Malaysian Dreams

Surprise, surprise...I am almost alone in the aircraft. Our A330 with space for about 250 passengers is only filled with about 50 people. I had one complete row of seats for myself and so did the others. It didn´t know back then but this is going to be my first Ramadan experience. For muslims it is not allowed to travel during Ramadan only in urgent cases. I arrive at the 2nd of June in an mainly muslim country with an muslim airline and Ramadan started officially at June 6th. I didn´t complain about the excellent condition to find some sleep. After 10:40 h in the air we arrived at Kuala Lumpur with 30 min delay. That kind of interfered with my flight masterplan. I had already booked a connecting domestic flight and I thought 2 h are way enough time to get my luggage, switch terminals and check in again. It turned out to be very a very tight schedule. So I was hurrying to find the train to KLIA2, buy a ticket and take the ride. Fortunately it took only 5 min with the KLIA express train and I arrived at the check in 10 min before closure. Thats what I call time management ;). After I checked in I had enough time to check out some shops and get cash at a ATM. Then I passed the security check for the last time on this in total 23 h trip. By the way it is no problem to take water bottles into aircrafts in Malaysian domestic flights. Air Asia then transported me for incredible 25 € including a delicious tandoori chicken wrap and water to Kota Bharu. One hour later I stood at the cabrank. Groggy as I was I accepted the 30 RM offer of the driver w/o bargaining (probably a mistake but I didn´t care anymore) and tried to enter the cab. I realized my mistake when I saw the steering wheel in front of me. Malaysia has left-hand traffic as the UK so I changed to the other side of the car. With a nice conversation the driver maneuvered us through the streets of Kota Bharu: my first real impression of urban Malaysia. He brought me to KB Backpackers Lodge, a not to bad looking but at that day empty hostel..except me. It gave me a little bit the creeps when I realized the owner and me going to be the only people there but a look at the guestbook soothed me. There have been many guests the nights before so it seemed to be Ok staying the night. He gave me the big room with the double bed, fan and the windows to the street. Even though I was on the verge of falling asleep immediately I barely found sleep that night. I wasn´t used to the high temperatures and the humidity.Read more