7.
In late 2011, as summer faded into autumn and the hot air of south-east Asia filled with regular rainstorms, Charlotte celebrated her 23rd birthday. Her cake was a tin of baked beans. Her company was a lizard named Brian.
Charlotte was alone, exhausted, and content.
‘Whether my present is life, or I have been presented with life is a topic of Facebook debate,’ Charlotte wrote on 12 October.
‘But I am pleased to evaluate that I am still alive.’
The last two days had been the most harrowing of her trip thus far. Tom had left her back in Thailand, after they cycled together through the jungle roads of Laos with its lining of banana trees and the small smudged backstreets of tiny villages.
Charlotte didn’t really like being alone. Her blogs became longer, her frustrations grew. She found a lizard in one sleepy £2 room in Chumphon and named him Dave. Yet it was time, she felt, to give up the cushioned comfort of friends, toughen up and go solo.
By 11 October, Charlotte had hit the necessity of another border crossing. Visas and paperwork played an annoying but often easy administrative part of her trip. The movement from Thailand to Malaysia would be slightly different.
Drawn by the promise of Malaysia’s beautiful east coast, Charlotte planned to get a train from Hat Yai and cross via Sungai Kolok. She would then push rapidly on to make her flight from Singapore on the 27th.
Sungai Kolok was one of those places travellers seem unsure about. Travellers on Lonely Planet forums questioned its safety. In Charlotte’s guidebook, it was blackballed. ‘Advice is not to take this crossing … It is simply too dangerous.’ Lonely Planet articles themselves referenced its emphasis on the sex trade and its by-the-hour accommodation.
Yet for Charlotte, going through another border wasn’t an option. She figured the guidebooks were talking about traditional transport methods, not cycling. She had made up her mind – something she didn’t mention to her mum in that week’s postcard.
After cycling 136km and being wished ‘happy new year!’ in celebration of her birthday, Charlotte hit Hat Yai and its station. The first thing she noticed were the guns.
‘The alarming thing here was that they weren’t handguns tucked away in a belt,’ Charlotte wrote.
‘These were massive, arm length guns hung around the neck, occupying both hands, as if the need to fire could be imminent.’ The weapons shone in stark contrast to the otherwise peaceful operations in the rest of Thailand.
Charlotte watched a 16-carriage train pull into the platform. Military men and weaponry piled out. Was this normal? She wondered. Was this supposed to happen? Beside her were five army men. Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea. When a couple English-speaking cyclists approached her, Charlotte momentarily relaxed.
They asked where she was going. She explained she was en route to Sungai Kolok.
‘You ought to go somewhere else,’ they responded.
On the train itself, Charlotte became more uncomfortable. She somehow ended up in an entirely empty carriage. A guard, spotting her, locked her in. When the train stopped, Charlotte jumped out the back door and moved into a more crowded cabin. Being around others would allow her to judge true risk from their reactions.
‘But still it’s difficult when you stick out as the only westerner likely dumb enough to take this route for a long time. And the only female in shorts and no headscarf.’
The journey dragged on. The air was hot and thunderstorms split the sky. Someone next to Charlotte offered unwelcome advice: the border was closed, he said. She should go somewhere else.
Charlotte wouldn’t go somewhere else. She had made it this far. If she had to, she would cross the border illegally, sleeping on the Malaysian side for the night, then cross back in the morning to make the lawful transition. Anything to get over the Malay border and into safety.
By the time they pulled into Sungai Kolok, it was dark. Charlotte prepared for the worst.
Instead, she got a border that was open and fiercely proud of its previous accolades: the best border crossing in Malaysia in 2005 and the best border crossing in SE Asia in 2010. It was aiming for the best border crossing in Asia in 2014 and the best in the world in 2020.
‘Talk about ambitious,’ Charlotte wrote. ‘Happy to help with a smile maybe, but personally I prefer a few less guns.’
As she found an overpriced hotel room in the dark of the Malaysian night, Charlotte admitted that perhaps safety should take priority over economy. Or at least be factored into the equation.
Then Charlotte lent back and opened her can of baked beans.
