Hey peeps,

It's been an eventful last few days since Laurahs last update.
We woke on Monday bright and early to finish packing and grab a bite to eat in anticipation of a full day of travelling on a coach. Surprisingly we were actually on schedule to be ready to catch the tuktuk to the coach station when I realised the pack of cigs I'd just paid for were never put in my bag as I was just about to get into the shower. Laurah stomped back to the shop and had a full on dispute ( a ladyboy customer even tried to get involve) but stood her ground and made the manager rewind the CCTV and returned with my cigs - victory!
We arrived at bus station with just enough time to buy our ticket and jump on the bus to Hat Yai which is the 4th largest city in Thailand (near Malaysian border). From here we had planned to catch a bus crossing the border and down to the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The bus had air con so wasn't too fussed at first until I felt a stinging sensation on my arm and we discovered it was riddled with little red ants! Furthermore and even more disgusting was the fact that it had mushrooms growing out of some of the crevices in the roof -WTF!!!
Besides the poor hygiene it wasn't a bad drive, anytime on a us for 8+ hours can take it out of you I guess.
Arriving in Hat Yai we made our way across the road to all the tour operators who sold tickets to Kuala Lumpur only to find that the last coach was full and would have to catch one in the morning!
Hearing this we were a little taken back and at the same time a group consisting of two girls from Malaysia and one of their Chinese boyfriends had the same look of despair. One of the girls, who we now know as Cacka approached us and we all got talking and decided to unite and see if we could haggle a better price for the mornings coach. We all decided to maybe try in the morning when the vendors were desperate to sell the final tickets and figured we should look for some accommodation as we were all beaten up from the long ride.
Catchin a tuktuk to the city centre we got off in amazement (me and Laurah) as so far we hadn't seen a modern big city and Thailand and had probably got too accustomed to the island life (a video of our arrival has been uploaded).
There were plenty tourists but not the tourists we had been seeing further north in the country. The main tourists here filling the streets, roads, shops and alleys were mainly from Japan, Singapore, Korea and China.
We stumbled across a hotel right in the thick of the bustling nightlife that seemed much cheaper than other hotels in the area and decided we'd get some rooms for the night. Now the name of the hotel was The Pink Hotel and although there were pics of young 18+ girls on reception we were optimistic as it did say 'new models' - maybe they were just local girls who did a modelling contest at the hotel as it had a stage in the bar area and there was a performer singing so it was plausible.
However....once we received our keys and were esorted to the lifts in the second lobby our optimism subsided and we realised it was a brothel. I kid you not it was like a scene out of Rush Hour 2 with girls all dolled up sat behind a glass screen with a numbered badge on (there is a short video uploaded).
We did however reserve judgement as for all we knew it could just be that you could choose a girl of your choice to administer your massage. However...the red light above our room door which could be turned on/off to show the room was occupied cemented our suspicions but we saw the funny side of it - only opting to stand and shower in the bath rather than have one (even though that's all we had been wishing for). We are backpackers after all and the cheapest rooms are what we require right? The room was fine, we were on the 7th floor and our friends were a few doors down so why worry. As seedy as it seems it was a well run place and not looking anything different to any other 3* accommodation ...it was hardly some back alley w****house lol
We had a quick wonder around the surrounding streets as it was in full flow as earlier described and md and sol decided to dine firstly at a Japanese restaurant in the mall as the starters were affordable and delicious, then had a main course of some good old McDonalds!! Lol
Both exhausted we returned and Laurah was out like a light. I however had been sucked into a film 'Signs' and had just started to feel my eyes get heavy and slid down in the bed into a laying position when I saw it from the corner of my eye....The biggest rat I have ever seen in my life scurrying along the wall then directly at our bed. Now I'd like to say that I kept composure but the fear of catchin deadly rabies or some other infectious disease took over and I let out the loudest girliest scream I could more than likely waking up half of Thailand and an unimpressed Laurah!!!
With all my possessions on the floor and my bag open and me jumpin around in my boxers I had no option but to call reception and cry "there's an emergency!! Send someone up straight away!!"....15mins later 2 women finally turned up. Laurah seemed to handle the whole matter very calmly but I was freaked out and a little hysterical even when we were moved to another room!
The other room was definitely for the high roller punters who frequent this establishment, with a wonderful mirror over the kingsize bed, a double jacuzzi in the massive bathroom n decorated in a raunchy red colour.
Traumatised from the experience we both hardly had any sleep.

....this entry will be continued in the kuala lumpur blog tomorrow as we are now heading for a bus!