PART I.
2am on Christmas. We dragged our lethargic, backpack-laden bodies up the MSCP, threw everything into the car, and linked up with Jasper. At the Woodlands customs, traffic was slow moving as Malaysian party revellers headed home. It was about 3am by the time we crossed into Johor Bahru.
Past the first North-South Highway (NSH) toll, it was the moment we had been waiting for. The itch to stamp down hard on the gas. As expected, traffic was scarce and there were no “flies”. We decided to have breakfast at the Sungei Buloh overhead bridge restaurants (past KL). It was just 6.45am when we reached, but I was pretty hungry by then. Mee hoon goreng and hot tea were a welcomed relief.
SJ took over the wheel thereafter. It was barely 8.30am when we passed Tapah (foot of Cameron Highlands). After the Sungei Perak rest stop, Jasper took the wheel until we made a lunch stop in Sungei Petani, where we visited Giant to purchase two 5l containers of drinking water, among other essentials. My windshield wipers were failing, so we threw in a refill pack for RM1.99. We then searched for the famed wanton noodles (Restoran Tian Tian Liang) but were left disappointed, and vowed to return some day.
Jasper’s very memorable tow-proof parking
After lunch, we lost some time on the draggy federal highway from Sungei Petani to Bukit Kayu Hitam (BKH). The upside of travelling through Alor Setar was the very reasonable RON 95 fuel. Petrol in Thailand was going to be expensive hence we pumped as much as possible in M’sia before crossing the border.
The M’sian customs were efficient and getting past it into “No Man’s Land” was never going to be a problem. We were expecting the worst at the Thai border and we weren’t disappointed. After some confusion over parking at The Zon, we finally found the vehicle insurance counter where we purchased 9 days’ worth of coverage for RM23. The compulsory vehicle Insurance is sold by a rather inflexible, pre-determined number of days (I can only remember 9 and 19), so some good planning is required. There was also some fuss over inadequate details provided by the LTA vehicle log card (simply print a copy from OneMotoring) – they required my address – fortunately I had copies of my IC and driving license on hand.
At the Thai customs, we had to park at a huge car park on the left (facing Thailand) before settling the necessary papers. The Sadao town was literally a couple of steps away, just past a very permeable border. I could have driven or walked through without the proper papers and no one would have known or cared either. We spent nearly two hours queuing (and re-queuing) because we did not know how to go about processing the vehicle import form and the border guards seemed indifferent. After being rudely directed from counter to counter, and paying some cash, we finally had that piece of paper and our passports stamped. At 3pm (BKK time), we were through!
We made a run for Ton Nga Chang (Ivory Tusk Falls), on the outskirts of Hat Yai. At our first “real” destination, we marveled at the sight of water cascading down the largest waterfall in Songkhla. It was already dusk when we left Ton Nga Chang for Hat Yai.
A village market proved too irresistible that we just had to stop.
Over a dinner of pork innards, we had a brilliant idea! Since we were still alert (despite driving for the last 18 hours), we decided to drive through the night so as to scrimp on a night’s stay in Hat Yai, and to earn some “time”. The next target: Hua Hin.
For navigation, we relied on both GPS and the traditional printed maps. The printed maps consisted prepared copies from Google Maps as well as a Lonely Planet traveller’s guide borrowed from the library. Our GPS devices were basically phones – a Nokia E72 and an iPhone – but they proved to be our best companions on the trip.
Our adventure continues…
