Day 1: Kuala Lumpur to Hat Yai

"Roaaaaaaad Triiiiiiip" we shouted in unison as the car pulled out of
the Sri Penaga driveway. Well at least two of us did. OK, it was
just Dad. But, our two week road trip to Thailand had just begun. We
planned to drive from Kuala Lumpur to Southern Thailand and spend
around 4 days in Krabi and it's nearby islands before going for a
chilled 10 days in Phuket.

After a quick stop at the optician's to check on Anthony's newly
lasered eyes and chicken rice all round for lunch we were on our way
by 2pm. The plan for Day 1 was all about driving: first drive the
450km from Kuala Lumpur to the Thai border at Bukit Kaya Hitam, cross
the border, drive 50 or so kilometers into Thailand and find a hotel
somewhere near to Hat Yai for the night.

6 hours, several pit stops, pee stops, a lengthy search for an air
pump that worked and nearly running out of fuel got us to the Malaysia-
Thailand border by around 8pm Malaysia time. This is where our
problems began. The kind officers at Malaysia immigration informed us
that Georgia had overstayed her student visa which had expired
yesterday. What's more she had 30 only days left on her passport
before it expired. Apparently, one needs at least 6 months of
validity remaining on one's passport to be admitted to Thailand. We
were informed that it was highly unlikely that Georgia would be
admitted to Thailand by the Thai immigration officers just up the
road. They also told us that even if she was admitted to Thailand she
mightn't be allowed back in Malaysia in two weeks time! Hmmm....

Our chances of entry to Thailand were further diminished by the fact
that Anthony was not carrying the proper documentation for the family
car. Apparently, the Thai immigration officers need to see the
vehicle registration document in order to permit the vehicle to enter
Thailand. Undeterred by our lack of proper travel and ownership
documentation, we decided to give it to go. Some smooth talking to
some very understanding Malaysia immigration officials enabled us to
clear Malaysia immigration. And so, we proceeded to the Thai side of
the border in the hope - more than the expectation - that we'd be
allowed entry to Thailand.

First up was the car. The razor sharp officers at Thai immigration
quickly realised that we were not carrying the vehicle registration
documentation of our car and told us that it would not be allowed into
Thailand. Several discussions with various Thai immigration officials
and a trip to the back office confirmed that this was the case.
Anthony, however, managed to persuade them that information they
required could be found on the car-loan agreement - which he did have
with him - and after about 20 minutes we were given the all clear.
(Note to self: when I get home, I must find my vehicle registration
document.)

So with the car sorted, this just left us with Georgia and her soon to
expire passport. We acted dumb (never difficult for most of us) and
filled out the forms as if we were oblivious to the problem with
Georgia's passport. A concerted effort by the family to engage in
some idle chit-chat with the immigration officer while he checked our
passports seemed to distract him and he failed to notice that
Georgia's passport was soon to expire. Chop-chop and the required
stamps were administered; back in the car; a quick drive past the
remaining officers trying not too giggle and there we were, against
all odds, in Thailand!

This whole episode had taken around an hour and half and we all felt a
bit peckish. We stopped for a late dinner at the wonderful Taipan
Restaurant offering "Seafood and more" just 30 kms North of the
Border. A nice meal was consumed and despite the lack of English
spoken by the staff at Taipan they did provide us with directions to a
nearby hotel - the rather exotic sounding "Bamboo Garden" at which we
hoped to rest our weary heads for the night.

We drove the few kilometers down the road to Bamboo Garden and entered
the deserted drive way. Rather than the nice Thai resort we were
expecting, Bamboo Garden had a closer resemblance to the haunted
hotels one often sees on early episodes of Scooby Doo. As we pulled
in the lobby area, the headlights of the car seemed to wake up around
4 hotel staff sleeping in a car parking bay just opposite the lobby.
Disturbed from their sleep, they seemed somewhat surprised to see us
but approached the car nonetheless.

"A room for the night, please." we politely enquired. Clearly
availability was not a problem as there was not a single light on in
the entire place and not another car in the car park.

"Biiiiiiiip!!!!!" one of our newly awoken acquaintances bawled loudly
across to the lobby. Bip then woke up similarly startled by all the
activity. We were offered the VIP suite for BHT550 per night (around
USD17 - 18!). The room wasn't too bad: perfectly clean, a curtain to
hide the identity of your car, a large shower, TV enclosed in a cage
so it couldn't be stole. Mum, Dad and Georgia were up for checking in
for the night. Jade, however, was less enthusiastic. The pitch
darkness that surrounded the Bamboo Garden, the dark and winding
staircases, the complete absence of any other guests and overexposure
to too many scary episodes of Scooby Doo seemed to unsettle Jade. A
few tears followed by a quick family conference confirmed that we
would not in fact be staying here for the night.

So we bade our farewells to Bip and our new found friends at Bamboo
Garden and headed North toward Hat Yai in search of better digs. We
soon came across the Hotel Crystal, in Southen Hat Yai where we
checked in and ended the first day of our adventure.