96. Kang Traveller's Lodge - Warning

I had pre-booked two nights accommodation at Kang Traveller's Lodge (formerly Daniel's Lodge). The bus dropped me off in the main street, I asked directions and walked up the hilly slope. From the street, the outside looks like an old house with an overgrown garden. On entering, I was shocked to meet the man in charge - he was naked except for a pair of jeans - bare chested and bare foot. I should have realised then and turned tail. Alas, stupidly I didn't. (Yes, we all know things with hindsight don't we?)

Dirty and disgusting
The room which was "reserved" - there were two he said, had no bathroom facilities. Walking through the place there were open drains/sewers for the water and the whole place looked (and smelt) disgusting. The toilets were dirty and disgusting - a hole in the ground, a bucket and not much else. Plenty of water all over the floors though.

The first room he showed me was terrible, never in my life had I seen such a hovel. I told him no, was there anything else? He took me outside and we turned right (from the street, the room is on the left) there were a couple of rooms made of flimsy panelboard. He opened the door and my heart sank - the room stank, the window didn't close properly, there was a one inch gap under the door, there was barely enough room to walk around the bed and there was no power point. As this was all there was and not having been in a situation like this before, I took it.


Mildew on the bedding
I handed over my credit card and he said no credit card, cash only. Now, had I been smart, I should have said I didn't have any cash on me and would need to go to a bank. Then gone and looked for alternative accommodation. Foolishly I handed over 25 MYR. I went back to the room to unpack and discovered the bedding and mattress were mouldy and had mildew on them.

This was worse than I thought. I went and found the tourist information counter (It's where the buses pick you up) and explained what had happened and asked the lady could she recommend a place. She said "We never recommend Kang to anybody, it is very dirty and disgusting." They were her words. She suggested Cameronian Inn - 40 MYR for single room with share toilet, 65 MYR for single room with private toilet/shower. I chose the private one.
I was given Room 21, you have to go outside out the back door which is all under cover, the room was on the right. Very basic, but clean. Ran my fingers along the bedside table - no dust. The owner Ganesh had his driver come and drive me back to Kangs to get my suitcase.

 

No refund
The bare chested fellow looked at me and I apologised and said I wasn't going to be staying here, the bed had mildew etc. Never have I seen a face change so quickly. I wondered later if this had happened before. Anyway, we collected my suitcase and I asked politely for my money back. No he snarled, no refund. Why asks I? Because it has already gone through. I knew he was lying - there was no computer, just a piece of paper. Look I reasoned, my suitcase was only here for less than half and hour etc. but no salada. Nothing doing. You want refund - you go see boss.

I did try the "boss" who is at their hotel in the main street. The fellow there was even ruder and the "boss lady" was always conveniently "in Ipoh."

93. Pitfalls of Travelex Cash Passport

Leaving Penang
Because of the length and the subject, I have written this seperately to the post about leaving Penang.


Travel Tip
I write this as a warning to other travellers who have either opened a Travelex Cash Passport or are thinking of opening one - be aware of the pitfalls of such a card. Here's what happened with me:

Above: Travelex Cash Passport (Visa)

Card Declined
I purchased a Travelex Cash Passport which is a prepaid currency card. It costs AUD$15 to have one. I put $500 on mine and used some of this in Cambodia to make purchases. I still had around $260 left in it. When I arrived at the Bayview Hotel, I used this card for my accommodation. What I didn't know was they take the amount (in this case 600MYR which is approx $200) from the card and "hold" it. When it came time to pay my hotel bill, I had a big problem.

I'm standing at reception, try to pay the bill, the card was declined - there wasn't enough money in it. The chap told me thay "hold" the money for seven days. But it depends on the bank when the money gets put back in.

Always have other forms of cash or CC
So effectively, there was no money on the card, even though there was $260 there was still no money. I rang the number on the back of the card, kept getting a recorded message, pressed all the right buttons too, but couldn't get to speak to anyone. All this telephoning took around 10 to 15 minutes and I was panicking - what was I going to do, was I going to miss my bus (you had to pre-book your bus fare), the robotic voice on the other end of the phone was useless. Plus I was mortified that this was happening - can't pay my hotel bill, oh the shame!

I had to use my credit card. The total was 781 MYR (this included all the "extras" - eg meals) and I'd have been up you know what creek without a paddle if I hadn't had a credit card.

Now, the money had been taken out and "held" somewhere on the 14th March so the money should have been put back in by the 21st March - it wasn't. I checked this several times online in Malacca. I left Malaysia on the 22nd and arrived back in Australia on the 23rd March. I checked the account balance again, still the money had not been put back in the account.

On the 24th, I rang Travelex in Australia and explained the situation. The lady I spoke with was very helpful and was surprised to hear I couldn't speak with anyone when I rang them (Travelex) from the hotel. She asked for my bank account details and after the 600 MYR had been put back on the card, credited all the money to my bank. This meant that the balance left was zero. So I did get my money back but only after a long list of problems.

Travelex Cash Passport Rules
a) It costs $15 to open an account and deposit money.
b) Each time you wish to add more money onto the card it costs $15.
c) You can only use the card overseas.
d) You cannot use the card in your home country
e) If you wish to withdraw the money in your home country you will be charged $15.
f) The card is valid for three years.

I am going to Thailand and Laos in a little over three weeks, but I won't be using the cash passport again. True, it is good to have another form of money in case your credit card gets stolen, but after the hassle I had in Malaysia, I really don't think it's worth it. I'll still have EFTPOS cards as well anyway, so will be content with that.

7. Accommodation

This is an edit update - Warning: The Old Penang Guesthouse in Penang bore no description to their website. It was a terrible place in a very seedy part of town and I felt very unsafe just walking there. I stayed elsewhere.
Also Kang Travellers Lodge (Daniels Lodge) in the Cameron Highlands was very dirty, had open drains, the toilets were disgusting and the man running the place wore nothing but a pair of jeans - bare foot and bare chested. I didn't stay there either and would advise others not to stay at either of these properties. I will post about this in fuller detail a little later. (Edited on 25th March)


After having made the decision of which hotel/guesthouse to stay in, it came time to make reservations. When I tried making a booking through a hotel website, it came up as no rooms vacant. Right, I thought to myself, I'll just go straight to the horse's mouth so to speak. In other words, book directly with the accommodation place. So that is what I did, and found there were vacancies at the place in Penang.
Anyway my accommodation is as follows -

Cambodia
Siem Reap - Two Dragons...2 nights

Malaysia
Kualar Lumpur - Tunes Hotel at LCCT (Airport)...1 night
Penang - Old Penang Guesthouse...3 nights
Cameron Highlands (Tanah Rata) - Kang Travellers Lodge (Daniels Lodge)...2 nights
Melacca - Heeren House...3 nights

Below are photos of the places I'm staying. As I haven't yet left Melbourne, I don't have any photos of my own - the following are from the accommodation websites.

Two Dragons Guesthouse - Siem Reap

 

Tunes Hotel LCCT - Kuala Lumpur

 

Address is ~ Tunes Hotel KLIA-LCCT Airport
Lot PT 29, Jalan KLIA S4, 64000 KLIA
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Old Penang Guesthouse - Georgetown

 

Kang Travellers Lodge - Tanah Rata

 

Heeren House - Melacca

6. Accommodation

An edit update - Warning: Do not stay at the Old Penang Guesthouse in Penang or Klang Travellers Lodge (formerly Daniel's Travellers Lodge) in Tanah Rata. (Edited on 25th March)


Not having been to Asia before, I was all at sea as far as accommodation went. When I travel around Australia I stay in YHA hostels - dorm share. For my trip to New Zealand I did the same thing. I love staying in a dorm, firstly it's cheaper than a single room and secondly, it's so much more fun when you're travelling solo. You get to meet other people and don't have to spend your time alone. It's comforting to know there are others in the same room. Apart from a couple of hostels which weren't YHA's, I've always stayed in a female dorm. In other words YHA hostels have male and female dorms, many other hostels have mixed dorms.

There are very few YHA places is Malaysia, I found one in Penang but it was dearer than some budget hotels. I asked on a travel forum for advice and although there weren't that many suggestions, I looked up some and settled on Old Penang Hotel in Penang, Klang Travellers Lodge (formerly Daniel's Travellers Lodge) in Tanah Rata and a friend who I see each day on the way to work advised Heeren House in Melacca. She and her husband had stayed there in 2008 and loved it.

I had contacted Tourism Malaysia in Melbourne and their advice for Penang was
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, which although lovely and I would love to have stayed there, was way out of my price range. That's why I settled for Old Penang Hotel in Love Lane.