Travel time! Up at 6.30 and get all our stuff packed, then we are just talking outside our room when some guy comes out of the room next door. Mouthing off that we have neighbours and that it is 7am, why are we talking? I just laugh at this and so we leave before he comes back from the toilet. We get a bike down to the pier where of course we have to wait for about an hour before it is time to set sail. You know some of the Motos here really do make some funny noises. The ones down at the pier actually sound like bubble bikes, something out of Spongebob. I wouldn't have thought anything of it except that there are more than one making these bubble sounds. Strange. Bye bye Ko Mook, had a great time here for the couple of days, though I wouldn't want to be staying much longer as I am not a fan of sunning myself on beaches and there is not much else to be doing after the kayak.
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Off the boat and on to the bus back to Trang, with the same bus driver as brought us here. We get left at the bus station and then get the songthraew back in to town, before we grab some breakfast before the next leg of our journey. I had planned on heading to Hat Yai and then work my way to Malaysia, but Sara Jane is heading to Penang and so I decide that I will just head with her as there was nothing in particular that I wanted to see in Hat Yai. We get a bus from Trang to Hat Yai and then we try to get one to Penang when we get there. We get left off in the station in Hat Yai, and go to ask about a bus to Penang, but we are motioned out of the station. Now I'm pretty sure that this is not right, we should be able to buy in the station and not have to go to a travel agents. I try to head back in to the station and look for myself, but we are being watched by the guys who showed us to the travel agents and they keep coming over to us to tell us that we have to get it from the travel agents. I give up because I am being harassed by these guys, so I ask how much it is in the travel agents, then go and ask in all the travel agents along the street. I end up being able to save us about 50bht with my bargaining, that's £1. Ha, it's the principle of the thing. As usual promised the world in a bus and get the standard minivan that takes us to the boarder and I must say that it is one of the easiest boarder crossings that I have ever had, or perhaps I am just getting more used to it.
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Welcome to Malaysia. Roads are even better than in Thailand and so when we cross the boarder our driver shows us his true madness. He ends up making what can only be described as record tim getting us to Penang, and drops us right beside Love Lane, which is where all the hostels are. This is more than convenient.We check out some of the hostels in the surrounding area, and decide to go for the cheapest, then it's time for some food. We are in little India and so we head down to the street stalls and order up a few dishes. Good as usual, then back to the hostel for a well deserved beer, why not? I'm on holiday. We sit out chatting until the hostel wants to close at 12. Just before bed I notice the largest mosquito that I have ever seen, an attempt to kill it with lonely planet failed, and it got away. In the looking for it I notice a bug on my bed, again a substantial size. SJ informs me that this is indeed the dreaded bed bugs. A quick inspection of the crease of the mattress does indeed unveil a plethora of eggs and little bugs. Well....... This will not do and so we go and tell the hostel that we can't be staying here. They offer to clean the room for us but we tell them that it doesn't matter if the do because we don't want to stay here and we want our money back. It's not a problem, and the apologise profusely for the incident. It is never the hostels fault if there are bugs, they will have been brought by a traveller. It is interesting that my first experience of bed bugs is in Malaysia, the place that I thought would have the least risk. Thank God SJ was here to identify, even more praise has to be given to the mosquito, without him we would both have been suffering. If you get bitten by bed bugs you have to wash all your clothes and your bag, get everything tumble dried as well because it is the heat that kills them. If you don't do it properly you'll just be carrying those bugs around with you for a long time as they feed on you every night.
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Anyway we get to a new hostel across the road. At least it was open at 12 for taking new guests because many places close up. Although it is more expensive it is much nicer than the place we were going to stay in. Though it is very much a case that you get what you pay for when you book a hostel.