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Chiang Mai – An India visa run, in Thailand.

Written by James Clark on March 9, 2011 · 5 Comments

Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand. This was not the greetings I was expecting to do for the rest of the year, but Indian bureaucracy had other ideas.

I went to Penang with the intention of getting a visa for India while I was there. When I applied to the visa centre, the first item on the visa application was pointed out to me:

Visa application of NON-MALAYSIAN foreigner who is not resident of Malaysia is liable to be rejected

I found out foreigners can longer apply for a visa in Malaysia (or Singapore), but you still can (for now) in Thailand.

I left Chiang Mai at the start of February and had mentally signed off from Thailand. I was thinking that it might be some time before I return to this land. Adding in the back tracking factor, I was wondering if I should just ditch the India trip all together?

The desire to visit India again and the fact that there is a consulate in Chiang Mai made my decision a bit easier. havin a bonus few more weeks with my friends in Chiang Mai sealed the deal.

Kuala Lumpur

To get to Chiang Mai meant going south to to KL to get a flight back north. Thanks to good old AirAsia, I’m becoming very familiar with Kuala Lumpur, and it grows on me just a little bit more each time.

When in KL I like to go to the Brickfields area, where you can find a good banana leaf set meal. This area is known as Little India and it has now been renovated with colourful archways, just incase you didn’t know you were in Little india with the blaring Bollywood songs everywhere.

[Little India, Brickfields - Kuala Lumpur]

KL Low Cost Carrier Terminal

As my flight was at 6.55am I opted to spend the night at the airport. I’m not good at getting up at 3.30am to get a flight, and the KL budget terminal is a great place to get some work done. There is a 24 hour food hall and Starbucks, and the Starbucks has free wifi (like most Starbucks in Malaysia). In fact the whole terminal has free wifi, so I spent the night as a work day. I wasn’t the only one with this idea. This is the food court at 2.15am.

[Food court at night]

India Consulate in Chiang Mai

I went straight to the consulate as soon as I arrived in Chiang Mai. If there is going to be another visa debacle I wanted to give myself as many spare days as possible to sort it out. The office is located on Tung Hotel Rd, which is near the train station. The consulate is in an old house and when I went there was no one in the queue. I filled out the application in what looked like the old lounge room, and that was it. Very laid back, just like Chiang Mai. Happy to be back.

Categories: Where I'm At - Tags: airport, chiang mai, india, kuala lumpur, malaysia, penang, thailand, visa

Save Money on Flights Using Alternative Airports in Europe

Written by James Clark on December 8, 2009 · 4 Comments

Before my first trip to Europe I wouldn’t have been able to tell you where Karlsruhe, Katowice or Klagenfurt was on the map. Since then I not only know where they are, I have used their airports and have saved hundreds of Euros in the process.

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

My criteria for flying in Europe is to book flights that are on sale to places I haven’t been. Occasionally though I need to fly to specific places within a given time. Having locked in travel dates can mean having to fly on expensive tickets. You may be able to save money though by using alternative airports close to your destinations.

For example, I was in Amsterdam and I needed to be in Budapest on a certain date for work. At the time of booking there was no low cost airline serving this route (SkyEurope used to, but they have since closed).

I checked the usual farefinder sites and the cheapest flight I could find was €250! There is no way I’m paying that much for an Inter European flight, so I looked around for alternatives.

A good tool for finding nearby alternative airports is harefares.com. Enter the two cities you want to fly between and it will also show you the nearest airports, ranked in distance.

Flights from Netherlands to Hungary

The next nearest airports to Amsterdam are Rotterdam and Eindhoven. Hungarian low cost airline WizzAir serve the Eindhoven – Budapest route and I found a fare for the date I needed at €50.

Eindhoven is listed as 105km away, which may sound like alot, but it is only 80 minutes from Amsterdam by train. This is about the time it takes to me to get from Central London to Stansted or Luton anyway.

The train from Amsterdam to Eindhoven costs €17, and it’s another €3 to get the bus from the Eindhoven Train Station to the airport.

So my total cost for the airfare and train ticket was €70, a saving of €180 had I have settled for booking a flight out of Amsterdam.

WizzAir at Eindhoven Airport

I have been in a similar situation where I needed to from London to Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, thus flights to the city are expensive. The best option was to fly to Karlsruhe-Baden Airport which is a short train ride away in Germany and a couple of hundred Euro cheaper than flying to Strasbourg Airport.

When you are considering using an alternative airport, make sure you research if you can get to the airport easily enough as well.

I usually book flights well in advance, so I don’t often have to do this. It is a handy travel hack to know just incase your travel plans aren’t so flexible.

Categories: Travel Tips - Tags: airfares, airlines, airport, amsterdam, budapest, hungary, netherlands, travel hacks, wizzair

Hong Kong and hub cities

Written by James Clark on September 29, 2009 · Leave a Comment

The Kangaroo Route from Australia to the UK is a tedious 24 hour trip if you can’t sleep on planes (which would be me). One benefit of such a long flight is that the ticket will usually permit a stop-over for no extra cost. It is with this option that I find myself in Hong Kong for two days.

Nathan Rd, Kowloon - Hong Kong

I’ve been to Hong Kong a few times now using this option. it’s a great place to stretch your legs between flights. I have now got a few favourite restaurants and cafes, and can – for the most part – get around without a map.

My flight to London is with Qantas, which use Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok as the stop-over city. Singapore is good for a one day stop because it is so easy to get in and around. Bangkok is my favourite city for longer stops as this gives me the chance to explore some more of Thailand.

I have previously been able to do a stop-over in Tokyo and Shanghai, but fares to those cities are always more than the traditional hubs of Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Airlines from the Middle East are now prominent on the Kangaroo Route, so Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are now viable stop-over cities as well. I got a great deal one year with Emirates which took me to Dubai, a city I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to visit, but a worthy city for a stop-over. If Etihad and Qatar offer a good deal in the future I’m sure I’ll one day find myself in Abu Dhabi and Doha as well.

India is the missing link on the Kangaroo Route. Qantas has a flight from Sydney to Mumbai and that’s it. There are no airlines from India that fly to Australia (though there is talk of Air India returning, and Kingfisher Airlines are looking into starting flights).

For me Mumbai or Delhi would make a great stop-over city. There are so many places I want to see in India that having a few weeks there on the way back from Europe would be a good way to do it. Visas, terrible airports and extreme culture shock would discourage any Australian airline from using an Indian city as a stop-over hub, so I don’t think that will happen any time soon.

What is your favourite stop-over city on the Kangaroo Route?

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: airlines, airport, hong kong, kangaroo route

Airport Guide: Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT)

Written by James Clark on September 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) is the budget airline terminal for Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

LCCT is on the other side of the runway of KLIA, so you can’t walk between the two terminals. There is a shuttle bus that connects KLIA and LCCT if you intend to transfer to a low cost airline.

[LCCT to KLIA shuttle]

LCCT Airlines
The biggest airline at the LCCT is the AirAsia group, with AirAsia, AirAsia X, Indonesia AirAsia and Thai AirAsia operating flights from here. Cebu Pacific and Tiger Airways also fly here.

[AirAsiaX on display]

Internet
The LCC Terminal has free wifi.

[Free wifi]

Eating
The terminal might be basic but there is plenty of eating options. There are restaurants, cafes and a basic supermarket inside the terminal, and another food court outside the terminal near the bus stop.

[Food Garden food court]

[LCCT Supermarket]

Getting There
The cheapest and easiest way to and from Kuala Lumpur is with the Skybus or Aerobus, which departs from the bus stop outside the terminal.

Categories: Travel Tips - Tags: airport, kuala lumpur, malaysia

How to get from Johor Bahru airport to Singapore

Written by James Clark on September 9, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Johor Bahru is the Malaysian city on the other side of the causeway from Singapore. It may look close on the map but getting from Johor Bahru Senai Airport to Singapore is time consuming.

Singapore does not allow a direct bus service as the government view Senai Airport as competition to their own airport.

Air Asia have a hub at Johor Bahru so if you want to go to Singapore it may work out considerably cheaper to fly to JB. A saving of a couple of hundred dollars on a flight makes it worthwhile for the time it takes to transfer from JB to Singapore.

[Air Asia at Johor Bahru Airport]

How to get from Johor Bahru airport to Singapore
At Johor Bahru airport take the bus to Larkin Bus Station, which is the bus terminal in Johor Bahru. You can buy tickets for the bus in the arrivals hall. Tickets cost RM8 one-way and journey time is approximately 45 minutes.

At Larkin Bus Station get the Causeway Link Express Bus (look for the yellow bus). There are two services that run to Singapore:

1. CW1 Larkin Bus Terminal <--> Kranji MRT Station
2. CW2 Larkin Bus Terminal <--> Queen Street

[Causeway Link Bus]

The Queen Street service is the most useful bus for visitors but you can get on either service to start with.

The bus then takes you to Johor Bahru Customs where you will alight to clear Malaysia customs.

Once you have cleared customs return to the bus park and get the next Causeway Link bus using the same ticket. This will take you across the causeway to the Woodlands Custom terminal in Singapore.

Once you have cleared customs in Singapore exit to the bus stop and get on the Causeway Link bus. This time you will need to get on the correct bus number (CW1 for Kranji MRT Station or CW2 for Queen Street).

By now you have two more stamps in your passport and the bus will take you straight to Queen St bus terminal.

All up you will need to allow for around three hours from arriving at Johor Bahru Airport to arriving at Queen Street Terminal in Singapore.

[Causeway Link Express Bus]

Categories: Travel Tips - Tags: airport, bus, johor bahru, malaysia, singapore

Surfin' Denpasar

Written by James Clark on May 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment

This is the window seat view from a plane at Denpasar Airport in Bali.

Surf at Denpasar Airport - Bali

How many surfer’s over the years have drooled as they looked out the window upon landing in Bali to see waves breaking off the edge of the airport.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: airport, bali, denpasar, indonesia, surfing

A room with an airport view

Written by James Clark on April 20, 2009 · Leave a Comment

I’ve been staying at a business class hotel in Yogyakarta as part of a job. I like Indonesian guesthouses but it has been good to have access to free wi-fi from my room.

If it's Wednesday it must be Yogyakarta

Most of the international hotel chains in Yogya are out near the airport, which is about 8km from the city. They have a shuttle bus that runs to the city centre, so I have to plan my days activities around the shuttle or get a taxi.

One thing about this hotel is that its a plane spotters dream. I can’t help but look at a plane landing everytime I hear one coming.

Room with an airport view

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: airport, hotel, indonesia, java, yogyakarta

Free Wifi: Padang Airport, Indonesia

Written by James Clark on April 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Sumatra is not the most wired Island I’ve ever been to so I was surprised to find free Wifi at Padang Airport.

free hotspot at boarding lounge: Padang Airport, Indonesia

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: airport, indonesia, padang, sumatra, wireless

T5 is working but Heathrow is still terrible

Written by James Clark on December 26, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Heathrow Terminal 5 is fully operational but it hasn’t made Heathrow a better airport. Heathrow was recently voted in yet another aiport poll as the worst in the world. I don’t hate it that much. I find the location is handy and it’s actually one of the most economical airports to get to (£1.50 via the underground train).

The problem with Heathrow is that it’s on a parcel of land that is too small for the airport that Heathrow deserves to be.

My flight from Munich to Heathrow was with British Airways so I got to see the T5 terminal for the first time. My impression of T5 was that it’s a great looking terminal compared to the rest of Heathrow, but surprisingly small. When the flight arrived the landing slots were full so the aircraft was parked on the tarmac nearby and we had to be bussed to the terminal.

[Bus to Heathrow T5]

From T5 I had to connect to a Qantas flight at T4. The terminals are connected by a bus service and the trip is 18 minutes between terminals.

[Qantas at Heathrow T4 and T5 in the background]

The London Airport Dilemma
Even with 5 airports serving the city, Heathrow is the third busiest passenger airport in the world, (and the busiest in Europe). It should have an airport like Hong Kong or Dubai. Instead it has an airport that that began life as an RAF airfield in 1943 and has been expanded over the decades as demand required to the point that it has outgrown its location. There are two runways which aren’t enough and the planned third Heathrow runway hasn’t got past planning.

There are plans for a new London airport, the Thames Estuary Airport, which London mayor Boris Johnson is in favour of considering.

Building a new airport from scratch would be the sensible thing to do, but closing Heathrow and moving the principal airport to the other side of the city is a situation no one wants to make a decision on.

Categories: Travel Blog - Tags: airlines, airport, england, london, qantas, uk

Munich Airport Train

Written by James Clark on December 24, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Whenever I travel to Germany I always leave with a feeling of awe and envy at German transport and infrastructure.

I got the train to Munich Airport from Munich Hauptbahnhof at a ridiculously early hour. Trains run regularly 24 hours a day. This photo is the train schedule at 3 in the morning.

[Flughafen Train Timetable - Munich]