Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
197
A passenger ser vice charge, or
airport
departure tax,
is incorporated in all ticket
prices: RM5 ($1.45/90p) for domestic
flights and RM40 ($12/£7.20) for inter-
national flights.
Malaysia Airlines
(www .malaysia
airlines.com) flies to six continents. I hav e
found Malaysia Airlines ser vice to be of a
very good standar d, not to mention that
they hav e possibly the lo west rates to
Southeast Asia from North American des-
tinations.
AirAsia
(www .airasia.com) also flies
long-haul flights to A ustralia and shor ter
flights throughout the region.
From the U nited S tates,
Malaysia
Airlines
(
&
800/552-9264
) flies fr om
Los Angeles and Newark/NYC.
From C anada,
North American carri-
ers will hav e to connect with a M alaysia
Airlines flight, in either East Asia, Europe,
or the U.S.
From the United Kingdom, Malaysia
Airlines
(
&
0870/607-9090
) flies fr om
Heathrow Airport to KL.
From A ustralia,
Malaysia Airlines
(
&
132-627
) flies dir ectly to KL fr om
Perth, A delaide, S ydney, and M elbourne,
and via Sydney for Brisbane.
AirAsia
flies
to P erth, M elbourne, and the G
(avoid the 10pm mail train if y ou want to
reach ther e befor e y our next bir thday).
Kuala Lumpur's KL Sentral railway station
(
&
03/2267-1200
) is a 10-minute taxi
ride from the center of to wn and is con-
nected to the Putra LRT, KL Monorail city
public transpor tation trains, and the
Express Rail Link (ERL) to Kuala Lumpur
International Airport (KLIA).
FROM THAIL AND
KTM' s interna-
tional service departs from the
Hua Lam-
phong Railway Station
(
&
662/223-7010
or 662/223-7020) in Bangkok, with oper-
ations to H ua Hin, Surat Thani, Nakhon
Si Thammarat, and H at Yai in Thailand's
southern peninsula. The final stop in
Malaysia is at P adang Besar, so passage to
KL will require you to catch a connecting
train onward. The daily ser vice departs at
2:45pm and takes approximately 20 hours
from Bangkok to Butterworth. There is no
first- or thir d-class ser vice on this train,
only air-conditioned second class; an
11
upper ber th goes for about US$20
(S$30/£14), and lo
wer is US$23
(S$34/£16). The latter is roomier
For a fascinating journey fr om Thai-
land, you can catch the
Eastern & Orient
Express (E&O)
(www.orient-express.
com),
which operates a r oute betw een
Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur,
or S ingapore. Traveling in the luxurious
style for which the O rient E xpress is
renowned, y ou'll finish the journey in
about 42 hours. Your entr y-level cabin is
Pullman, priced at US$3,240(S$4,836/
£2,176) per person double occupancy
old
Coast.
From New Zealand, Malaysia Airlines
(
&
0800/777-747
) flies to KL fr
om
Auckland.
By Train
FROM SINGAPORE
The
Keretapi
Tanah Melayu Berhad
(KTM),
Malaysia's
rail system, operates trains that connect
,
with S tate and P residential S uites also
available. Fares include meals on the train
plus accommodation in B angkok at the
Peninsula Hotel. Overseas reservations for
the E&O E xpress can be made thr ough
travel agents or b y booking online. F rom
Singapore, M alaysia, and
cities along the west coast of Malaysia with
Singapore to the south and Thailand to the
north. Trains depart daily fr om the
Singa-
pore Railway Station
(
&
65/6222-5165
)
on Keppel Road in Tanjong Pagar, not far
from the city center . Trains to Kuala Lum-
pur depar t daily for far es fr om S$34 to
S$68 (US$23-US$46/£15-£31). The trip
takes ar ound 7 hours on an
ekspres
train
Thailand,
contact the E&O office in S
ingapore at
&
65/6395-0678.
