The slow train to KL

Our day began at 5.30 am so that we could get to the Woodlands Station before 8 am. We caught an express bus and were told that it would take around an hour. So we got to the bus station about 6.20 am and got a bus straight away. The trip took 35 mins to the checkpoint at Woodlands. We walked across to the Train checkpoint and then sat in the waiting room - no food, no toilets nothing!

The train check in opens 30 minutes before the train leaves and you have to  clear Singapore immigration and Malaysian customs and immigration before you can get on the train.  Unfortunately for us, the train was its usual (as we found out later) hour late so it was almost 9.30 when we left.

(Crossing the causeway)

 



The Rakyat Expres (People's express) is really not an express as it stops at most stations between Singapore and KL including stops in the middle of nowhere for minutes at a time. The first class carriages have reclining seats and the air conditioning was freezing!

 

 

The scenery was quite repetitive after the first hour or so - lots of palm oil plantations with the odd bit of jungle or rubber in between.

 



We finally arrived in KL about 4.30 pm and off to our hotel which is close to the KL City Centre and PETRONAS towers.  This was the view from our hotel room last night...

No I am not kidding - when we booked we did ask for a view of the Towers if possible and that is what we got :)

This is the bathroom - not bad! So far the hotel has been fantastic and I would recommend it if you are looking for somewhere to stay in KL.

And of course Doppelbandy enjoyed the view of the city from the lounge:

Today we spent most of the day exploring KL on the free bus routes.  We stopped at a couple of shopping malls and at one, there was a display of animals celebrating one of the religious festivals.

This weekend is Hari Raya Haji and there are street lights etc marking this important time.