The first half of our journey down to Malaysia was the easiest yet. The taxi got us to the ferry port just as the ferry docked, we grabbed tickets and jumped on board. Once at the other side we needed to get a bus to the centre of town and from there it was another taxi journey to the train station, which we did with no problems. However this is where our luck ran out, the train we needed to Butterworth, Malaysia was fully booked. But the ticket guy gave us tickets to Hat Yai, Thailand and assured us we could get tickets to Butterworth on another train from there.

So we sat in the train station for about 12 hours waiting for the train. With it being a Thailand train it meant that it was late, but after 12 hours another 90 minutes didn't feel long. The time was passed playing cards and reading. Simon was even lucky enough to make friends with a drunk Thai guy who spoke no English. Simon offered him a biscuit and the guy sat and munched his way through the whole packet merrily, much to Simon's dismay.

Finally the train turned up at 3am and we jumped on board and into our beds, Luckily the trains always being late worked in our favour as by the time we made it to Hat Yai it was 3 hours late so we could get some extra sleep.

Once at Hat Yai, Luke ran off to buy us tickets to Butterworth. However he was told there was no train to Malaysia. We found this strange and presumed it was a language barrier. After to speaking with various staff we found out that another train had derailed in the night so no trains could get to Malaysia today. Apparently trains derailing is quite common in Thailand, Tom thought it best not to mention this.

So this left us with no other option than to hire a minibus the rest of the way. The route is quite popular so we found other people in the same position as us. We finally arrived in Penang 28 hours after leaving Koh Samui absolutely shattered, but very glad to be out of Thailand.

Thailand has been full of mixed feelings and everyone was ready to leave. The north was lovely and we enjoyed how much there was to do up there. Bangkok is buzzing and great fun. The islands are what you expect. Destroyed by tourism and lacking any kind of culture. This is just the opinion of Sarah and Tom though! I'm sure 10 years ago Thailand was amazing, we just struggle to see what the appeal is these days.