The Big KL Kuala Lumpur April 12th 2012

Leaving on a jet plane..

So it's the big KL today then. Langkawi is good for a weeks holidays perhaps in combination with a couple of weeks at Penang or visa versa. Islands in this part of the world are generally more expensive than mainland destinations ( except Penang), I don't know why exactly but I'm sure the lure of the tourist dollar could be a major reason. 3 days on Langkawi was enough to get an appreciation of the place, its culture and people. A good beach holiday for sun worshippers, whilst the more active tourist can trek through forests, climb hills and get quite close to nature. The people are good natured, generally, no arrogance was detected during those few days. Smile, and they always smile back. Kids wave from the distance, wave back and smile, this happens frequently here - its nice that European arrogance hasn't rubbed off here like it has in the Thai Islands, according to various Internet forums that is.

Langkawi

 Breakfast at Rainbow, they have a taxi too, and as that's the only way of getting to the airport then I have it booked to leave at 11, and it's 18 RM, £3.71.  10 Minutes to the small terminal building, about a dozen counters and room on the tarmac for about 6 jets. Trouble checking in - the kiosk won't issue my boarding pass! Ok, let's try the desk and hope they don't charge me extra for the pass as there are signs around saying 10 RM if not checked in on-line! It's fine, as they can see I did check-in a few hours ago. About 90 minutes to kill, hungry too and I know just the place to get lunch. In the car park is a food stall, used by taxi drivers and the student pilots from the flying school. I spotted this the other day as I was biking around the place. I can help myself to the rice, and a host of items laid out, self service at its best. The fried chicken looks tasty enough, have to admit to being a bit greedy though - loads of rice and 4 bits of chicken, had to leave some rice! £1.31, that's not bad for an airport meal, albeit a bit off site! Back to the terminal for a Starbucks to wash it all down, and it's the same price as in Georgetown.

A picturesque view of the island as the plane climbs and banks to the left flying right over the beach, although I could spot the little fishing village and the fishing boats tied to those bamboo jetties. Greens and blues merge into turquoise as the place becomes a dot on the landscape - kuala lumpur then, it's going to take 1 hour we are told by the captain.

Its a smooth touchdown  at KLIA.  Reminds me of my first solo landing, the best I had ever done. Air Asia have their own terminal at KL, and it's big, well, looks it from here as the plane taxis for a good 10 minutes to the far end stand. And here we are then in the big KL, capital city of Malaysia.

Air Asia have their own buses, back and forth every 15 minutes. The bus is booked and payed for same time as the e-ticket which takes the hassle out of finding the right downtown bus, and avoids the taxi touts.

KL Suburbs

Heading off towards downtown, and the scene is just dense vegetation. Mini palms would describe the trees around here, plantations extending for many miles. 40 minutes to reach the outskirts, dotted with housing blocks, mosques and a few high-rise buildings on the KL skyline. Orderly housing estates, very much reminiscent of British chalet bungalows and semi- detached are numerous in the suburbs, looks a smart clean place so far. The bus pulls into a rather dark, ominous looking tunnel and everyone gets off here. It's the Sentral Station, the transport hub to the rest of the city. Petaling street in Chinatown is where I need to be. It's a 20 minute hike or I can take the train for 25p! The train it is, quite similar to the Skytrains of Bangkok except these don't have drivers.