Runcation: Hatyai - Day 1: Departure to Hatyai

Date: 22th-24th May, 2015

We bought the tickets 2 weeks earlier at the KTM station. Do note that since Butterworth/BM is considered closed to Hatyai, we could not buy the advanced ticket so with the suggestion of the staff, we bought the closest 'long distance' station which is Parit Buntar. We paid extra, but we dont want to take the risk of a full train (due to this international marathon) so we bought for 5 seats. RM25 one-way for superior coach (no sleeping berth for this route).

We departed from Butterworth Station at around 4.45am. There was a little incident when one of us couldn't make it in time so she had to rush to the next stop, Bukit Mertajam, instead. And to no surprise, this particular coach was full (u'll understand why once u reached Padang Besar). Most of the people in the train slept once boarded but I guess we were too excited for our 1st long train ride LOL.

K.emmas's mum prepared some kuihs and sandwiches for our breakfast. individually packed. It was a laid back journey with a lot of interesting scenery. Lush green paddy fields and villages along the way. It's a different view form the road route.

We reached Pdg Besar Station at the border at 8.45am and were informed that we could leave our bags in the train. The train was scheduled to depart in an hour. It's interesting to see the train head and the rest of the car sections left, leaving only 1 coach behind (our coach). We went in and were given the immigration card, filled it in, waited for our turn and cleared the immigration after about 30mins. There were only us so the queue wasn't long.

Since we still have another half an hour, we decided to have our brunch at the cafe on the 2nd floor. There were only one but the nasi lemak was awesome (although a bit pricey).

Unfortunately, there was a hiccup where the head of the train couldnt attached to the coach properly, so we were delayed for 45minutes. We finally left Pdg Besar at 10am.

When we reached Hatyai, it was already 12.30pm MAS time. Hatyai is an hour late than M'sia, so it's 11.30pm there.