Thailand, with all its attractions from the food to the shopping to the entertainment, has always held the fascination of many Malaysians. I am one of them, and to be frank, was searching for an excuse to trip up north for a short spell for the past few weeks.
The Mr. and I have not had a break for about five to six months, between settling down again in Kuala Lumpur, setting up shop and house and keeping both running, we were in sore need of one. So we decided a low-key trip that didn't include an airport might be a nice change.
Getting to Thailand would either be by road or rail. I've always loved train journeys -- and some of my earliest and best memories are getting on board one to visit grandparents in Penang when I was a child. The jerky push-pull movement isn't the most comfortable, but a train ride offers a scenic view of the local countryside seen only if you take the coastal trunk road north by car.
It so happened that a fellow ex-journo pal of mine handed me a tip: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTM) has a sleeper that starts from KL Sentral station and goes all the way up to Hat Yai. Passengers board at 9.15pm and arrive at about 10am the next day. KTM has a sleeper car with dual-level bunks, a great option because you essentially spend the trip in bed and awake at the destination refreshed and ready to go.
KTM does bookings on the phone (its e-ticket is currently down for the count at press time and has been for a while), and holds tickets for a week. Passengers pay for them at the counter and are then issued a ticket. So we booked 'em, paid for 'em and went on board after work one weekend.
KL Sentral was pretty packed, and it doesn't have an ideal waiting system to divert KTM passengers to the trains. People either huddle by the corridors or sit by the KFC nearby, waiting to be let through to the platform. KTM workers cordon off the area and open them after the trains arrive, presumably to control the press of people wanting to board.
When they do let go of the velvet rope, everyone scrambles down three flights of stairs to look for their car. Honestly, KTM's inter-city clientele has hardly changed in the last 20 years. There are backpackers, relatives going back after visiting family and friends travelling out of town together and off and on, young families.
Those with a keen ear for accents would be exposed to a plethora of those, from guttural German to broad Australian, and not forgetting the unique twang of Perak natives and the quick roll of syllables you often get from people from Perlis. Everyone is heading somewhere for a reason, of course but take a minute or two to chat up a friendly face and you might find yourself listening to an interesting story.
We found the sleeper car -- at the back end of the train. Bunks come in either upper or lower levels (KTM charges RM60 for the lower and RM54 for the higher one, which you access after climbing a ladder). Bear in mind that the upper levels are a little narrower as well. Mr and I are the same height but we were unprepared for the length of the bunk. They were about 5'8" from head to foot, which means if you're a six footer you'd better be prepared to curl up good or spend 11 to 12 hours being jolly uncomfortable. Luckily, we're a hair short of that limit, but with the allowance of head space and pillow space, our toes were pressed against the edge.
This ain't the Orient Express, so while the fittings are not luxurious, they are somewhat comfortable enough, and an overhead shelf provides room to park your luggage if it is not too big, bulky or boxy. It does not fit a suitcase or a large backpack, so the corridor of the car was littered with rolling suitcases and large knapsacks, which I found a little rude because those are the sort of obstacles that prevent someone like an elderly person who might need assistance alighting from the coach.
I tend to travel with one luggage bag, my usual handbag and a tote that contains books, magazines, craft projects, water and snacks (water, cookies, juice and Mr's obsession: char siew pau).
"Why can't we go to the buffet carriage and eat there?" Mr had asked earlier.
"Because the food really sucks," I had replied with a certainty born from experience.
Despite the Malaysian tendency towards not being on time, KTM trains are pretty punctual, and it took off on schedule.
We started to make ourselves comfortable -- me, by using my duffel bag as a backrest before pulling out a book, and Mr, who by this time has figured out that the bunks are just two old rail seats pushed together with a mattress thrown on top, tries to convert bunk into lounger. He succeeded for about 10 minutes before we found out that the seats do not lock, so it was back to arranging ourselves comfortably (if not attractively) on the bunk.
Fifteen minutes into the journey, a friendly KTM official comes to check for tickets, and we settled down to our laptops and books.
An intercity train journey -- especially one that runs on such old, old tracks that we have in Malaysia -- is not always a comfortable one. The push-pull herky-jerky movement that makes you shift involuntarily can be quite irritating but hey, the KTM trip was done for the sake of romance and length. We were not rushing anywhere. We just wanted to get to our destination, never mind whether it would be early or late.
Pretty soon, the first town passed by, then the second. Off and on, conductors would come by to announce where we're at, and other times, by peeping out through the window, I'd find out, and the names of places rolling by was like a familiar litany. It brought back memories -- all good ones.
The Mr decides to go check out the rest of the train, and this is where we eventually discovered that
a) there is no buffet car
b) there are toilets at the end of the car, and they're not horribly stinky like the ones in some buses
c) the other end of the toilet is, well, a gaping hole
d) but thankfully, (unlike 20 years ago), toilet paper is provided in multiple rolls
e) smokers do have a way to avoid nic'ing out -- just walk to the side of the car (where the toilets are), light up and start puffing. At any one time, there's at least one person having a lazy cigarette, propped up against the wall of the car to prevent from falling over.
f) strangers on a train are really nice and helpful. And chatty.
We travelled past the border, and really, didn't have to get out until reaching Padang Besar. Just hop out of the train with your luggage, and get your passport stamped by immigration. Oddly enough, the Malaysian immigration people were there and friendly to boot, but everyone had to wait for the Thais to get to work!
Once the passport and paperwork are done, there's a little time to catch a cup of coffee, have a smoke and take a leak before the train returns to collect passengers for an hour's ride before reaching the other end of the Senandung Langkawi route - Hat Yai, Thailand. Sawadeekap!
From then on, making your way through towns to get a place to stay and some food in your belly becomes an adventure in testing your bargaining abilities, a sharp eye and an adventurous spirit.
Senandung Langkawi trains leave Hat Yai for KL Sentral each morning -- and they leave on time so do not be late! By mischance, we did miss the train due to misinformation given by a Thai train official (which I eventually raged at).
Now, what to do if you miss the train and you still wanna get back to capital city? I'd tell you that it includes a mad dash via car, then motorbike, then hired taxi, then bus, then foot back to home. But that's another story for another day.
