Travel to Malaysia: Getting Your Way Around

We got off at the LCCT – KLIA not knowing how to get to Jalan Masjid, which was the place where we made hotel reservations online.  From the airport’s arrival area (keluar) there were strings of people holding up placards indicating bus services and their corresponding prices which was RM 18.00 per person. Those people looked desperate albeit official since they had booths; we decided to ignore them and we went outside to look for a way to get to the city. One of the best things about visiting Malaysia is that almost everyone speaks fluent English; a very helpful local directed us to a fleet of buses that had routes to the city, they sold tickets for RM 8.00.

We were dropped off at KL Sentral which is the transfer point for all the major rail systems in the country. We had trouble buying the tokens to get to our destination and this is how we firsthand experienced how helpful and honest the people of Malaysia are. While trying to buy the token, a woman from the back approached my mom and assisted us on doing the purchase and even directed us on how to get to the trains. As all of that was going on, I unknowingly dropped a wad of cash in Philippine denominations on the floor, a man tapped me on the back and gave it back bidding me to be careful the next time. When we got off of the train station we were hard put to locate the hotel but again the extremely helpful locals came through and lead us to where we needed to go. A guy helped us as well in finding a good place to have dinner which turned out to be really affordable.

One must be able to navigate their way on their own if one is travelling on a budget. You can ask anyone’s assistance and from my own experience everyone would be happy to help. The free maps at the airport are really handy. Get two maps just in case you lose the first one and take one copy of each if they come in different varieties. The Railway system of Malaysia is easy enough to understand and with the help of a map you’ll be able to get to whatever it is you want to go to and save a lot of money.

One Must remember to stay on the right hand side if you plan on waiting for the escalator to get you either up or down since a lot would be sprinting on their way to wherever it may be and you wouldn't want to get in their way. There is always either an escalator or a lift to take you up or down in the train stations. We learned this painfully having to carry our luggage through an endless flight of stairs and finding out in the end there's actually a lift on the opposite side. Seats are reserved for the elderly those who have disabilities as well as pregnant women, give way!