KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

This was a propeller plane with about 60 seats, but only about 30 passengers so they said it would be open seating. I had a good window seat and nobody sat next to me so it was quite comfortable. We finally took off and I had some lovely views of the island, but we were quickly above the clouds. About 90 minutes later we were descending in Kuala Lumpur and the area looked strangely empty. My plan was to go to the Malaysian Airlines counter in the airport and purchase a ticket for the Sydney flight the next morning and then jump on a shuttle for a cheap hotel close to the airport. I knew something was strange when we landed and the airport was completely dark. It turned out we landed at a small airport about 30 miles from the international airport. This was where we were supposed to go, but I wasn’t aware that there was more than one place to land in Kuala Lumpur.

I never even considered buying a tour book for Malaysia since my intention was to only stay 13 hours and most of that would be sleeping. I shot through immigration and customs very quickly and then found out a taxi to the big airport would cost about $18. There was no shuttle or anything else and the airport was practically empty so I hit the ATM outside and prepaid for a taxi. It took almost an hour to get to the big airport and in this hour I was actually very impressed with Malaysia. The freeway was modern and well maintained and the airport itself was amazing. I think Malaysia is following down the path that Singapore (just off their southern coast) has set by being business and tourist friendly.

I found the ticket counter and bought my ticket for the next morning at 10 a.m. I then noticed a desk for the hotel I intended to stay at so I went over to reserve a room. It turned out it was full so I had to go elsewhere. Fortunately a guy at a travel agency desk a few counters down told me about another hotel that was a bit cheaper and nicer, but a little further away. I took a taxi there for a few dollars and checked in and it was an extremely nice business hotel in the middle of nowhere, or at least nowhere that I knew. The helpful man who checked me in asked when my flight was the next day and I told him at ten. He suggested a 7 a.m. wake up call and I said that sounded fine. I had a hamburger at the hotel restaurant and went upstairs to sleep.

I was still sleeping soundly when the telephone rang. I picked it up and they said it was my wake up call. I looked at my watch and it said it was 6 a.m. I called downstairs again and they assured me it was 7:00. This was the third time on this trip that I had crossed into another time zone without realizing it. If I had just relied on my watch alarm I would have woken up an hour late and probably wouldn’t have figured out the problem until the last minute and perhaps might have missed my flight. As it was I was on time. I went downstairs to have the hotel’s buffet breakfast that was included with my room and I was right on time for their 8 a.m. shuttle to the airport. The flight took off on time and in some ways it was like my trip was over. Australia is obviously a foreign country that I had never been to, but since they speak English and it should be a very easy place to visit it was like I was virtually home by the time I got on the Sydney-bound flight