Locals know best
When I am in a new place I listen to the advice and wisdom of locals. They live there, they know how things are. The locals are the local experts.
The same Kuala Lumpur taxi driver who called me “Prime Minister” and had a brand new car wanted to take me back to the airport when I left for Bangkok again. He asked when my flight was. I told him and he said when he would pick me up.
The time he gave me was one hour before departure. I thought this sounded short given that the airport is far from KL. I wondered if he should come half an hour earlier. But the driver said this was the normal time, no problem.
This driver went back and forth between KL and the airport for a living. He was a designated airport driver. If anyone should know how long it takes he should. I bowed to his expertise.
When he came to pick me up and parked outside my hotel I went over and knocked on his window. He waved me off. He thought I was a random passenger. I gave him an insistent glare and he recognised me.
We left five minutes early. I kept an eye on the clock in the car. It took quite a while to get out of downtown KL. City traffic was slow with many red lights. But this was normal, and then we did 120 kmp on the highway south.
This was a long road. It looked like they had built the new airport halfway down to Singapore. I got nervous when I saw how little time was left. The driver said it was no problem. He would get me on the Air Asia flight to Bangkok in time.
The trip he said took one hour lasted one hour and twenty-five minutes. I paid him and ran to the check-in counter. It was closed. I had missed my flight.
I had the phone number to the taxi driver. I swore I would call him and tell him what I thought of his expert assessment.
A woman directed me to the manager on duty. He spoke on his walkie-talkie to someone at the gate. “One passenger for Bangkok, no luggage”.
They accepted me because I only had a carry-on bag. I did more running through security and passport control, to the gate and then I joined the hordes for boarding.
I didn’t get to call my “Prime Minister” taxi driver but I will remember him.