Penang – Pearl of the Orient - cont.

The following morning I woke up, looked at my watch and then opened the curtain and was surprised to see that it was after 8 am and we had still not reached Hat Yai yet, normally we would be at Padang Besar, the border stop by now, so we must have been delayed somewhere during the night. When we arrived at Padang Besar about two hours later, I made sure that I was one of the first people off the train because I thought that it would take some extra time transferring to my new passport there, but the Thai immigration lady just wrote quickly in my new passport and stamped me out very quickly and efficiently. I was first in line at the Malaysian immigration kiosk and they just stamped my new passport and gave me a 90 day visa-on-entry and I was the first passenger back to the train. I took this opportunity to sit on the platform, wait for everyone else and smoke a few cigarettes, because smoking is not allowed on the train and we still had a three hour journey to Butterworth ahead of us.

We eventually reached Butterworth at about 3 pm Malaysian time so the train was quite late. I slowly exited the train and set off for the ferry terminal dragging my bag behind me on it's wheels, the long, slow, upward incline to the Butterworth ferry terminal is difficult for me on my false leg normally and today it was really hurting, so I just took my time slowly, because time is something that I have plenty of. The entrance to the ferry is through automatic gates that is coin operated and cost RM 1.20, I always keep this change in my pocket from the previous trip just for this purpose. The ferry arrived at Penang ferry terminal about twenty minutes later and there it is the complete opposite of Butterworth, I had a long, slow, downward incline to the exit at the main road and my leg was really painful by the time I reached the road and I could feel that the skin had broken somewhere on it, so I sat down on a small bench there, took off my leg, cleaned up the blood from the chafed skin and applied a plaster that I always carry with me. After a short while, I refitted my leg and walked to the bus terminal about 60 metres away. I always use the bus now, even though there are a lot of taxis available, the bus costs just RM 1 whilst a taxi costs RM 10 and I know that bus number 203 goes to Chulia street and stops opposite the Blue Diamond Hotel that I always stay in.

On arrival at the Blue Diamond Hotel all the staff greeted me because we are all old friends now, but they told me that the only room that they had available that night was on the first floor and that they would move me back downstairs to a more convenient room the next day. So Lee carried my bag up to my room and I slowly followed after him up the stairs, the room was directly opposite the stairs at the top so it wasn't too bad for me, even with my painful leg. Lee placed my bag in my room and was just leaving, when I called him back, opened my bag and handed him a package and said "Happy New Year". I had brought him and his friends a bottle of Thai whisky and he was quite pleased with it. When I go to the Blue Diamond Hotel in Penang now, it is like going to my second home, all of the people there Lee, Leg, Lan, Flamy and the owner Low Chi are not just friends, they are more like family to me now and we all help each other if we can. Lee left and I just relaxed on the bed in my room for about ten minutes, then I made my way downstairs, sat at one of the outside tables at the front of the hotel and ordered my first bottle of Guinness, which went down very well. Guinness is my favourite beer and it is difficult to get and very expensive in Thailand, so I always look forward to my first Guinness in Penang.

Sitting drinking my beer, I took my leg off to let it cool down a little, because I knew that I had to walk again soon, I had to arrange for a new Thai visa for my passport that day. Sitting in the Blue Diamond Hotel with my leg off is quite a normal sight for everyone there, my nickname in Penang now is 'Legless' anyway, they even write that name in the register and on the room board at the hotel and everyone there uses that name when they talk to me. After my first bottle of Guinness was finished, I refitted my leg and started to wander down Chulia Street to Parvez book store just 70 metres away, the Indian personnel that work there arrange and take care of Thai visa applications and I have used them many times now. After sorting out my visa with them, I hobbled back to the hotel, sat down at my usual place at the front again and without even asking me, the girl at the counter brought me a fresh bottle of Guinness, because they all know me and my habits now. Evenings at the Blue Diamond Hotel are very enjoyable, they have live music jamming sessions there led by 'Leg' and I sometimes join in the vocals myself, so my time in Penang always seems to go by very quickly.

My visa was ready for collection two days later and even though I was enjoying myself, I knew I had to get back home fairly quickly because my funds go quickly in Penang compared to being at home in Thailand. So I arranged with Low Chi to book a mini-bus to Hat Yai in Thailand for the following day. The mini-bus arrived at 3 pm the following afternoon, I grabbed my bag, said good bye to all of my friends there and left in the mini-bus to go to Hat Yai train station where I would catch the train that evening back to Bangkok. Well, that was the plan anyway, what happened next in Hat Yai, I was not expecting and I shall tell you about that in my next post. I have written about my experience in Hat Yai on a new page on my website if you want to read it now, please click on the link.

Cheers for now, Legless.