On the Road in Malaysia

 I took the bus from Seremban to Hadyai, shooting pictures out of the window along the way. Unfortunatly, the memory card in my camera malfunctioned and I have temporarily lost most of the pics.

Although they are oil palms farmed for their oil, they do look pretty in the rainy season with their leaves shining in the sun.         

                         Did you ever just want to take pictures of clouds?

Upon reaching the Thai border, I was told directly by the bus driver that I had exactly 20 minutes and no more and that if I didn't get back to the bus, he would leave without me. WHAT?

It was sort of funny and sort of not. I'd never had a bus driver say THAT before. So, I knew there was a temptation to start getting a little stressed out when the person in front of me started taking a lot longer than usual. Everyone else just breezed in and out. Not this person in front of me.

I was getting a little tiny, itsy bit stressed, but not really, when it was my turn. The Immigrations officer stopped to read my passport. They had noted that I was entering Malaysia for only ONE WEEK and then required to report to Immigrations in Kuala Lumpur.

"I was supposed to get a teaching job in K.L.," I told the officer, "But they couldn't get a work permit for me because I'm... too old." I tried to smile or at least to show my teeth. But, it didn't help. He sent me to another room. Ok, not so bad. I explained to them that I was hoping to get a position in Vietnam. (Though nothing was definite.) THEY wrote on my passport:

"En route to Vietnam via Thailand."

But, to my joy, they also gave me a whole month in Thailand. I could get back to my bus in the nick of time. Maybe that bus driver saw my little black border cloud over my head. Or maybe I have it written on my forehead: "Border Crossing Loser" or something. But, I got to Hadyai.

Hadyai was when my first cold set in as a result of the freezing air-con bus.

I spent one night at my usual guest house (The Cathay Guest House) in my usual room. Then, decided to head north the following morning.