BUTTERWORTH: When 34-year-old Sasha left her home in Selangor just before midnight yesterday, she thought it would be a smooth drive back to her hometown in Penang.
Typically a four-hour journey, Sasha's trip home became a 10-hour crawl.
"My husband and I decided to leave home at night, because usually, the roads are not congested but we were wrong.
"There were so many cars and there was maintenance on several roads. Imagine, we left at 11pm and we only reached my parents' house at 9am.
"This is the first time I've experienced congestion like this."
Sasha was among the tens of thousands of people who took advantage of the long weekend to travel.
"It so happens that the school holidays coincide with the Hari Malaysia and Maulidur Rasul holidays, so we decided to bring the whole family for a holiday."
Earlier, social media posts on the congestion at the Penang Bridge toll plaza went viral.
Some motorists reportedly had to queue for nearly two hours just to enter the island.
Meanwhile, some netizens shared their relief at dodging the nightmarish traffic by taking the Electric Train Service (ETS) to Penang.
"At first I thought of driving but since it is just a short break, I decided to book my ETS tickets two weeks ago, so I did not have to go through the jam," said one social media user.