Slow Train to Aranyaprathet

Thursday 31 July.

Early start to catch 0648 from Ban Thap Chang to Aranyaprathet; a distance of approx 200 km for 45 baht, (approx S$2) . The train was busier than I expected with lots of local people plus about a dozen western backpackers in my carriage. All the windows are open so there is a pleasant breeze. Thanks to the heavy rain last night, it is fairly cool anyway and rather overcast.  

Homage to the King at Ban Thap Chang

Open windows provide natural breeze

Quite built up as far as the airport area and a bit beyond but after that a rural flat landscape of large green rice fields and ponds many supporting populations of white herons. At 7.45 we stopped in a quite large town Chachoengsao Junction where we branched off to the left onto a single track. Clickety clack, Clickety clack. This train stops at every single station along the way including some tiny halts.The next large town is Kabin Buri where lots of women with vegetables to sell get on. Most of them get off at an isolated halt, Phra Prong.

Traditional house in rural Thailand

Man with the Green Flag.
Now I understand why they don't use red, white and blue stripy ones 

Rural Station

Some sunshine now to brighten up the scenery which is now dominated by woodland, mostly plantations of small spindly trees along with rows of small bushes. Fewer and smaller rice fields. Still very flat with occasional hills visible in the far distance. Arrived approx one hour late,  at about 1230  in Aranyaprapthet station from where I got a tuk tuk to the Indochina hotel about 1 km out of town. Most of the backpackers were heading straight for the Cambodia border.

Aranyaprathet Station

Aranyaprathet Station

The hotel is more upmarket than I expected but the location is rather isolated. I had expected; "hoped" might be more accurate, that the road from the hotel to the town  centre would have some cafes and bars but it is dominated by car repair shops, agricultural vehicle sales and builders merchants. But even when I got to the town centre, there wasn't much for the average tourist, no backpacker cafes etc. And indeed why should there be? It has useful shops and services to support the people who live here. Eventually found a small cafe that wasn't empty and managed to order some fried rice with pork that cost me the princely sum of 40 Baht.  Realising that I was probably not be hitting the local nightlife tonight, went into a Tesco Lotus Express store to buy an few bits and pieces and a can of beer. Very suprised when the shop assistant explained with some difficulty that she couldn't sell me the beer because I might be under 20 years old!  Not only am I retired but I look the part. Only a special Tesco Lotus card would be adequate proof, a UK passport was just not good enough. Further up the road in a local store they sold me the beer no questions asked!

 

Traditional buildings in downtown Aranyaprathet

Traditional buildings in downtown Aranyaprathet

Traditional buildings in downtown Aranyaprathet

Traditional buildings in downtown Aranyaprathet

Traditional House in the outskirts of Aranyaprathet

Really Useful Things on the Road from Hotel to Town Centre
Rear axles

Really Useful Things on the Road from Hotel to Town Centre
Spirit Houses

Really Useful Things on the Road from Hotel to Town Centre
Engines for small tractors

Modern Thai Architecture
Can you spot the Tesco Lotus Express?

Didn't feel like making the trek into town again in the evening, so looked along the road in the other direction but found only a couple of empty bars with little sign of food, so had dinner in the hotel restaurant, initially outnumbered 5 to 1 by the band. They tried hard, singing some Elvis Presley, a rendition of "My Way" that might have got them shot in the Philippines,  and Hotel California among others. Since I have zero musical talent I am in no position to complain but it makes me realise how good the bands in the Singapore bars are. The food wasn't up to usual Thai standards, chicken with cashew nuts in a sweet and not sour sauce, but it looked pretty and came with a cold Leo beer. By the time I left there were as many diners as members of the band. 

The Band

The Trains,  for Mandy Li

Malaysian Train from Singapore to KL

Malaysian Train from Singapore to KL

Cafe Bar on the KL to Ipoh Train

Butterworth to Bangkok train leaving Butterworth with Malaysian Locomotive.
As my Swiss neighbour in the train asked: What is the English word for "locomotive"?

Butterworth to Bangkok train arriving in Bangkok with Thai Locomotive

Bangkok to Aranyaprathet

Bangkok to Aranyaprathet Train

Bangkok to Aranyaprathet Train

Bangkok to Aranyaprathet Train. Note the open windows. 

Bangkok to Aranyaprathet Train

Bangkok to Aranyaprathet Train

Train coming from Aranyaprathet to Bangkok 

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

 Day 1 Saturday 26 July

On my way. Packed all my stuff last after dinner at Wine Connection with Roger last night  and finished cleaning  and clearing the flat this morning. Took some more stuff to Store It  on the grounds  I might as well use  as much as possible of my 2 cubic metres.   

Using up my 2 cubic metres. 

90 minutes of handover with the owner, his wife and two agents checking every lightbulb, every mark on the walls, every spot of grease in the cooker, comparing notes and long intense discussion in mandarin. By the end of it was thinking I would have done better to forgo the deposit and spent my last days on the beach instead of cleaning and scrubbing. In the end I had to agree to pay for additional cleaning and refurbishment based on a quotation they will obtain. My taxi was booked for noon so had about 15 mins wait while I talked with owners agent. She agreed the owners were picky but pointed out that she has to comply with their instruction. Got to the KTMB ticket office and bought my ticket from Woodlands to JB for S$11, then crossed the road to the food centre where I had a chicken biriani and a coke which I stretched out for an hour until just before 1.30 when I crossed back and joined the crowd waiting for the train. 

Last Lunch in Singapore

The  romantically named “Woodlands Train Checkpoint” fully lives up to its title. What a change from the Imperial era 1930s style station built in a style befitting “a station worthy of its role as a gateway to Asia” in Tanjong Pagar which was closed about three years ago. I am waiting on an enclosed utilitarian bridge over the tracks with cream painted corrugated metal cladding and grey aluminium windows protected by horizontal grey metal bars, presumably to stop people getting in or out  The gates to Immigration opened on time at 1.30, change from the last time I was here when the train was 2 hours late. The automatic gate at Singapore immigration wished me 'Bon Voyage' and the Malaysian Immigration  official stamped my passport before I  put my bags through the x- ray machine and got on the train. Left dead on time at 1400 and were in JB 5 minutes later. Price per mile Woodlands to JB, less than 2 km,  must he one of the most expensive train journeys in the world!  On the other hand the 8 hour, 300 km  journey from JB to KL is only 33 ringitt, less than S$15! At least JB has a proper railway station! Window seat so  I can see the palm oil plantations go by. Strolled down to the first class carriages near the front of the train. Obviously first class gets the glacial air conditioning; Second Class doesn't!. At 7 we  reached Gemas,  shiny new station and the beginning of the electrified section of line. Can't work out why, because Gemas is an insignificant place that owes it existence to being on the junction of the two main Malaysian railway lines.

Arrived in KL on time at 10pm. Took me longer than expected to find Hotel Sentral since it is not adjoining the station as I expected. The website states "Located within KL Sentral Station" which is blatantly untrue.

Needed to ask two people for directions walking through a large shopping mall and little back alley before I found it.  Once there the hotel was good. Got a room with a window, very clean and comfortable.

Lots of local restaurants outside in the street. Decided to opt for air conditioned comfort at the Old Town White Coffee part of a chain. OK nasi lemak and iced tea. 

  

Problog

The idea of "taking the train home" dates back over a decade. Not sure quite when it materialised but even then the idea of" home" as being somewhere in England was rather tenuous. But it would need much longer than my usual holidays would allow so it remained a pipe dream until I made the decision to retire. At one stage I toyed with the idea of splashing out on the Eastern and Oriental Express for the first part but that

proved to be impractical as well as expensive. In my mind the journey would begin at the old Tanjong Pagar railway station with its rather faded elegance. Had even planned to take the No 10 bus from home in Pasir Panjang to the station. But this being Singapore nothing stays the same for long and even dreams have to be brought up to date. In 2011 Tanjong Pagar station was closed along with the railway running through Singapore so my journey would likely start from the less than romantically named Woodlands Train Checkpoint. The old railway through Singapore provided a unique view of the island city state, a view dominated by rural greenery rather than the concrete jungle seen from the roads. Although not many Singaporeans used the railway there was a great outpouring of nostalgia when it was closing and the station was packed as watched the Sultan of Johor drive the last train out. Later we watched the station master close his office and then they locked the doors.

The Station at Tanjong Pagar

All aboard the last train out of Tanjong Pagar

And then it was closed

 Thanks largely to public pressure the rail track was opened up to the public and along with many others I walked along the track over three weekends, Buona Vista to Rail Mall, Buona Vista to Tanjong Pagar and lastly Rail Mall to Woodland. That was back in 2011 with all the tracks still in place,. except for being ripped up at Woodlands,  presumably to stop any train taken over by terrorists being able to invade Singapore.

A few weeks after the railway closed

Cut to 2014 and all the tracks have been removed except for a symbolic stretch at the old Bukit Timah station and the stretches over the bridges. Are they afraid that if they remove the tracks, the bridges will collapse?

Thanks again to public pressure, the route now dubbed the "green corridor" remains

open for walking and in the last couple of months in anticipation of turning my pipe

dream into reality I have re walked the stretches from Tanjong Pagar to Buona Vista

and Buona Vista to Rail Mall. Hoped to complete the last section from Rail Mall to

Woodlands before I left but in the end ran out of time.

The Green Corridor three years on

Surprisingly quiet even at the weekend