Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
200
get very close to honk at them before they
move.
The speed limit on highways is
224km (139 miles); fr om Johor Bahru to
Kuantan, 325km (202 miles); fr om Johor
Bahru to M ersing, 134km (83 miles);
from Johor Bahru to Butterworth, 737km
(657 miles).
To r ent a car in M alaysia,
y ou must
produce a driver's license from your home
country that shows you have been driving
at least 2 y ears. There are desks for major
car-rental services at the international air-
ports in K uala L umpur and P enang, and
additional outlets throughout the country
(see individual city sections in later chap-
ters for this information).
110kmph (68 mph). O n the minor high-
ways, the limit ranges from 70 to 90kmph
(43-56 mph). D o not speed, as ther e are
traffic police strategically situated ar ound
certain bends.
Distances betw een major to wns ar e:
from KL to J ohor B ahru, 368km (228
miles); fr om KL to M elaka, 144km (89
miles); from KL to Kuantan, 259km (161
miles); fr om KL to B utterworth, 369km
(229 miles); from Johor Bahru to Melaka,
5
MONEY & COSTS
CURRENCY
Malaysia's currency is the
Malaysian ring-
git.
Prices are marked as RM (a designa-
tion I' ve used thr oughout this topic).
Notes ar e issued in denominations of
RM1, RM2, RM5, RM10, RM20, RM50,
and RM100. O ne ringgit is equal to 100
sen. Coins come in denominations of 5,
10, 20, and 50 sen.
In 2005 Malaysia ended a 7-year peg of
the ringgit at RM3.80 to US$1. N ow, the
country uses a managed float system that
measures the curr ency against a basket of
several major curr encies. A t the time of
11
Malaysian Ringgit Conversion Chart
RM
US$
UK£
0.10
0.03
0.02
0.20
0.06
0.04
0.50
0.15
0.09
1.00
0.29
0.18
2.00
0.58
0.36
5.00
1.45
0.90
10.00
2.90
1.80
20.00
5.80
3.60
50.00
14.50
9.00
100.00
29.00
18.00
500.00
145.00
90.00
1,000.00
290.00
180.00
