Road trip to Danok

Hey readers!

Yay, it's been ages since we had a roadtrip across the border to Thailand. For foreign readers, it's like a roadtrip from the states to Mexico. But I didn't just go there to have some fun and a dose of Vitamin D since I'm an indoor person. I had a mission on my mind.

Bright sunny Saturday.

Started journey at 9:30am from Penang and reached Bukit Kayu Hitam at 11:30am.

There are 3 stops before you reach Thailand border. First is the military whereby you don't have to get out from your vehicle and not checking your passport. Second is where you drive through somewhat like a toll booth to chop your passport. No cash required at this stage and no need to get out of your car.

Third is where you have to get out of your vehicle (if not planning to drive into Thailand) and line up for Thailand entry. We parked inside Duty Free Complex but the parking fees is hella expensive. However if you park roadside kena saman pulak. Last time when we went to Koh Lipe we got out of the van to chop passport as well.

Next, walk into the smaller office (not the new building) at left side to take arrival and departure card, fill in the form, go outside and line up and prepare RM2. If you have geran kenderaan then you can drive into Thailand but different rules apply. I never try that before so I can't give you details on driving your own vehicle.

Welcome to Danok!

If not mistaken the nation mourns the passing of their king for one year. Tourists are encouraged to wear white or black attire. I totally forgot about this till now but coincidentally both of us wore white that day though unplanned.

There were a few temples here but we didn't explore.

I had just recovered from an excruciatingly bad diarrhea so I was very meticulous about my consumption.

Mcd looks like a more hygienic option. Besides, they offer signature collection that's not available in Malaysia.

Angus beef set costs 209 baht. Kuro Buta set was 199 baht. Each of us added sliced bacon (15 baht). Total 438 baht for McDonald's is quite expensive.

His angus beef tastes like normal beef patty but larger. It's not spicy too.

My pork however is super duper spicy that I had to exchange with hubby.

Shrine outside of Mcd. You will see shrine everywhere in Thailand esp outside of commercial premise. During my first trip to Bangkok when I was 15, I was surprised to see the four faced Buddha that my mum had devoted to pray every year is situated beside a mall instead of a sacred jungle as I expected lol. Another trivia is that shrine was the location of 2015 Bangkok Bombing.

Continue our short walk.

Lorries in a long line to go through imigration. Seeing this makes us appreciate courier services even more. I can't imagine what the drivers had to go through everyday.

Messy wires.

We walked towards the less populated area of this small town.

Beautiful new hotel. You can consider staying here if you visit Danok.

Tiny Tesco Lotus.

Haha.. can't miss buying snacks home whenever we step foot in Thailand.

Hubby also bought shirts for himself and pulut ayam. You can see pulut ayam stalls everywhere in Danok it's a thing here so we gotto try. But where's the pulut? I can only see fried chicken. I didn't ask the seller but can someone tell me why no pulut. Is it just a name.

This is the new immigration building for you to enter Malaysia. All you have to do is go in, line up, show your passport and give departure card with RM2.

This is where you chop your passport to go back into Malaysia and no need to get out of your car. Goodbye for now and see you in the land of Thor, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, 007, Gerua and Kungfu Yoga and...yup you might have guessed it.