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Arriving in Georgetown was... Frustrating.
The total trip from Krabi, Thailand was supposed to take 8 hours, with a van transfer at the Malaysian border. The day started at 6:30am when we were picked up from our hostel by the mini van driving us to the border. It was empty when we were picked up, and there was no assigned seating, so we took a seat near the front. Immediately the driver started yelling at us to move to the back (for no reason). From there we drove for about a half hour while he picked up other people, and let them sit anywhere.
The back bendh we were on was made for 4 people, and there were only 3 on it when the driver made 1 last stop. A woman and her (large) young daughter got on and wedged them selves onto our bench, pushing me so hard against the window I had to turn sideways, and Dean was nearly on my lap. No problem... should only be a few painful hours. When we finally arrived 5 hours later the van transfer was a blessing. A long border line up later we were on our way again in a new van, with our own seats.
The drive into Malaysia and to Georgetown was beautiful, but long. When we made it into the city the driver dropped off every person at their hotels before us, of coarse, and then told us he was new and didn't know where he was. In ver broken english he said it would be best if we got out and found our own way in a taxi. In a new country when it was already dark out this wasn't happening, so we argued with him and helped him find his way using our map. We made it, and only 12 hours later!
With an idea of where we were going to stay we just needed to take out money at and ATM and check in. The nearest ATM was a few blocks away, and when we finally got there our bank card would not work. The nearest place offering long distance calling was back where we started, and when we got there they told us it wasnt working today. After a while we got ahold of the bank and they reset the card, so we headed back to the ATM. It still didnt work.
Tired, hungry, homeless, and standing in monsoon rain, we needed to get money fast. Someone told us there might be another machine a few blocks away, and with no other options we went searching. We found it, and it worked. As fast as we could we got a room, some food, and a beer. It all worked out after all.
While we were drinking our beers we met a very interesting couple and chatted with them for a while. He was a snake charmer, from a family of them, and she was a fire dancer. They told us about all of the snakes they had, and after a while we decided to go to their place and see the snakes. When we arrived we first got to hold and pet their 2 very large parrots, which were colourful and gorgeous. While Dean (who is terrified of snakes) was looking at the birds, Ali put a 2 meter long albino python on my lap. Dean was not impressed, but after alot of coaxing he was petting the snake aswell.
When we became comfortable with the python they showed us to the room where they keep all 15 of their snakes. They had pythons, ball pythons, and boa constrictors, all ranging from over 2 meters to small babies. We got to hold and learn about them all, as well as help in bathing them. Our only regret from the night was not having a camera with us.
There is little else in the city that we found interesting so the next day we left for Kuala Lumpur.
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