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Travel Holiday in Train Coach

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TSnujikabane
post Feb 5 2012, 12:04 AM, updated 12y ago

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Good Day all.

I have always been fascinated with coach travel.
It is like traveling in a cruise ship, the difference only that instead of being in a boat, I am traveling in a train.

However, searching Google yields little information about this.

So, can anyone who has been in such travel, or have any idea about it, to share the experience here smile.gif
chocolatepallette
post Feb 6 2012, 05:48 PM

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one of the example : http://www.orient-express.com/collection/map.jsp

i had never had such experience


TSnujikabane
post Feb 6 2012, 05:55 PM

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Thanks for the link.
Unfortunately, it is freaksihly expensive, T_T

I'm thinking more like taking the KTMB to northern Thailand,
or south bound to Singapore.

Anyone else had the experience of traveling in trains for holiday?
asrul
post Feb 6 2012, 06:05 PM

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QUOTE(nujikabane @ Feb 6 2012, 05:55 PM)
Thanks for the link.
Unfortunately, it is freaksihly expensive, T_T

I'm thinking more like taking the KTMB to northern Thailand,
or south bound to Singapore.

Anyone else had the experience of traveling in trains for holiday?
*
from KL to Singapore only took less than 10 hours..

butterworth - bangkok around 23 hours (correct me if im wrong)
is it worth?


or else u can stop and stay overnite at each town.

This post has been edited by asrul: Feb 6 2012, 06:07 PM
samlee860407
post Feb 6 2012, 06:36 PM

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hm...at cruise, you got casino, different restaurants, pool, arcade, disco etc etc

at train, at SEA, besides orient express, no such thing.

What can you do at the train all day if you are travelling using KTM? Looking at the scenery and dining at the small cafeteria? or reading books whole journey?

unless, you are saying, u start from singapore, explore each town and travel to another town using train
10&Counting
post Feb 6 2012, 08:22 PM

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Great train journeys!
Ah, if only my pockets were deep enough, I would travel them all. tongue.gif

http://www.greatrail.com/train-journeys-of-the-world.aspx

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/726754/T...-the-world.html

http://blog.hotelclub.com/9-best-train-jou...s-in-the-world/
Red Hawk
post Feb 6 2012, 11:18 PM

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i also plan to take coach to southern thailand...but i will start from kl to hat yai...if not mistaken, it take around 12 hours plus minus... i have asked few person, some said need to take KTMB to butterworth then chg to thai coach to hat yai, but i not sure about it....hope those who has experience can share...my 1st backpack journey... smile.gif
TSnujikabane
post Feb 12 2012, 12:54 AM

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QUOTE(Red Hawk @ Feb 6 2012, 11:18 PM)
i also plan to take coach to southern thailand...but i will start from kl to hat yai...if not mistaken, it take around 12 hours plus minus... i have asked few person, some said need to take KTMB to butterworth then chg to thai coach to hat yai, but i not sure about it....hope those who has experience can share...my 1st backpack journey...  smile.gif
*
I plan to do the same too smile.gif
And yes, since I have never been on such trip before, are also looking for advice from other forumers.

Btw, a call to the KTM staff mentioned that there is no need to change coach for the trip.
The train will go directly to Hat Yai without needing to change coach.
tishaban
post Feb 12 2012, 10:50 PM

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I did this in the US many years ago. Los Angeles to San Francisco to Portland to Seattle stopping at stations along the way following the coast, then going back south through the lines in central California. Not exactly Orient Express level but 3 weeks of train travel was fun.

penew
post Feb 12 2012, 11:52 PM

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QUOTE(nujikabane @ Feb 12 2012, 12:54 AM)
I plan to do the same too smile.gif
And yes, since I have never been on such trip before, are also looking for advice from other forumers.

Btw, a call to the KTM staff mentioned that there is no need to change coach for the trip.
The train will go directly to Hat Yai without needing to change coach.
*
Actually at Padang Besar border checkpoint, everyone needs to disembark from the train & proceed for immigration/customs control..
The train will be shortened to only few coaches & everyone proceeding to Hatyai will take this train to Hatyai..
From Padang besar to Hatyai, it will be under Thai Authority's jurisdiction so ticket checking will be done by Thai officer (dont worry he can speak Malay)..

From Padang Besar to Hatyai around 45mins & once u arrive Hatyai, you can get a ticket to Bangkok, however i would suggest stopping at Surat Thani for an excursion to Koh Samui if u game..

---

If you really wanna experience a nice train trip, I would suggest Vietnam with the Northern city of Hanoi as starting point..
fly to Hanoi & take the slow train up to the mountainuous Sapa & spend few days there..
then can take a train to Hai Phong (for Halong Bay)
then back to Hanoi & take the Viet Reunification Express Train to imperial city of Hue, then proceed to Da Nang (and Hoi An) before reaching Saigon..

Check out: http://www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm for details on Schedule & Fares..


From Saigon, you'll have the option of travelling to Siem Reap (for Angkor) buy bus and/or speedboat.
From Siem Reap, you can take a bus/van to Poipet at Thai border & take a tuktuk to the nearest Thai Train station at Aranyaprathet..
from there u can proceed to Bangkok & southbound to Surat Thani --> Hatyai --> PadangBesar --> KL


etigge
post Feb 13 2012, 02:08 AM

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I too liked train journeys but sadly, my wife finds it too noisy. blush.gif I have taken the train from KL to Hatyai and spent 2 days there and then from there the train again to Bangkok. The train started in Hatyai at 10.00 am and reached Bangkok at 6.00am the next morning. I suffered 'laosai' when I reached Bangkok because at every stop there are different vendors for different kinds of snacks and I tried almost everything. By the time I reached Bangkok, the stomach is full of funny foods! laugh.gif

Sadly the train services mooted by Dr.M did not materialise or else we can ride from Singapore or rather JB till Kunming, China. The missing link is still Laos where Malaysia donated a lot of used track but were never built. That's why the Oriental Express started but also stopped services. Who knows, maybe they will resurrect the idea again.
Traveler
post Feb 13 2012, 10:50 AM

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I've done a lot of train travel, almost all in Europe. Trains are a mix of great ultra-modern to antiquated falling apart... depends on where you are and which country's train you are on.

I love overnight trains and have done the following routes overnight:
Amsterdam-Munich (comfy and nice German train)
Paris-Munich (German train, very nice and comfy)
Budapest-Prague (Hungarian train, older but still nice and comfy)
Prague-Cologne (German train, very nice and comfy)
Zurich-Vienna (horribly tiny Swiss cabin, was overcharged by Swiss railway)
Sofia-Bucharest (nightmare, 14 hours incl 4 hour delay at border, ancient Russian train, girls harassed by conductor)
Zagreb-Split (Croatian train, older and noisy but otherwise ok)
KL-Singapore and Singapore-KL (noisy but would have been ok except for most of the lights, and other electrical things not working, got diarrhea from the food they supplied)

I generally find the most comfy trains tend to be the newer trains from Western European countries (UK, France, Netherlands, Germany, Austria), especially the German and Austrian trains.
The Eastern European trains are older but some are pretty comfy too (Czech, Slovakia, Hungary). Italian trains are older but ok as well.
Avoid Russian trains if you can. The one I was on was old, noisy and lacking comforts but would have been ok except for the drunk conductor who harassed the girls in my travelling group.

Fastest trains were Paris-Bordeaux (TGV) and Geneva-Paris (TGV), reaching over 240km/h. Eurostar (London-Paris and London-Brussels) hit up to 220km/h. Austrian trains: Vienna-Salzburg hit 200km/h, while Germany's ICE hit around 160 km/h. Slowest trains were Sofia-Bucharest (due to 4 hour delay at border), KL-Singapore, Zurich-Geneva (due to mountains).

Missed the chance to try the 400km/h+ Shangai Airport to Pudong Maglev train, but will do that on my next trip to Shanghai.

TSnujikabane
post Feb 7 2013, 11:48 PM

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As for the KTMB sleeper trains, are the lights turned off in the night?

EDIT : The lights are turned off, but not all. only a few lights are switched off, so the coach are still bright.

To those who cannot sleep with lights switched on, it is advisable to bring the penutup mata smile.gif

This post has been edited by nujikabane: Feb 12 2013, 05:08 PM
TSnujikabane
post Feb 12 2013, 05:07 PM

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QUOTE(penew @ Feb 12 2012, 11:52 PM)
Actually at Padang Besar border checkpoint, everyone needs to disembark from the train & proceed for immigration/customs control..
The train will be shortened to only few coaches & everyone proceeding to Hatyai will take this train to Hatyai..
From Padang besar to Hatyai, it will be under Thai Authority's jurisdiction so ticket checking will be done by Thai officer (dont worry he can speak Malay)..

From Padang Besar to Hatyai around 45mins & once u arrive Hatyai, you can get a ticket to Bangkok, however i would suggest stopping at Surat Thani for an excursion to Koh Samui if u game..
*
@penew, indeed you are right.

Was given wrong information by the lady at the ticketing counter.

Yes, need to disembark from the train, proceed to immigration (mine took +-15min only) and proceeded to embark the shortened train to Hatyai.

Anyway, before embarking the train, spend quite a while at the kedai makan upstairs, as can only embrak train some 1/2 later, LOL
jasperchai
post Oct 21 2013, 09:14 PM

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quite interested in train backpacking. planning for kl to bkk. and probably will stop for hua hin.

 

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