Thai border crossing - Days 147-149

The days between Pulau Penang and Hat Yai(Thailand) were rather
uneventful. We wondered around Penang for 2 days acclimatising
ourselves to the local and Thai cuisine at the markets. We're getting
better at understanding how to order certain dishes without pointing
at pictures on a menu and as result we're saving a bucket load of
money by eating at the local markets. It's been a bit 'hit and miss'
to start with but the food is very tasty and in most cases quite
healthy. Did a book swap at a book shop - I've now started reading the
Harry Potter series- not challenging reading but entertaining none the
less.

Caught a ferry back to the mainland from Penang to Butterworth where
we waited for about 3 hours for the train that would take us over the
Thai border into a town called Hat Yai. Let it never be said that a SA
passport is good for nothing. Like all our crossings to date (barring
Vietnam which never happened) we've breezed into Malaysia and
Thailand. No visas required in either of them.

Hat Yai turns out to be quite a bit bigger than a town but, it's not the
prettiest city we've ever been to. If the city was anything to go by
then we really should not have been shocked by the dorm we'd booked on
the net. It took us about an hour and a half to find the place
wondering through the busy dodgy streets at night and when we finally
got there we we were greeted by quarters that could more closely been
compared to prison cell blocks at Polsmor! Seriously, this place was
bad - thank the Pope that we were only in there for one night! The one
solitary thing this place was good for was the travel desk at
reception that organized us a one way ticket outta there to Koh Samui.

Next stop Koh Samui, Koh Pha-Ngan and Koh Tao the three islands made
famous by the movie 'The Beach' and described by the Lonely Planet
guide as "part of backpacking folklore - a place custom made for
hammock swinging and navel gazing."