17 December Air Asia Flight AK13 from Kuala Lumpur to Chennai
With another
nighttime flight I had all day to do stuff in Kuala Lumpur. In the morning
before checking out, I worked on this journal, then after check-out sat down in
the lobby to write 10 postcards.
On a previous visit to Kuala Lumpur I
had enjoyed the artworks at Bank Negara Malaysia Museum & Art Gallery, so I
headed there by taxi. Unfortunately the 3rd-floor art gallery was closed, so I
just viewed the well displayed Numismatics Gallery with exhibits of treasure and
money used from the earliest civilizations until modern times. I also went
through the Bank Negara Malaysia Gallery, Economics Gallery, and Islamic Finance
Gallery but found them of less interest.
Sparse raindrops began to fall
as I got a taxi back to the Airbnb place to pick up my bags, then another taxi
brought me to the Brickfields post office, where the heavens open up in a deluge
of heavy rain and loud crashing lightening. I got soaked in the few seconds
needed to hop out of the taxi and enter the post office. I mailed off the ten
postcards, which cost a bargain 90 sen (about US 20 cents) each. Restoran MTR
1924 was just around the corner, and I dived in for a vangi bhath—rice cooked
with bits of eggplant and spices—that was new to me. I also had a familiar idly
and vada along with a masala tea. By the time I finished the very nice snack,
the rain had completely stopped and flooded streets had drained.
A short
walk led to KL Sentral station, where I got a RM 55 ticket on the KLIA Ekspres
train that runs nonstop to the airport’s two terminals. I arrived at the airport
in plenty of time and easily checked in for AirAsia Flight AK13. I bypassed the
long immigration lines by using an automatic gate (no wait at all) similar to
the way I had entered Malaysia. My flight had been scheduled to depart at 9:35
p.m., but was delayed until about 10:10 p.m., not a problem. From the window
seat I watched the spread of lights below until the plane headed northwest
across the Bay of Bengal. A meal of Hyderabadi vegetable biryani arrived, then I
got some rest after a long day.
In a bit under four hours the plane
landed at Chennai a little before midnight. (I had gained 2.5 hours from the
time zone change.) Immigration went quickly with my ten-year Indian visa. I went
outside into the cool night air and followed directions to a pre-paid taxi
booth, where a driver led me to his car in a parking garage. Despite the late
hour, a lot of people were coming and going from the airport, and a traffic jam
of taxis slowed progress until well free of the airport grounds. Normally
Chennai roads are crazy packed, but in the middle of the night my driver had an
easy drive to my guesthouse, Treebo Eco Stay Nandanam, booked through Agoda for
24 nights at a cost of $518.36 ($21.60/night). The modest 3rd-floor room was
clean with a hot-water bathroom and a little balcony; weather during my stay was
pleasantly cool, so I used the ceiling fan instead of air-conditioning. A pack
of street dogs would bark loudly at times during the night, so I put in ear
plugs. I had stayed here last year, and my phone and computer still had the
wi-fi password.
On to INDIA: Introduction