On the Island of penang

Today we got up at 09:30 and headed down to breakfast in our last morning in Citrus hotel, Kuala Lumpur.


After breakfast we needed to pack our bags for our travel to Kuala Lumpur LCCT airport, which was 60km away from our hotel. We got to the airport by two forms of transport. Firstly getting a taxi to KL Sentral which costs 15 ringetts (under 3 pounds) which was 8km and then we got a Coach from their to the airport which was 8 ringetts each (1.50 pounds) and was 50 km.

It has to be the bumpiest bus journey of our lives. We were sat at the back of the bus, and we are pretty certain that the suspension was broken. It felt like we were on an American Low rider.

In the previous post, I mentioned that AirAsia boasts about their 85% on-time flights. We got to the domestic departures building 80 minutes before our flight, checked the departures board and our flight was no-where to be seen.


Asking around was a night-mare and we just seemed to be getting sent all over the place with our big heavy backpacks on our backs.


Finally we reached a service desk for AirAsia which knew what was wrong. The flight was "Delayed" which Ben was not surprised at, as all of his flights with AirAsia previously have also been delayed... Some 85% on-time rating.

The flight was an hour behind, and was a 50 minute flight. Security didn't really exist and we were sent onto the runway for boarding and had the option to also board multiple other flights... we had to follow a crowd and make our own way to our aircraft. People complain that easyjet is bad...


The flight was ok and saved another 7 hour train journey that we were going to do overnight.


We got off the plane in Penang to a strong wave of heat, as the outside temperature felt extremely high, it was definately reaching the mid 30s. Our hotel was on the other side of the island and we had to get a taxi which took around 45 minutes.


It cost 60 ringetts (12 pounds) split between 3 for a 45 minute taxi ride is a bargain. The taxi driver was fun, very chatty and give us a good introduction to the history of Penang. Obviously selling his services for our future transport use, but forgetting that he made the journey feel shorter than it was.

Our first impression of the hotel was fantastic, and that impression is still with us now. We checked into our reserved 4-star hotel, which costs 13 pounds each per night. It has a big outside pool, its own beach and over-looks the sea and the sun-set from our balcony.

Tonight ate at the hotel restaurant, had a swim and then visited a night market.

Tomorrow's plans are still being made however we're pretty sure we are going to visit Penang hill.

We are now planning to stay in Penang for 4 nights and fly to Phuket instead of getting a bus taking 10 hours, stopping overnight at Hat Yai on the way. By flying, it enables us to spend one day less travelling, and the flight is straight over the ocean and only takes 15-20 minutes!