Planning July - Penang, Malaysia

(Update: We have just come back from our Penang trip and it was a blast! Check these two links for an entry on our trip and our amazing tour guide, David)


Karen and I are planning another first—what would be our closest foray into backpacking—when we travel to Penang, Malaysia sometime in July. We will be staying in a 3-star tourist hotel and are bracing for what we, in quite derogatory humor,  term as an “adventure.” 

Used to the conveniences of luxury travel, we’ve mostly only tried staying in nice rooms with fluffy beds and spic showers and toilets. But we’re getting the room for two nights for free from an unexpected promo when we bought our camera, and we thought, hey, why not?

Preparing for the trip in itself has proven fun. I’ve been spending time looking through the easiest and cheapest ways to travel from Manila to Penang. The obvious option, Malaysia Airlines, flies direct but will set us back a good P50-60k, so I knew there must be a more modest choice. It turns out, the most practical price-wise and time-wise is to fly Cebu Pacific to Kuala Lumpur for P10k per person (round trip), and find our way to Penang from there. Incidentally, Cebu Pacific has an MNL-KL flight leaving at 8pm and landing at around midnight. And it can take up to 6 hours to get from KL to Penang, so we can leave Manila the night before our booking in Penang and have the whole of day 1 to explore.

The options on how to get from KL to Penang is another story. A train ride of 6 hours sounds idyllic, across country-side with pretty views. Malaysian trains reportedly have good sleeping chairs, and should allow us a good rest before our adventure. Unfortunately, the only night train from KL to Penang leaves 30 minutes before our flight arrives, eliminating this option all together. 

Bus rides to Penang take from 4 to 5 hours and are reasonably comfortable. Travelers swear this is the best back-packer’s option given the convenience and price. But the earliest trip leaves at 7 am, meaning we would have to wait 7 hours from the time we arrive, will travel 5 hours, and reach Penang only at noon. Not entirely bad, but less than ideal in my opinion. 

Finally, there are regular Air Asia flights from KL to Penang, taking about 50 minutes. The earliest flight leaves at 7 am, meaning we will reach Penang in time for breakfast. True, we would still have to wait 7 hours from the time we land in KL, but at least we cut on travel time significantly and get to spend more time in Penang itself. Ironically, I hesitate from jumping on this option due to the cheapness of the plane ticket, at around P600 only. For some reason, I feel discomfort with how low the price is and cannot help imagining a rickety old plane, windows rolled down, and baggage tied on top jeepney-style making the trip. Can this price be real? Or am I missing out on something here? In any case, this seems to be the most reasonable choice.

Cebu Pacific to KL, then Air Asia to Penang it is then. For a harrowing total travel time of 12 hours! Quite an adventure, I tell you!

Day T minus 1

6 pm – arrive at NAIA 3 and check in for flight. Dinner.

8 pm  - 12 mn Cebu Pacific flight to KL

Day T minus 0

12 am – arrive at LCCT terminal in KL

12-1 am – go through immigrations, customs, etc

1-6am – sleep at airport lounge, care of AMEX

6 am – Check in for flight.

7-8 am – Air Asia flight to Penang

8 am – arrive at Penang

8 am – 2pm – breakfast, explore, lunch

2 pm – check in at hotel

Part 2 of the planning stage is on packing. Again, we’re used to over-packing, planning for likely and unlikely contingencies. We’re going light this time, and that’s no light task for us. 

What back-packing would look like for us

Obvious decisions to the experienced back-packer seem like major sacrifices off-hand, like how to do away with all the “essential” toiletries for Karen, and not bringing my laptop for myself. Browsing online has yielded a number of good tips, which I hope to apply:

1. Don’t overpack clothes, having them washed when in a bind is not overly expensive.
2. Pack disposables. Sachet toiletries which you can throw away after two days to start.
3. Essentials are easy enough to buy wherever you’re going. And it gives you reason to visit local department stores and convenience stores, to add.
4. Instead of bringing heavy jackets and coats, bring light clothes which can be layered when it gets cold.
5. Research on weather and climate so you know what to pack.
6. Do not fill up your bag when packing to leave space of things you will buy where you’re going.

All sound advice, yes? Good. Time to put them to practice, then.