8th March 2012 journey Malaysia to Thailand

The sleeper bus last night was much nicer than the one we had coming to Malaysia, actually slept quite well. It would have been perfect if it hadn't been for the two hour hanging around at the border crossing.
We got to Had Yai at 7am and booked onto another bus to take us to Hua Hin....it's 7pm and We're still on the bus, think there's another two hours to go. Luke's Mum is in Hua Hin though, she arrived last night with one of her friends so we're really looking forward to spending a few days with them.
Have nothing to report from today, just a numb bum!!

.....continued at a later date....

IF ONLY WE KNEW AT 7PM WHAT WAS AHEAD OF US!!!

So the first bus was ten hours long. We boarded the next bus to Hua Hin. At about 8pm we passed the first sign for the turn off to Hua Hin, we were both elated because we knew the journey was almost complete. Bus failed to turn off at exit. Hmmmmm. Twenty minutes later, we see another sign, thinking the driver was obviously waiting for this turn, but no, we continue to cruise past. A few minutes later we are back on a motor way with no idea where we're headed or what's happening.

I turned to the Thai guy beside me and ask if he's going to Hua Hin. He looks at me perplexed and says this bus is heading for Bangkok...BANGKOK!!!!!!! Two hours from Hua Hin. We ask him to explain to the driver that we bought tickets for Hua Hin and they both start laughing, along with the rest of the bus.
After a few minutes of the bus driver cracking his jokes and keeping everyone else rightly entertained we shouted at the driver to stop, not knowing what else to do. Again, there is laughter and we are ignored. We shout again and again until forty minutes later, the driver pulls over.

No one on the bus has good English and the communication barrier is frustrating to say the least. He stopped at the side of a deserted road at a bus stop and told us to get out and wait there for the next bus back to Hua Hin...keeping in mind it's now 9pm, the roads are extremely quiet and we haven't seen a bus pass in a long time.

We argue that we are not getting out here with no guarantee that we can get back to Hua Hin, after paying above costs for our bus ticket. Another hour of arguing passes and he does a U turn, takes us to this shop at the side of the road and gives a Thai lady some money to flag down a bus for us and they continue onwards to Bangkok. Could you imagine if we were asleep and not seen the turn off signs.

Anyway, after another half hour a mini bus pulls over and agrees to take us back to Hua Hin.

We eventually get in at 11pm, find a guest house, and set off to find Luke's mum. Maria's staying in the Hilton, you can imagine the state of the two of us smelly people walking in! We asked the receptionist to call her room and a very sleepy voice responded! Mia got out of bed and came down to find us in the lobby. It was so surreal seeing her after saying such a teary goodbye six weeks ago. We went outside, sat by the pool and had a bear...in absolute luxury! Mia filled us in on everything from home, at 2am we called it a night and went to have a well deserved sleep after our epic journey!!!