrs in Koh samui aka Thailand's MAGALUF. A tip for anone making a trip like mine, avoid arriving at any destination late at night unless you ahve prebooked somewehre because trying to see past the night lights, night market vendors, ladyboys, thai brides and hoards of chavs isnt easy! Again, Koh Samui, like KL, was soon to be blackllisted. I found a ebachside resort (which i later realised royally ripped me off) and checked in asap. I slept like a baby that night. My dad has always said to me when times get tough, take a raincheck, "sleep on it" and deal with it in the mornig. "tomorrow is a new day" as they say and at no point does this motto become more pertinent than when you are travelling. Admittedly, im still not koh samui's biggest fan but the next day, after a few hours on the beach and a thai massage later, things were finally looking up.
Now. you think i'd finally be settled but by the end of the day I was already planning my next move. I wanted paradise for a few days before i was due in BKK and I knew KL was not the place to get it. the next stop was either to be Koh phangan, or Koh Tao and after much deliberation i settled for KP. alovely brummie boy who i latched onto in an internet cafe reccomended a resort to me and helped make the decision a lot easier. As a thank you, we headed out for a drink later that evening and you'll enver guess what but i ended up bumping into some uni mates in a nearby club! It was just what i needed- to see some familiar faces and have a fewd rinks to take my mind off the past few days' commotion. My last night in Koh Samui thus ended up being one of my bst nights so far- who would have thought it eh?!
One thing i';ve realsied out of all this is that just when you're about to give up all hope, something or someone will always be there to reignite that flame. I never beleived it when people told me but now i do and say the same- "you are never alone"./ There is always someone- even those you least expect- out there to help. that, combined with a ;positive attitude can do wonders, even in the most dire of situations. I may not ahve expeirenced the very worst and ive heard much more horrific stories from others but i sure as hell feel better equipped to deal with the ups and downs now. One's perseverence and stamina is bound to be tested at times but the key is to not let yourself be beaten. A week ago, I would never ahve thought I could ahve got this far and now that I ahve, the world is my oyster. Im safe and sound and now in Koh pHangan, ahving an amazing time. Ive made loads of friends and will spend the enxt few days resting up so dont expect and update for a wee while!
oh i havent mentioned the fact that there's a tropical rainstorm here but that's a minor omission- some things are out fo your control. All I can do is make the best of my situation which for now entails a cocktail or two, reading a good book or two, a massage or three and being positive!
Till next time (i'll try not to leave it so long!)
Px
