Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
198
By Bus
From Singapore, there are many bus routes
to Malaysia. If you want to travel on land,
I personally pr efer the bus o ver the train
from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Execu-
tive coaches operated b y
Aeroline
hav e
huge seats that r ecline, ser ve a bo x lunch
on boar d, and sho w mo vies. They also
have express buses to v arious locations in
KL and Penang. Call them in Singapore at
&
65/6723-7222.
B uses depar t fr om
HarbourFront Centr e at 1 M aritime S q.
for the 5-hour trip (S$49/US$33/£22
They're much cheaper if y ou r ent within
the countr y. A t K uala L umpur I nterna-
tional Airport, find
Avis
at Counter B-16
at the arriv al hall in the main terminal
(
&
03/8776-4540
). Ther e's another
branch at the international airport in Pen-
ang (
04/643-9633
), or make a booking
through www.avis.com.
GETTING AROUND
The modernization of M alaysia has made
travel her e—whether it 's b y plane, train,
bus, taxi, or self-driv en car—easier and
more convenient than ev er. Malaysia Air-
lines and AirAsia hav e ser vice to ev ery
major destination within the peninsula
and East Malaysia. Berjaya Air and Firefly
service some cities and small islands. Buses
have a massiv e w eb of r outes betw een
every city and to wn. Train ser vice up the
western coast and out to the east pr ovides
even mor e options. And a unique trav el
offering—the outstation taxi—is av ailable
to and fr om most cities on the peninsula.
All the options make it convenient enough
for y ou to plan to hop fr om city to city
and not waste too much precious vacation
time.
By and large, all the modes of transpor-
tation between cities ar e reasonably com-
fortable. Air trav el can be the most costly
of the alternativ es, followed by outstation
taxis, then buses and trains.
By Plane
Malaysia Airlines
(
&
1300/883-000;
www.malaysiaairlines.com) links fr om its
hub in Kuala Lumpur to the cities of Johor
Bahru, Kota Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala
Terengganu, K uantan, K uching, Lang-
kawi, Penang, and other smaller cities not
covered in this v olume. Malaysia Airline's
national hot line (
&
1300/883-000
) can
be dialed fr om anywher e in the countr y.
Individual airport information is provided
in sections for each city that follows. One-
way domestic fares can average RM100 to
RM400 ($29-$116/£18-£72).
one-way).
Buses to Johor Bahru and Melaka can be
picked up at the B an S en terminal at
the corner of Q ueen and Arab str eets.
Call
&
65/6292-8149
for buses to J ohor
Bahru (S$2.40/US$1.60/£1.10) and
&
65/
6293-5915
for buses to M
elaka (S$11/
US$7.35/£4.95).
From Thailand,
you can grab a bus in
either Bangkok or Hat Yai (in the southern
part of the country) heading for Malaysia.
I don 't r ecommend the bus trip fr om
Bangkok. It's just far too long a journey to
be confined to a bus. You're better off tak-
ing the train. F rom Hat Yai, many buses
leave regularly to northern Malaysian des-
tinations, par ticularly B utterworth (P en-
ang). Also be warned, the U.S. Department
of State does not recommend U.S. citizens
travel in cer tain par ts of southern Thai-
land due to terr orist violence near P attani
and Narathiwat.
By Taxi (From Singapore)
From the J ohor-Singapore bus terminal
at Queen and Arab str eets, the
Singapore
Johor Taxi Operators Association
(
&
65 /
6296-7054
) can driv e you to Johor Bahru
for S$40 (US$27/£18).
11
By Car
Major international car-r ental agencies
operating in S ingapore will r ent cars that
you can take o ver the causeway to Malay-
sia, but be prepared to pay a small fortune.
