Kuala Lumpur, Baby!

I have to confess, by the time my departure from Manila was approaching, I could not get out of there fast enough. While I loved the people, I just did not like much about the city and was ready to beat it out of there. So the fact that getting out became such a hassle in and of itself didn't help me to leave it with the fondest of memories.

This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to the chaotic
scene that was leaving Manila. You can see the check-in sign
in the front, kind of make out the blue little booth on the left
where you pay your exit tax and see the Immigration sign
on the far end. This was right before I'd finally made it to
check-in so there weren't many people in front of me and
you unfortunately lose the sense of "people crush".

I don't know why I should have been surprised but the airport departure procedure was one of the most chaotic I have ever seen. I've traveled to a lot of countries, I've been to a lot of airports and I've passed through an awful lot of immigration desks but never anything like this.

The first thing I noticed was when the taxi pulled up to the airport, I was SURE he had taken me to the wrong place. This was not the airport I had arrived in. Turns out they have different terminals for different things, but not terminals like we think of, terminals as in each is essentially its own little airport. And apparently the flight I was on flew out of this tiny little one seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Okay, no biggie, I thought.

Until I walked in the front door. It was one long room, approximately 100-150 feet in length and no more than 25 across. The first thing you do is put your bag through "security", which technically has both a luggage belt and a metal detector although I can't see that either serves any real purpose. When I walked through the metal detector, it went off immediately but the guy just gave me an unconcerned look and waved me through anyhow. Now I felt really safe. Okay, no biggie, I thought.

Until I really started paying attention to what lay ahead of me. I realized that EVERYTHING was in this one small, hot, oppressively crowded room. Everything: "security", check-in, airport tax station and immigration. For all the airlines. For all the passengers. Here, in this one room. Okay, no biggie, I thought.

Until I got through "security" and realize that the mass of people I was standing in was actually the check-in line. No different lines for different airlines or different flights but one big, massive, jumbled line. And it wasn't moving. At all. I stood there for about 15 minutes, unmoving (and unable to move) when I started getting nervous. I had arrived a solid 2 hours early but now, as I was really taking in the non-moving scene around me, I was starting to get nervous. There were about 75 people in line and TWO people working at checking them in. And they were working very, veeery slowly. I struck up a conversation with an Australian girl near me and she was as staggered by what she was witnessing as I was. It took at least 45 minutes just to move the 20 or so feet that the check-in line covered. By the time I got there, the oppressive heat was starting to hit. Okay, no biggie, I thought.

Kuala Lumpur, my home for the next 4 days

Until I finally got checked in. And then I saw that there was a little booth off to one side where you had to pay your "exit tax". Awesome, hadn't planned on that and had spent down to my LAST peso with the cab (up until that point I had actually been pretty impressed with just how well I had planned it out!). I didn't have a peso to my name and I suddenly need 550 of them. Gulp. But that worry almost came second to the concern over how I was ever going to even get to the ONE window to pay it (or attempt to beg/plead/cry my way out of it). I hadn't thought it possible, but the section after check-in and before immigration, the place where you pay the exit fee was even more cramped and congested and chaotic and hot than the other. There wasn't even a hint of a line and all you could do was push against everyone else to get up to the little booth to pay your money. Chaos, pure and total chaos. And it didn't help that it was 4:30 in the morning and it was hot and humid and at any given point about 5 people were touching me. My patience was running out. But I fought my way to the window and, miracle of miracles, they accepted credit cards. Whew! Great, making progress, I thought!

And then I realize that, contrary to logical belief, things started going even SLOWER after that. Once you paid, there was literally nowhere to go, nowhere to move as the crush of people was just so insane. There were two lanes for immigration and they inconceivably moved even slower than anything previous. By this point me and the Aussie girl were fast friends and it helped to have at least one other person there who I could commiserate with. You reached a point where it was just SO insane that all you could do was laugh. Another 45 minutes waiting there, the whole time with the girl behind me either actively pressed up against me or bumping into me. My patience was definitely wearing thin. But... I made it! Okay, I made it, I thought! And then.

I had to pass through another bag inspection when I got to the "gate" (which was one big sealed-off room that everyone for all flights was corralled into, kind of like trapped animals) and they started taking some of my things. At this point, I was so aggravated and so hot and so tired that I didn't care and couldn't even muster up much more than a head nod when they told me what they wouldn't allow to pass. All told, to move approximately 150 feet from check-in to immigration took me nearly an hour and 45 minutes. But okay, I made it, I thought!

And then my flight was delayed. Sigh. And then I gave up.

All that to say that getting to Kuala Lumpur this morning was a sweet relief and I instantly loved it. Maybe it was just such a relief to be out of Manila that anything would seem like paradise in comparison. Or maybe, just maybe, this city really is as cool as I anticipate it will be and I will love it here. Yeah, I think that's it.