How to I get to Pangkor?

Actaully what you are going to read about is how to get to Pangkor from Singapore by bus because thats how I got there!

To get to Pangkor, first you got to go to Lumut, which is a town in the Perak from which you can catch the ferry to Pangkor.

If you don't already know, nearly all the bus companies which operate bus routes between Singapore and Malaysia can be found at Golden Mile Complex along Beach Road. There are tons of bus companies there but not all of them go to Lumut. I went to Lumut by Grassland ( tel: 65 62921166) and it costs $36 per seat, one-way. The bus was air-conditioned and there are about 20 plus seats. The seats are wide, recline to about 160 degrees and also have leg rests, just like the business class seats you would find in an airplane. Each passenger was also provided with a blanket, a bottle of water and a snack box. My snack box, contained a red bean bun, a packet of crackers and an apple. I was quite impressed!

What I also liked about the bus was that seating is fixed and so there is not mad rush to chope seats.

Grassland I believe has daily departures to Lumut. The bus leaves at 9pm and so it is an overnight trip. The bus will depart promptly so be late at your own peril!

The trip is about 9 to 10 hours with two stops along the way. For those of you who are keen on Ramly burgers, the expert's opinion is that the burgers at the second stop taste better than than those at the first.

The bus will arrive in Lumut at about 6am in the morning.

So it was an ungodly hour that I was dumped half asleep the bus terminal in Lumut. This early morning arrival posed a few practical problems. First, the bus ticket that I had purchased from Singapore to Lumut was only one way because for some strange reason Grassland does not sell return tickets. What I was assured in Singapore was that I could purchase tickets for the trip back to Singapore at the Lumut bus terminal. What they of course did not tell me was that I would arrive in Lumut at least 2 hours before any of the bus companies offices at the bus terminal opened for business. So when you get to Lumut, be prepared to wait for at least a couple of hours so that you can purchase your bus tickets back to Singapore. This leads us to the second problem, which is where to wait? Well, just is dispel any illusions, the Lumut bus terminal not exactly your typical modern Singapore bus interchange. It has about 8 parking lots for buses and next to the lots are a row of tiny rooms, each room, a tiny seperate office for different bus companies. When I arrived there in the morning, the terminal was deserted, dark and smelt of urine. Not a good place to wait at all.

Next to the terminal is a small open air hawker centre. Don't expect to get any food that early in the morning, but there are some round tables and chairs where you can rest while waiting for the rest of the town to wake up. An alternative place, which is more lighted up and will at least have some other people is the jetty, which is across the road from the hawker centre. When I was there, there was some major construction work going on along the jetty. It looked like they were sprucing the jetty aread up and I think in a few months time, the whole place could like quite nice.

Another problem I had was that I needed to use the toilet when I got to Lumut. Unfortunately for me, both public toilets at bus terminal and the jetty were locked at 6 am in the morning. Luckily, becuase I only needed to pee and being a guy, I could afford to be more flexible. And we'll just leave it at that.

Now assuming you were able to return bus tickets from Singapore, does it mean that you would be able to jump on a ferry to Pangkor once you arrive in Lumut at 6am? Honestly, I'm not sure what time the ferries start service. When I got to Lumut at 6am I noticed that there were ferries operating already. One word or warning though, I was there on Hari Raya Puasa, a major public holiday in Malaysia, so it is possible that they had extra early services on that day.

Now about the ferries. There are apparently two types of ferries from Lumut to Pangkor. Air-con or non-air-con. The one I took was air-conditioned and it cost RM$5 one way. The ferries depart every half hour so no need to worry if you miss one. This also means that you also don't need to worry about not being able to buy tickets.

Like I said before, there are apparently cheaper non-air-conditioned ferries but I didn't see any when I was there.

The ferry trip takes about 30 - 40 minutes. The waters are very calm so no need to worry about getting sea sick.

The ferry stops at 2 places on Pangkor. The first stop is at Sungai Pinang Kechil jetty. Sungai Pinang Kechil is a small fishing village on Pangkor. This is where most of the locals get off.

The second stop is Pangkor jetty. Most of the tourists get off here. There are plenty of taxi vans waiting here at all times of the day. All of the taxis on the island are in the form of pink vans so you can't miss them. Just tell the driver where your hotel is and he will bring you there. The cost of the trip will be between RM$4 to $10. As usual, ask your taxi driver how much it will cost before getting in. If like me, you arrive together with tons of our people and all the taxis are snapped up by them, don't worry, just wait for a while, other taxis will come.