"20 hours from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur"

The first bus picked me up at 6:58 AM. Scheduled pickup time was 7:00-7:15. In this part of the world, that only happens once a year, if even that often! The minibus was nice, but crowded. And after about 15 stops we had picked up enough people to take us out on the freeway. In front of there were two Swedish girls that also were going to Kuala Lumpur. Knowing that we would arrive in KL around 3:30 in the morning, it was a relief to hear that someone else was going the same way. After driving a short while, we changed bus, and the same happened again a couple more times before we got to Hat Yai around 4 PM. Before Hat Yai we had made a couple stops where we could eat and use the restrooms. They are really good at timing the food stops, cause there are so many of them, that I never feel too hungry.

We had about two hours to walk around in Hat Yai and other than finding some good food, air-conditioning was the main priority. It was boiling hot, and air-condition was nowhere to be found. Finally there was a local restaurant with fans, so we decided to sit down and have some chicken and rice. As we waited for the time to go by, there was not much to do. It was Sunday, and everything was closed. When the bus arrived we were happy to see that it was a big one, with only three seats on each row. Big seats that reclined very far, and even had a footrest. I was sitting next to a kind of scary Russian guy. He was from Vladivostok, but he had his own real estate company in Thailand. He could have been about 24 years old, he carried only a small leather bag, and never removed his sunglasses. His passport was full of Thai stamps, as he went to Malaysia every month to be granted another month in Thailand.

The border crossing between Thailand and Malaysia was the easiest one I have ever done. (Except the Swedish.) I walked in to the Thai emigration, they stamped the passport almost without looking, and I was off to the Malaysian side. There they scanned my bag, but the guy watching the screen was more occupied with watching a football game on the overhead TV. There were no forms to fill or questions to answer before they stamped my passport and welcomed me to Malaysia. The Russian guy was a real gentleman, and insisted on carrying one of the Swedish girl's bags all the way. She did not like it, going through customs and all. I would never carry anyone else's bag, or let anyone touch my bag, while crossing a border. Here in Asia they have very harsh punishment for smuggling, and 20 grams of any narcotic is death penalty.

On Malaysian territory we did our first food stop about 10 minutes after crossing the border. The Swedish girls and I walked around the look for an ATM or a money exchange. There was none to be found, but we could buy some food with Thai bath. I asked for not spicy, but when we got back on the bus I was breathing hard and sweating for a long time before I managed to fall asleep.