Before leaving Hong Kong, Darren and I debated whether or not it would be worth it to spend our 9 hour layover in a hotel/hostel. The two biggest factors in this decision, as with most decisions we make, was time and money. The only hotels anywhere near the airport (which is basically in the middle of nowhere) are the Pan Pacific, the Concorde, etc. These hotels average upwards of $100 for one night. The closest hotel we could find for a lower price was $42, but was fully booked. Every other form of accomodation is about an hour away. So our choices were as follows: pay a ridiculous amount for a bed nearby at a luxury hotel; travel almost an hour into town for affordable accomodations (getting there around 3am, sleeping for about three hours, then having to leave by about 6am to catch our flight out); or, sleep in the airport. Guess which one we chose?
No, this is not a trick question. If you know us at all (or if you're Laura and you were there to witness the discussion), you can probably guess that we slept at the airport. Now, before arriving I was dreading this decision. I had this notion that the Kuala Lumpur Airport was some sort of tin roof/dirt floor, or something resembling a Chinese train station. Maybe I'm just too accustomed to the "cleanliness"/lack thereof of Chinese transportation, because I think the airport is actually fairly clean. It does help that spitting and hawking loogies, and urinating on the floor is not common practice here in Malaysia (THANK GOODNESS!). Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
That being said, it was almost 2am when we got through customs and we were certainly not the only ones with plans to set up camp on the floor. As we walked through the small airport (which is still probably double the size of the one in Prince), we saw plenty of people ten steps ahead of us, sprawled out in a corner or along a wall, eyes covered, snoozing away. At 2 in the am, the airport was actually pretty quiet, and Darren and I nestled in, made ourselves a little sleeping quarter and did our best to konk out.
About two hours into our snooze however, the airport exploded with people. When we fell asleep the AirAsia check-ins weren't even open and so there was little activity. At about 4 in the morning though, there were huge line-ups of people checking into flights. Once the hustle and bustle started, it didn't let up. We would wake up at intervals to crowds of people not more than a few feet from us, and by around 6am, there was no blocking out the noise.
So, true and faithful, we joined the line of zombies and headed to Starbucks. It's funny how you can walk into a Starbucks and feel right at home. Most of the people here are foreigners and English speakers and with a nice mug of Americano, it hardly feels like you've left home; except, that Malaysia has a huge Muslim population--full burkas and traditional modest garb everywehere--something we don't see much of at home.
So here we are, empty mugs of coffee, our bags piled into a corner, killing time until we leave for Bali. Anxiously awaiting.
He he...I'm laughing because I feel your pain. Several times in the past Frank and I have set up camp in various airports, however, the worst was the Seattle Greyhound Station. That was a scary experience. Hope you got a little shut eye and are ready to get busy relaxing on the beaches in Bali!
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