Penang Sentral…Integrated Terminal in Penang
Arriving at Penang Sentral (integrated building of bus terminal, train station and ferry terminal in Penang) after a 7 hours 32 minutes journey from Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 (KLIA 2) by “Star Mart Express” bus, I rushed towards Butterworth Train Station for buy a Electric Train Service (ETS) ticket to Ipoh for departure on 2 days after my arrival in Penang.
Butterworth Train Station, Penang
My desire to try ETS train service disappeared because tickets were already sold out.
Fine.…”trip by bus again”, my heart murmured.
Finally I returned to Penang Sentral Level 2 to find a bus ticket. A little worry, because if the bus tickets sold out, my plan to set foot in Ipoh for first time could fail.
If I failed to get a bus ticket to Ipoh then I would apply plan B i.e extended my visit in Penang and then returned to Kuala Lumpur to catch my Malindo Air flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Yes….I got the ticket.
All you need to know that Penang Sentral provides two ways to buy bus tickets from Penang to Ipoh.
First, you can directly buy it at Bus Ticketing Counter on 2nd floor. Here is situation of counter:
The modern ticket counter in Penang Sentral
Second, if you want more faster, you can buy it at Kiosk Self Ticketing. Located on 2nd floor too, this is it….the Kiosk machine:
Automatic ticket machine in Penang Sentral
I chose “Perak Transit” bus as my transportation towards Ipoh city. Bus fares about USD 5,20 was enough to save my budget in the beginning of my long journey.
In the day after tomorrow, after explored Penang for two days, finally my trip to Ipoh began. One hour before departure time, passengers permitted to entering Penang Sentral bus platform that located in 1st floor. I sat near Gate 3 according to the ticket and waiting for the bus to arrived.
Malaysia is famous for its neat bus terminal layout
After waiting for 16 minutes, finally “Perak Transit” bus arrived and standby on platform B09
The platform always matches with the one that printed on the ticket
This “Perak Transit” bus is really good …
Bus departed on time on 2 pm.
“Perak Transit” bus interior
140 km trip to Ipoh needed time about 1 hour 49 minutes. Passing through pretty impressive views.
Beautiful hill ranks …
Wide road divides the hills
I repeated this views twice, because my trip from KLIA 2 to Penang on two days earlier also passed through same roads.
The bus took one toilet break on this trip at a place where I couldn’t detect where it was.
On 3:49 am finally the bus arrived at Amanjaya Bus Terminal. This is the intercity bus terminal in Ipoh.
Entering Amanjaya Terminal, I was very impatient to immediately head towards Medan Kidd Bus Terminal that located in downtown. Medan Kidd Bus Terminal is one of many accesses to entering Ipoh.
Beyond expectations … This terminal is quite magnificent
Ipoh, which I’ve only heard through backpacker stories and articles in internet, finally I was allowed to set foot in this city after travel for eight years as a backpacker.
What excitement did I get during my journey in Ipoh?
Patient and wait for my next article, guys.…
Oh, yes. Here’s another alternative to buying online ticket from Penang to Ipoh, which is in 12go Asia at following link: https://12go.asia/?z=3283832