{"id":241,"date":"2013-10-15T05:29:01","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T05:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wanderingwithintent.com\/?p=241"},"modified":"2013-10-15T05:29:58","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T05:29:58","slug":"922-on-a-whim-i-decide-to-head-to-malaysia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wanderingwithintent.com\/wordpress\/922-on-a-whim-i-decide-to-head-to-malaysia\/","title":{"rendered":"9\/22 – On a whim, I decide to head to Malaysia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Upon leaving Koh Tao, I had originally planned to head up into northern Thailand, but on a whim, decided instead to head south into Malaysia for a week. \u00a0That is one great benefit of not setting your itinerary in stone ahead of time by booking flights, accommodations, etc. \u00a0So instead of heading towards northern Thailand, I caught a ferry in the afternoon from Koh Tao to Chumpon on the eastern coast of Thailand. \u00a0There I took a bus to the train station and on the way met 3 guys from Boulder, who had just graduated and were touring southeast asia before heading back home to find jobs. \u00a0We had arrived at the train station in the afternoon but didn\u2019t have to leave until very late that evening, so we decided to walk around town. \u00a0They told me about some of the different crazy parties they had been to in the Thailand islands, including the infamous full moon party on Koh Phanghan which attracts upwards of 10,000 people during the full moon each month. \u00a0Hanging out with them reminded me of the range of reasons that people may choose to travel for an extended period of time.<\/p>\n

Arriving back at the train station, I checked the departure board to see that many of the trains were delayed, some for many hours. \u00a0Luckily my train originally scheduled for 10:45pm was only delayed half an hour. \u00a0It arrived and I got on, my first time on an overnight train. \u00a0Looking down the middle aisle of the train, lower and upper beds extended the length of the train on either side. \u00a0They included curtains that pulled in front of the beds, so I didn\u2019t actually see any of the other passengers as everyone was already asleep. \u00a0I had heard issues of people walking off with other people\u2019s bags in the middle of the night, and found a metal railing on the train to lock my bag up to. \u00a0Getting into bed, it was pretty short – and I\u2019m not the tallest. \u00a0I don\u2019t get claustrophobic, but could see how people could feel that way about the beds, especially after you draw the curtain. \u00a0I put my smaller backpack at the foot of my bed and, after putting on a sleeping mask and ear plugs, went to sleep.<\/p>\n

Lessons Learned<\/span><\/p>\n