Travel Tips: Bus Travel in Malaysia

Since I had my fair share of traveling by bus so I thought why not I share some of the travel tips I gathered through my experience. Might come handy for foreign tourists and students who might be away from their families for the first time when they entered matric/university this coming July. In the recent two weeks alone I clocked more than 24 hours being on board a bus. The bulk of it is the KL-Kangar trip plus the usual KL-Kuantan Trip.

1. Always buy your ticket at the counter! This is really important and must be remembered no matter how desperate you are. It's common to see at big stations like KL's Pudu to have pushers trying to sell to you tickets. They usually shouts the destination and chides you if you decline their offer. My advice: ignore them. They might charge higher or give to you a lousy bus. This especially true during peak seasons.

Instead go straight to your preferred bus counter and buy the ticket there. So, in case of any discrepancies or delays you can inquire at the counter. If you a first time buyer, just look at the destination names on at the counters. If you totally clueless I recommend going to the Transnasional counter - they sell tickets to almost all destination (especially from KL).

2. Shop around. Now, which bus is more comfortable? If you are adventurous you could try out different bus each time or you can simply observe the buses when you are waiting for your bus. For those who are in universities, you can ask your seniors. There are many types of bus - the plain one have 4 seats in a row, then the premium 3 seats in a row and the double decker. The first two might costs the same but the latter could be slightly more expensive by around 15%. Double deck bus are unsuitable if you plan to carry a lot of luggage as their cargo hold is rather small and there's no overhead storage compartments.

3. Buy early. You must be real lucky to be able to buy tickets at the last minute during festive seasons or real unlucky to find out you are given extra (read: lousy) bus. You must book early, some bus operators allow booking four weeks in advance. The minimum is usually two weeks for those who still use paper filing system. Some of you might figure out that only tickets to Ipoh and JB are sold out during Chinese New Year but don't be surprised that ticket to Kota Bharu sold out too. Malaysians don't care what the festival is about, they travel home if they have the holiday anyway.

Other peak seasons might occur nearing university semester breaks or school holidays. This is true especially if the town have a sizeable students population.

4. Be prepared. By law bus drivers must stop at least once during the journey so you can eat and pray. Sometimes, the stop is very brief or the rest area doesn't sell food. So you should prepare with your own packed foods and drinks.

5. Alternative routes. The ticket to your destination sold out? No problem - you can still hop on a bus that goes to a city beyond your destination. Say the ticket to Muar sold out, you can hop on the bus to Batu Pahat. But you must clarify with the counter of the route of the bus.

Sometimes it will pass through your hometown or be at the outskirts which you may have transport problem. And be sure to notify the bus driver and remind them. And don't fall asleep! My uncle once end up in Johor Bharu when he fall asleep and missed to stop at Pagoh. This method is only recommended if you have somebody to pick you up. Of course, this method is irrelevant to towns which borders Thailand or Singapore.

6. Alternative stations. Sometimes, a town might have more than one bus station. For example: apart from Pudu, KL have Pekeliling, Putra & Jalan Duta. These stations are smaller and only serve specific regions such as Pahang, East Coast & Northern respectively. I prefer to board at Pekeliling to go Kuantan as it is much less buy and nearer to the LRT. Keep in mind that your choices might be limited here though.

If your town station have limited outbound trips you might consider going to a bigger nearby town to get to your destination. For example Kangar might have limited bus so you can go to Alor Star to get more bus. Kangar-Alor Star are served by a commuter bus so it's quite convenient.

7. Be early! This is very important as you don't want to miss your bus and waste your money. And you might be pestered by your mum. :P A friend of mine had missed more bus in a semester than the rest of the class. Heh. This is also important in big stations like Pudu where you need to locate the platform or where the bus waits outside the station (especially for those double deck buses).

Ok, that's my travel tips for now. Hope you find it useful!