For some inexplicable reason the queue for passengers who had already checked in online was longer than any other queue. After standing in the queue for about 25 minutes we enquired if we could go check in at the normal counter and were told that because we had already checked in online we had to stay in the queue we were in. After a further 20 minutes it transpired that the hold up was that the person in the front of the queue had managed to get through the first round of airport security with a knife on him! This would probably have gone unnoticed if his luggage had not been too big (it was something in a huge cardboard box) and him being told that he couldn't take it on board. He simply replied "No problem" and whipped the said knife out of his pocket and proceeded to cut the box open. The attendants at the check-in desk were alarmed and had to call someone more senior over hence the hold up. I have to say at this point I thought that we might be be flying on a cargo plane because of the amount of luggage people had. I did not know that Sri Lankan Airlines offer a cargo service where you can take up to 100kgs of luggage. I was fully expecting to see cattle, sheep and chickens being loaded onto the plane too.
After that ordeal we finally got taken to another counter to drop off our baggage. We could finally board our flight! While we were walking to our plane I was still unsure what to expect because I did not have high hopes for this flight. I have to say that once we were seated on the plane I was pleasantly surprised. It was just like an Emirates plane about 10 years ago though.
The next morning we arrived in Colombo. We were due to have a short stop over there and then get the next flight headed to Kuala Lumpur. For yet another unknown reason the flight was delayed until 8am that morning - we were meant to leave at 6:30am. I started to panic because with the delay it didn't leave us much time to get our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo.
We eventually arrived in KL with not much time to spare. What we didn't realise was that KL airport is huge and is under construction and that the baggage reclaim area is a 10 minute bus ride from the arrivals terminal. We were due to get to the LCCT terminal for our Air Asia flight headed to KK but again we did not realise how far it was from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal. It was a good 20 -25 minute taxi ride and we were running out of time!!
When we arrived at the LCCT terminal I felt like I was a contestant in the Amazing Race because we were running through the terminal with backpacks trying to find our check in desk and we had about 5 minutes before our check desk closed! The sign board indicated that we were to check in at counter 12 so we ran off to get there only to discover that the counter had been changed to another one on the other side of the airport! Off we ran with minutes to spare only to be greeted by a massive queue. At this point I was certain that we were going to miss our flight and was ready to give up. Luckily a very nice family at the front of the queue saw how harassed I looked and very kindly let us go in front of them. We made the check in by the skin of our teeth!
When we eventually arrived at our boarding gate we discovered that yet again our flight was delayed. This time I was actually grateful for the delay because we would not have made our flight if not for the delay. I have also been told by a good friend who lives in Asia that Air Asia are reknowned for being delayed with no explanation offered as to why.
Eventually at 8pm on the 22nd of December we arrived in KK. We got a taxi to the place we were supposed to stay in for our first night but what a nightmare. The place was called North Borneo Cabins and had got very good reviews on Trip Advisor thats why we had chosen to stay there. When we pulled up in front of the establishment we were rather surprised. It was located on the high street not just outside the city centre as described on Trip Advisor and looked completely different to the pictures posted on Trip Advisor. It was extremely humid when we arrived there and they did not seem to have any airconditioning. We got taken to our room and were in for a huge surprise. The room reminded of a scene from the movie The Beach where Leonardo Di Caprio stays is a rather dodgy room in Bangkok. There was no airconditioning as advertised just a rickety ceiling fan and a infested looking bed with no bedding. The ceiling fan offered nothing but circulating the sweltering heat around the room. We knew we had to get out of there!We used the free internet at North Borneo Cabins to book ourselves into the Le Meridien hotel for that night because we just could not stay there. We didn't even bother to ask for a refund thats how bad it was. We just apologised for the inconvenience and left.
We eventually got to Le Meridien at 9:30 that night completely exhausted, extremely hot and starving. Le Meridien was like paradise!! Fully airconditioned room with a king sized bed with clean bedding.
We had been planning on going to Mantanani Island at some point during our stay in Borneo so Byron phoned up their office that night to get us a reservation. They could only accomodate us the very next day for 2 nights and 3 days. This required a 7am pick up from our hotel the next morning then a 3 hour bus trip to a jetty then a 45 minute boat ride to the island. We were really looking forward to going to the island but didn't think it would be the very next day though.
All in all things turned out really well but the moral of the story is don't get 3 flights in one day covering 3 different time zones!!! Its very tiring!!!
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