Getting Around

As soon as we stepped out of the airport terminal at Kuala Lumpur, the transportation infrastructure amazed us. The multitude of options to reach the reach the city made it convenient to travel at any hour of the day. However, since it was already past midnight by the time we had finished dinner, we opted for a direct taxi to take us to our accommodation in KL Sentral.

Grab, contemporary of Ola/Uber, is usually most popular in South-Asian landscape. After getting a local sim activated upon our arrival, we quickly verified our account on the app. We exited from a different floor meant for people to catch the cabs. There were designated exits for city/airport buses and metro transits. There weren’t many people who were waiting for their cabs at this hour, but enough to keep the bay completely occupied. Cabs, shining like brand new, came in from one direction and zoomed off in another. In coming days, we would notice that mostly all cabs were well maintained and shined like new. There were no tantrums about the destination or payment modes thrown by the drivers while accepting the rides, and a very minimal rate of cancellations.

In our days spent in Kuala Lumpur, we heavily relied on the local transportation options. We decided to try as many modes possible to explore the depths of the city. We tried out various modes of metro for daily excursions, so much so that by the end of our trip, it hardly took us a minute to get the tokens from the kiosk. Kommuter train that we took for our trip to Batu Caves, reminded me of my local train commutes in Mumbai, just air-conditioned in KL. We took the city bus for our Genting Highlands outing. It was the luxurious version of the inter-state volvo buses we get here.

Opting various local transportation modes which were easily accessible and widely integrated, gave us a peak at places of the city which we would have not visited otherwise. Trains navigating in between the sky-scrapers gave us the glimpse of a city that was an amalgamation of both old and new, traditional and modern.

During our stay at Langkawi, the small and famous dutyfree island, we opted for a self-driven car right upon landing in at the airport. It is undoubtedly the most popular option to travel around in Langkawi. All those days when we drove around the island, the driving discipline absolutely astonished us. Coming from a city where every car is in a hurry to get ahead, flashing the high beams, tailing the car ahead with only inches to spare, it was no less than a cultural shock for us observing people driving so patiently, and never honking at a slow moving vehicle. They would politely slow down, maintain a 10 yard distance, and trail the car ahead with utmost discipline. We would often joke that it’s resembling a train with so many wagons equally spaced and moving in harmony. Nevertheless, the absence of honking was music to ears.

Our driving experience was absolutely amazing. Driving in a country outside your own is an experience in itself and teaches you many things too. One such incident was our encounter with self-service fuel station. Accustomed to ‘assisted’ services at all possible points, it was new for us. We observed a couple ahead of us and enacted the same steps. Go the counter, pay up for the amount of fuel required. Head back to the car next to the station. Fill up the tank with the required amount. Drive ahead. The panels on the station to input the fuel required was unoperational and their trust in citizens to be truthful about the taking only the paid fuel, absolutely baffled us.

Once back to India, we remain in denial about the driving infrastructure and lack of civic sense prevailing here. Amidst the chaos and honking, we continue to exist. It sure was fun exploring the cities like a local.

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