Sunday

Back to KL Sentral Station to get 9.00 am train to Ipoh. Train looks new and fairly full. First stop was the the old Kuala Lumpur station, looking rather gloomy, not helped by the fact that it is an overcast, dull grey day. It's the outside of the station that's impressive with its colonial moorish architecture. After passing through the rest  of KL, there is a miserable semi rural landscape of mixed greenery and occasional run-down industrial buildings, waste ground which someone started to develop but never finished and scrap yards. Later on we are back to oil palm and rubber plantations. Not a particularly fast train despite the electrification. I should have realised that from the fact that it takes 2.5 hours to get to Ipoh. Air conditioning is just comfortable and there is a TV showing some silly American rom-com, Serendipity. The TV also tells the speed which seems to top out at 145 km/h. Just past Slim River, a name that feels very colonial, the programming massively improved to Tom and Jerry!

Train is very comfortable with neat little cafe bar where I can have a cup of 3-in-1 nescafe, well it's warm and wet, sitting at a bar stool watching Malaysia go by. Has anyone ever estimated how many oil palms there are? Don't think we have gone through a single proper town since KL. Forgot to mention the two beautiful young train attendants in black trousers with yellow and blue kabayas. One with a matching blue headscarf. Feel sorry fot the woman running the cafe bar serving food and drink all day while fasting for ramadan. Not that she had many customers.

Arrived in Ipoh a little late. Station cafe didn't have much to offer but found "Sports Bistro" overlooking the Padang which wasn't able to offer any food since the chef was off but a good time for a cold Tiger.

Time for a Tiger at the Ipoh Padang

So it was back to Old Town White Coffee, two doors away for a mixed grill, just about the only thing on the menu thatappeared not to be chicken. Alas it turned out to be chicken "chop", chicken sausage, chicken "spam" and chicken egg!

Taxi to the bus terminal which is quite a way out of the centre of the city, next to a big  out of town shopping mall. The bus left on time at 3 and arrived in Kuala Kangsar about 50 minutes later. Then joined the North South highway. Some sunshine now and more interesting hilly scenery and real forest. Following the nicely electrified train tracks which hopefully will soon have some nice electric trains running along them.

Got into Butterworth, Penang's ugly sister just after 5 and it turns out the bus station is next to the railway station. Managed to find the ticket office hidden among lots of construction although the new style station looks pretty much complete. All it needs now is trains. Got my ticket with no problem and paid 112 ringit for it. Then it was back up the ramp and my first water crossing of the journey on the ferry from Butterworth to Penang  island. From there it was a 10 minute, 15 ringit taxi ride to the Bayview hotel. I paid a lot more than I expected for it and sure several booking portals were showing it as full but it feels very empty. Excellent, spacious room with even a glimpse of the sea. A major reason for choosing it is the location close to Upper Penang Road, the centre or Georgetown's rather limited nightlife. Looked into the Farquar Mansion restaurant as a possible option for dinner  but it was totally deserted so chose the busiest of the restaurants, the Olive Kitchen and Bar where I enjoyed another cold Tiger waiting  and seabass. Anything but chicken!

Looks Beautiful but Deserted

Later had a look round the other bars but they were all fairly dead. In Slippery Senoritas, more salubrious than might be guessed from the name and where I came with J a couple of times last time I was in Penang,  the band was playing their heart out to an almost empty bar. Just three guys in there, probably the bar staff. 

Monday 28 July

Breakfast of roti banana and coffee at Jaya, very popular eating place near hotel, and had a quick wander round the nearby streets. 

Morning in Georgetown

Mural in Georgetown

Georgetown

Georgetown

Georgetown

Taxi to ferry terminal and 10 minute ferry ride back to Butterworth. Ferries always remind of the song "Ferry 'cross the Mersey". Can't help thinking of young men who dream of going to sea, being captain of a cruise ship or an oil tanker and eventually settling for driving the Penang to Butterworth ferry!

Buttererworth has a new shiny new station with 4 platforms but it seems not to be finished so the waiting room is a temporary construction but at least it is air conditioned.

The train to Bangkok had all of  two carriages! Sitting opposite a swiss guy from Lucerne who is on holiday visiting KL Penang and Bangkok. Ordered dinner for this evenng and breakfast for tomorrow. Scenery a bit more varied,  kampongs and rice fields,  coconut palms and bananas as well as the ubiquitous palm oil plantations. Quite a few more people got on at Bukit Mertajam where the Butterworth spur connects to the main line. All is either electrified or in the process of electrification. Seems strange to me that they are spending so much money, rebuilding the tracks and stations  but sticking to metre gauge. Sungei Petani and Arau more modern station desperately looking for trains!

Our Train

Stopped quite a while in Alor Setar after which it was mostly brilliant yellow/green  rice fields. Totally flat with the occasional steep limestone  hill poking up. Malaysian and thai immigration at Padang Besar took over a an hout and by the time I got on the train again my dinner was almost cold. at least the coffee was hot. No beer. The double tracks and electrification continure right up to the border but no signs of upgrading on the Thai side. More carriages added at Hat Yai, The beds were made up and went to bed just after 9pm

Tuesday 29th

By 6.15 it was getting light and could enjoy a sea view for  a while. After that it was a flat landscape of rice fields with flocks of white egrets, occasional water buffalo and cows. Stopped for a while at Hua Hin, where the train almost emptied. Mainly western toursist left. Slowed down to a crawl in the outskirts of Bangkok but still arrived about an hour ahead of schedule. 

Arriving in Bangkok

Bangkok Station

Bangkok Station

Had arranged to meet P but since I was early had an almond cake and iced coffee at Black Canyon in the station.

Met P and we took the rapid transit train to interchange at Makassan for the airpoty link line to Ban Thap Chang, near P's home and from where I will get train to Aranyaprathet later.

No obvious signs of the military presence in Thailand apart from some rather Orwellian captions on TV channels that have beeen taken off the air.

Nothing more to say

Wednesday 30th

Lazy day. Early lunch at IKEA and early dinner at open air restaurant which offers a well stocked lake for fishing and next to another lake populated by dozens of white herons.

Amused me to see this in IKEA Bangkok

Snails Thai Style

Another beer named after a big cat