28. Kuala Lumpur Airport

Thursday 11th March

 

Above: Our plane
Our flight arrived on time at LCCT airport in Kuala Lumpur at 6.35am and I had my first taste of Asia, and my first sight of Malaysia. I can tell you it was a most thrilling moment. Many passengers were taking photographs and we slowly made our way across the tarmac. Going through customs it was exciting to see my passport finally had a stamp on it. Surprisingly, the luggage didn't take very long to start coming down the baggage collection area.

 

Above: Sunrise Skies
A most beautiful sky tinged with salmon pink and orange filled the early morning as the sun was about to rise. Even though it was very early I could feel the heat and humidity and being unnacustomed realised the importance of drinking water - and plenty of it. The only downside given the copious amount of water was the need to find the loo!

 

Above: Early morning breakfast
I went to a cafe which had eggs on toast on their menu only to find after a goodly wait that eggs on toast were "not on today" and neither was anything else on that page.

So I made my way to the Oldtown White Coffee place and ordered a coffee. A helpful gent explained the different types of coffee and recommended I try "this one" - the one listed at the top.

 

Above: Malaysian Police
On my way to catch the free shuttle bus to the Tunes Hotel, I asked these two policemen if I could take a photo. The chap on the left seemed very happy and stuck out his chest, cradled his weapon and smiled winningly.

A few tips
a) For those who haven't travelled to Malaysia before, make sure you have plenty of cash. Credit cards may be good for hotel bills and car hire, but you cannot use a credit card at the airport - everyone wants cash only. In most shops and businesses they do not take credit cards either, although one of the larger supermarket type places would take a credit card provided the amount was over MYR 10. Also, the duty free shop at LCCT airport will accept credit cards only if the amount is over MYR 50. The advice I had been given back home to take cash and pay for everything by credit card proved not to be very good advice at all.

b) Buy a large bottle of water, it works out far more cost effective. I had two or three smaller sized bottle (around 500 - 600 ml) and tipped water from the larger one into these.

c) Free shuttle buses are advertised as taking you to/from LCCT to Tunes Hotel, but the driver of the free shuttle (there was a large sign in the front window) refused to take me. I found this very annoying and waited for the next shuttle - the same thing happened. In the end I had to get on the non free bus and pay my fare to the hotel.

d) After depositing luggage at the hotel, you then need to catch a bus back to LCCT in order to get a bus to Kuala Lumpur.


During the flight, Air Asia crew sell bus tickets to Kuala Lumpur (from memory it was either MYR9 or MYR 13. Their buses are red and have Air Asia written on the side. Their employees wear red T shirts.