Euphoria! and utter dread.

Thought I'd start off on a bright note. YES, I've arrived, safe and sound, in beautiful Chiang Rai!

But before anything else, I must describe to you the hazardous journey that brought me to my current city of residence.

I knew before leaving Australia that I would have a 14-hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. I planned on bunking down in the International Airport (KLIA), which is about the same size of Singapore's International (for those of you who've been there). Now, I had heard that I could catch a 'SkyBus' to KLIA from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) (which is where AirAsia delivers its passengers to).

Upon arrival in KL, I hunted around to find a 'SkyBus' that would take me to KLIA. When I asked a bus driver (whose vehicle had 'SkyBus' written on the side) if he went to KLIA, to the International Airport, he nodded profusely and waved me on board.

Fair enough. But halfway through the bus ride, as I was chatting to another Aussie girl sitting next to me, I thought to ask her if the bus actually went to KLIA.

'No, this bus goes to the city centre!' She told me. Ah. Whoops.

No worries; I decided to just find a hotel in the city and bunk there for a few hours, until my 7am flight the next day.

After fluffing around for awhile in a shopping complex (KL Central), I managed to get fairly clear directions to a hotel close to the bus station (where my bus back to LCCT would depart at 4am the next morning).
However, the first two hotels recommended to me were fully booked out. At a bit of a loss, I tried a third, as near to the bus station as possible.
'Hotel Mexicos', it was called - after sussing out the room, and finding out it was only $30 a night, I settled on this as my best (if only) choice.

Later that night, after a lovely cheap dinner (a grand total of $4!), I hit the sack early, knowing I'd have to be up at 3am to get to the bus station in time.

Fighting a slight premonition of impending doom, I asked God to keep me safe and help me to rest up a bit. Then, I finally fell asleep.

12.30am - BANG BANG BANG BANG! 'Open your door! We need to talk with you!' BANG BANG BANG BANG! 'Please open your door!'

Oh, Father, what's going on?! Bleary-eyed, and with my heart pounding louder than a thousand marathon runners on a wooden bridge, I threw on some decent clothes and ventured to look through the door's peephole.

There were at least 4 uniformed police officers wandering around the corridor! Thankfully, I could also see that they were banging on the door next to mine. So they weren't after me, it seems. (I know I'm a shady character, but seriously!)

After a few more prayers for courage, and contemplating the potential hazards associated with taking this action, I pushed the door slightly ajar and asked what was going on.

'Oh, we're sorry, Miss. Please take your rest.' How exactly am I supposed to do that?

Anywho, end of the story is, I didn't get much sleep that night after all, and I still don't know if the room next to me contained a murderer or drug-smuggler, or if the police were just mates with him and wanted to see how he was going. At midnight.

AND now I'm safely in Thailand. I've settled in well, bought a few of the essentials (like a blue kettle, $4, score!)

But I don't have any pictures yet, because I'm still trying to figure out my camera phone (I had to get a new one because my old one wouldn't work here). And I've been a bit lazy in the photo department. Ok, I hate taking photos. This I need to work on.

This post is definitely long enough. My love to you all, I'll write again next week!
xoxo Jacki