Boy ... what a difference a few hours on a plane can make. Three hours after leaving Yangon, and arriving in Kuala Lumpur, you remember just how modern the rest of the world is ... three hours is like 40 years.
So here's the deal ... my plane was suppose to leave at 6:50pm, and arrive at 11 pm at KL. However, in Myanmar, they have a very strict rule on planes leaving the country. That plane can only leave AFTER all the incoming passengers clear customs, just in case there's someone who shouldn't be allowed in and as a result, they potentially send them back on the return plane. So .. we are delayed about an hour and a half. Now you're are thinking ... big deal? Ahh ... but I have a shuttle bus for my hotel and the last one leaves at 12 midnight.
Then I find out the Air Asia (Low Cost Carrier) terminal we arrive at is about 15 km from the International Terminal and THAT's where the shuttle leaves. On top of that, I have to clear customs and get my bags too.
Quick as a flash, I get through customs in about ..... 1 minute. I'm serious, I give him my passport, I get it back, Bob's your uncle !! Go to the baggage belt, get it in about 2 minutes. I'm thinking this is too good to be true, for now. Then I find the area to get my inter-terminal shuttle. It leaves at 12:30 am, and I tell the driver I need to get to the Concorde Inn. He tells me it's his second stop ??? What ?? His broken Indian English was confusing. I stay on, and we go ..... and get to the terminal by around 1am. We pass the hotel twice, but keep on going, and I figure he'll drop me off last, since he is the last bus of the night, and no taxi drivers wanted to help me since I was going so close by.
He drops me off at the teminal, and says to phone the hotel. I tell him three times I don't have a phone. He doesn't seem too worried about that small detail. He says "No problem, you phone them, they will pick you up". I go inside the International Terminal Building and I have their phone number. I see five pay phones nearby .... ALL of them are out of service. Yay .... but luckily, like an angel that God has nicely strategically placed for me, I find some young women just off duty from their store in the terminal. One lets me use their phone, at around 1:10 am and the hotel tells me to wait for about half a hour as the driver is on call, but will get there. Whew .... I say thanks and give the woman a big hug (she was actually very pretty) and although this is a cultural no-no (since it is very, very Islamic and conservative) I don't care. She was clever enough to figure out I meant no harm and just wanted to show sincere appreciation. So, as I wait, the group of women get picked up by their company transport van and they all wave and are still smiling. So ... good, they get it. I'm in my room by 2:15 am. Piece of cake, like I said.
Hotel was very nice, very comfy bed and had a few hours of sleep until BOOM ... BOOM ... BOOM ... thunder and lighting storm all night long. I get up at 9 am, actually feeling rested, ready for breakfast.
Heaven ....
Cereal, waffles, fruit, bacon .... juice. The first real breakfast I've had since Koh Chang in Thailand.
Flight to Kuching ... piece of cake. Although I forgot I had bottled water in my bag while going through security. The security guys laugh at my stupidity and I down it right then and there. Only to find out after I go down the stairs that there's a massive water cooler dispenser in the gate waiting area. I suppose a tank of water is safe than a 500 ml bottle. After 11 years, airports are still funny places ... I have given up figuring the whole mess out.
So here's the deal ... my plane was suppose to leave at 6:50pm, and arrive at 11 pm at KL. However, in Myanmar, they have a very strict rule on planes leaving the country. That plane can only leave AFTER all the incoming passengers clear customs, just in case there's someone who shouldn't be allowed in and as a result, they potentially send them back on the return plane. So .. we are delayed about an hour and a half. Now you're are thinking ... big deal? Ahh ... but I have a shuttle bus for my hotel and the last one leaves at 12 midnight.
Then I find out the Air Asia (Low Cost Carrier) terminal we arrive at is about 15 km from the International Terminal and THAT's where the shuttle leaves. On top of that, I have to clear customs and get my bags too.
Quick as a flash, I get through customs in about ..... 1 minute. I'm serious, I give him my passport, I get it back, Bob's your uncle !! Go to the baggage belt, get it in about 2 minutes. I'm thinking this is too good to be true, for now. Then I find the area to get my inter-terminal shuttle. It leaves at 12:30 am, and I tell the driver I need to get to the Concorde Inn. He tells me it's his second stop ??? What ?? His broken Indian English was confusing. I stay on, and we go ..... and get to the terminal by around 1am. We pass the hotel twice, but keep on going, and I figure he'll drop me off last, since he is the last bus of the night, and no taxi drivers wanted to help me since I was going so close by.
He drops me off at the teminal, and says to phone the hotel. I tell him three times I don't have a phone. He doesn't seem too worried about that small detail. He says "No problem, you phone them, they will pick you up". I go inside the International Terminal Building and I have their phone number. I see five pay phones nearby .... ALL of them are out of service. Yay .... but luckily, like an angel that God has nicely strategically placed for me, I find some young women just off duty from their store in the terminal. One lets me use their phone, at around 1:10 am and the hotel tells me to wait for about half a hour as the driver is on call, but will get there. Whew .... I say thanks and give the woman a big hug (she was actually very pretty) and although this is a cultural no-no (since it is very, very Islamic and conservative) I don't care. She was clever enough to figure out I meant no harm and just wanted to show sincere appreciation. So, as I wait, the group of women get picked up by their company transport van and they all wave and are still smiling. So ... good, they get it. I'm in my room by 2:15 am. Piece of cake, like I said.
Hotel was very nice, very comfy bed and had a few hours of sleep until BOOM ... BOOM ... BOOM ... thunder and lighting storm all night long. I get up at 9 am, actually feeling rested, ready for breakfast.
Heaven ....
Cereal, waffles, fruit, bacon .... juice. The first real breakfast I've had since Koh Chang in Thailand.
Flight to Kuching ... piece of cake. Although I forgot I had bottled water in my bag while going through security. The security guys laugh at my stupidity and I down it right then and there. Only to find out after I go down the stairs that there's a massive water cooler dispenser in the gate waiting area. I suppose a tank of water is safe than a 500 ml bottle. After 11 years, airports are still funny places ... I have given up figuring the whole mess out.
No comments:
Post a Comment