Kuala Lumpur’s commuter train system is quirkier than
Singapore’s efficient MRT network, but if you’ve
got no interest in the quickest trip from A to B, the KL trains
offer better value. I had read what a mess the system was
to build, with four different companies winning development
bids. There was no disappointment: it was a pleasure to see
and ride the result - if only for the amusement of making
a connection. No overall design integrated the development
plans of the four companies, and switching between lines usually
means exiting one station and walking to another. My favorite
such “interchange” is Hang Tuah, where you can
examine the mural painted on the external walls of KL’s
infamous colonial era Pudu Prison as you walk station to station.
During my most recent visit to KL, I managed to ride every
bit of the city’s rail, and the best ride out and back
was to Port Klang. The line ends near the ferry terminal,
where regular boat rides can be caught to ports in Sumatra
and Malaysian islands in the Straits of Malacca. I spent a
pleasant hour exploring the small bustling terminal and watching
the comings and goings of boats and passengers. A small nautically-themed
café offers coffee, tea, and snacks, and customers
can sit on an enclosed deck over the water and watch the doings
in the harbor. The train ride from KL Sentral is a little
over an hour, so it’s a good way to spend a morning
or afternoon.
Another pleasant long ride is out to Gombak, the terminal
for the useful Putra Line at the northeastern suburban limits
of KL. There are views of jungle-covered sandstone ridges
and cliffs along the way. The Putra Line also gets you to
the Petronas Towers shopping and entertainment complex (KLCC
Station), where free Internet is available at the Sony store
on the third floor of the shopping mall. Each user is supposed
to be limited to 20 minutes - so it can be frustrating when
store staff allows extra time for friends and sweet young
things - but it’s the only convenient place I found
to check e-mail and the news.
For an outing combining a train ride and a walk back to town
central, drop at the Chow Kit Station on the KL Sentral-Titiwangsa
Line. If you walk back in the early evening south along Jalan
Pahang (with the monorail running overhead), you’ll
pass several streets that have been closed off for a night
market. On your left hand side in the vicinity of the Stanford
Hotel will be the Chow Kit market, an interesting place to
explore for the number of different virility medicines on
sale - one of which did wonders for a brown worm that supposedly
displayed the desired combination of firmness and elasticity
- although I’m not sure why the seller kept putting
the worm on his head.
On the same walk, look for the side street on the left with
the string of outdoor Malay seafood stalls. The rust-red corrugated
roofs of a Malay kampung can be seen in the river valley behind.
And watch out for the backstreet, abandoned colonial mansion
being taken over by banyan trees and creeping vines. Once
you’re back where Jl. Pahang becomes Jl. Tuanku Abdul
Rahman, you are close to a rewarding cold beer at the Coliseum
Hotel. Several small Indian restaurants nearby offer inexpensive
dining options if you haven’t already had your fill
at the food stalls in the market.
