Colonial era rivalries echo every time a Malaysian businessman
derides his Singaporean counterparts as cosseted softies with
no real-world ability or gumption. Kuala Lumpur, or KL, almost
always had the brashness of a rough, upstart jungle city of
tin miners, rubber planters, and adventurers. And Singapore,
that sophisticated metropolis of trading house and gentlemen’s
club, was almost always the particular target of its disdain.
This makes KL an interesting alternative to Singapore on a
visa run, and the budget airlines AirAsia has just made it
more popular and affordable. AirAsia tickets, available only
on-line, can run about US$160 booking and paying two weeks
in advance, and drop to as little as US$90 when booked three
months ahead of time. Regular airfare to KL and back is around
US$325.
Likewise, the KLIA Ekspres train service has cut the hassle
and expense of getting from the airport to town. The service
gets arriving passengers to central KL in 30 minutes for just
RM35 (US$9). Taxis run about RM75 and airport limos RM100.
Tickets are available at a counter in the baggage claim area,
and staff there will answer questions about transfers to make
in KL. Free city maps are also available at the counter. Ask
for one; they aren’t displayed.
Overall, KL’s trains are more quirky and less efficient
- though somehow more enjoyable -- than Singapore’s
MRT. Four different companies won bids on developing KL’s
system, and at most “interchanges,” switching
between lines means exiting one station and walking to another.
It provides amusement and exercise and breaks up an otherwise
sustainable AC environment.
The Putra Line is the most important to note (marked in magenta
or pink on most guides). Along it you will find the Masjid
Jamek station, close to the city’s financial center
and colonial KL. Pasar Seni is closest to the backpacker and
medium-range hotels in Chinatown. Other useful stops are KLCC,
which serves the Petronas Towers shopping and entertainment
complex, and Ampang Park, which is closest to the Indonesian
Embassy at 233 Jalan Tun Razak.
Catch a cab or walk 15 minutes down Tun Razak to the embassy
from Ampang Park station (not Ampang at the end of the Ampang
Sentul Timur Line). It isn’t a pleasant stroll, but
it does go past a few old bungalows and planter’s houses.
The British High Commission and the American and Japanese
embassies are also nearby (all marked on the free map).
Before heading to the Indonesian Embassy, make extra copies
of passport information page, entry and departure card for
Malaysia, and the exit stamp from Indonesia and entry stamp
into Malaysia. KL embassy staff requires copies of these along
with your passport and other visa documents - something I
don’t remember staff at other embassies doing. Copies
can be made at the embassy itself, but it takes much longer
than the few minutes at an outside copy shop.
An optional route back to city center is to turn left off
Tun Razak onto Jalan Bukit Bintang. A 10-minute walk will
reach the usual Asian entertainment district of shopping malls
and five-star hotels. Get back on the rails at the Bukit Bintang
monorail station.
Useful Web sites:
* www.journeymalaysia.com – A KL-based site with lots
of good travel ideas and tips.
* www.airasia.com -- Be certain of your travel dates or pay
attention to the costs of changing a ticket. Also, be sure
to meet the 15 kilogram checked luggage limit. AirAsia gives
no overage allowance.
