We had our first real misadventure yesterday. After a day of seeing the sites in Kuala Lumpur we decided to take a bus to the Cameron Highlands for trekking, tea tasting, and honey collecting. We should have known things were going to be interesting when everyone kept talking about the long Labor Day holiday that started on Friday, when we were set to leave. We were told to be on the bus platform at 4 PM for our 4:30 bus. By 4:15 we could tell there was no real system in place. A bus would show up and people would scramble to get on, only to realize that it wasn't going where they wanted to go. Clutching our bags to us after a close call with them almost heading off to Singapore without us, we kept watching for our bus. Thankfully there were several English speaking travelers who were all going to the same place so there was a bit of comfort there. Almost by chance an unofficial looking bus station worker said Cameron Highlands just loud enough for us to hear as he waved us off the platform and then across the bus station, outside onto the side of the street, and into our waiting bus. At least that part was taken care of. I pulled out the iPad and started a movie, with the intent to just watch stuff until the four hour trip was over.
About halfway through the second movie we realized that the stop and go traffic had been happening for most of Tom Cruise's spy adventure through exotic lands. Looking our the front window all you could see were tail lights for miles...or kilometers if you want to keep with the local system. No problem, we'll be a little bit late, but should still have plenty of time. We kept hearing people talking about how they hadn't booked a room yet, however, they heard there were plenty of places so they would sort it out when they arrived. After over six hours on the road the bus finally pulled over...to the rest station that was meant to be the halfway point. The place looked like something out of the apocalypse. Cars were parked everywhere. Some with the hoods open. Some wth their four way flashers still going. The lines for food and bathrooms were at least thirty minutes long. You get really creative and a lot less shy when you have to pee and only have minutes to do it before the bus is set to leave.
When we finally arrived in town it was 2:30 AM, the whole journey taking just over ten hours to complete. We asked the bus driver where there was a taxi stand and he just waved his hand in some direction away from his bus. A few minutes later he was gone and everyone who was on the bus was now aimlessly wandering the streets trying to figure out where to go next. Thankfully a local took some pity on us and saw an opportunity to make some quick cash and became an impromptu taxi service for us and another couple of travelers from Oregon (small world). It was only a five minute drive to our hotel just outside of town and the sign on the front said 'Full House'. That's when the real fun began.
Several days ago we booked both our bus travel and hotel in this area so we were covered. That is until the front desk person asked for our confirmation number and we realized that our reservation wasn't for tonight, but for twenty days in the future. We suddenly didn't have a place to stay in a town with no taxis and fully booked hotels. We got to a point where we begged for a service room or even a couch to sleep on until we figured it out. Finally the front desk told us that their sister hotel down the road may have the penthouse suite still available for tonight only. With that information we set off into the dark for our 'probably 100 meters' search for hotel. Upon arriving at the darkened sister hotel we were greated by silence and another sign that said 'Full House'. Sitting in the lobby we tried to figure out what we could do next when the overnight attendant came walking down the stairs. I nearly hugged him, I was so happy when he said the penthouse was still available.
What started off as a pretty good day turned sour and then ended with us taking a bubble bath in a real tub. The room is so large you could use it as an indoor jogging course if you don't mind navigating around the antique writing desk, the fake fireplace, the two sitting areas, or two double beds. It took me five minutes to turn off all the lights. I felt like I was going through a castle blowing out the candelabras. Thankfully we found rooms at our first hotel for the next two nights so we're mostly back on track from where we started, but it was quite the adventure getting to this point. Of course not all adventures are fun when you're having them.
