Downi Dzui Dze' blog: Penang Travel Guide: Part 1 How to get to Penang from Ho Chi Minh City

Intro

Hello everybody, this is series about Penang Travel Guide including an overview about how to get there, places that shoud be visited, food to eat and my personal experience hanging around Penang.

Part 1: How to get there (I went to KL by Air Asia and then booked in advance an ETS train to get to Penang)

This is the first part of the Penang Travel guide series. How to get to George town, Penang, based on my personal experience. There are a lot of direct flights from some Asian countries to Penang operated by Air Asia, Jetstar, Malaysia Air, Tiger Air, etc. For me, as I wanted to visit KL as well so I flied from Ho Chi Minh City to KL, stayed there for 2 days before catching an ETS train from KL Sentral to Butterworth, Penang. I bought the round trip airline ticket 1 year prior to the departture date for 74$ with no check in baggage, it’s pretty cheap but not because I bought so early as I thought. My friend in KL also told me he bought at the same fare 2 weeks before the departure date. So to get the cheapest fare you can follow Air Asia newsfeeds and buy the tickets when they are on sales.

Air Asia Plane to KL

KL Airport

From KL there is also flight to Penang. The fare is the same with the train ticket when you can buy cheap ticket (it’s around 50 MYR but the bus from KL Sentral to airport is 11 MYR) but it’s more time consuming. The commuting time on the plane is only one hour, but then it takes more than 1 hour from KL Sentral to the airport, then 1 hour for check in, you need to move around and I feel quite nervous and worried during the commuting time. Also the Penang airport is quite far from Jetti.

The ETS train from KL Sentral to Butterworth, Penang is a newly operated train. The fare is 59 MYR for a one way ticket and it takes 4 hours from KL to Penang. There is a daytime train at around 9:15 AM and a night time train at 18:35 and 20:00. You can get there by bus too but the train is faster and it’s brand new so I prefer taking the train. I will link the timetable in the description box as well as the website where you can book the ticket online. You can buy at KL Sentral on the departure date too but its very time consuming as there is a very long line when I get there and sometimes they run out of seats, who knows.

On the way to Penang by ETS train

KL to Penang timetable
http://www.travel-penang-malaysia.com/ets-train-kl-to-penang.html

Penang to KL timetable
http://www.travel-penang-malaysia.com/ets-train-penang-to-kuala-lumpur.html

Booking page
http://www.busonlineticket.com/booking/ktm-train-tickets.aspx

I went to Penang on Jan 7th at 9:15 and left o Jan 9th at 17:43. Remember to be at the station 15 minutes before the departure time. In KL it’s quite convenient to get to KL Sentral by train so I just left my hotel at 8:30 as my hotel is near Pasar Seni, the station next to KL Sentral, but in Penang, it took 15 minutes from my hotel next to Time Square to Jetti Ferry station (take any bus going to Jetti) and then it took another 15 minutes on the Ferry so I start at 4:15 at the bus station so that I can be at Butterworth train station at around 5:15.

The Jetti

The train station in Penang is just next to the Ferry and you take the ferry to George town, where you can find the best food, beautiful tourist attractions. You can buy train tickets online before your departure day to get better coach (Coach C and B are nearest to the toilet and canteen), it’s 57.7 MYR if you book online but then with the higher exchange rate, the amount of money you spent is just the same. The ferry ticket is bought in the entrance for 1.2 MYR for a round tip, as there is no charge for the return journey to Butterworth.

From Jetti to the centre of George town (Komtar or Time square) you can take any route 201,202,203,204,206,304,102,502,11 they all stop at Penang time square or Komtar, where most hotels are located. Down here is the schedule.
http://www.rapidpg.com.my/journey-planner/schedules/

On the way back to KL by ETS train again, passing through many beautiful provinces