Eastern & Oriental Express   I left Raffles by taxi to Singapore’s Keppel Road Railway Station (1932) located just beyond Chinatown but unfortunately not on an MRT line, to board the Eastern & Oriental Express, which has a distinguished cream-and-forest green livery, and we were shortly thereafter on our way. After about 20 minutes, we stopped at the Woodlands Station way to the north of the island for a border checkpoint before crossing the causeway to Malaysia. The border crossing was more bothersome than some, since we all had to get out of the train, go into a building, and stand in line to go through Singapore emigration and Malaysian immigration. Finally, on board again, we crossed the road-and-rail causeway over the Johore Strait into Malaysia.

My taxi driver had said that the location of the Singapore station was going to change, and later on I determined that that was accurate. The Keppel Road Station will be closed next July and recycled as part of new development. Instead, Woodlands, where we’d stopped anyway for the fussy border crossing, is due to become the new southern terminus of the railway. I checked my MRT map to confirm that there was a Woodlands MRT station, although it doesn’t seem too very close to the rail line. Future E&O travelers will either have a hefty taxi ride up to Woodlands, or could possibly take the MRT to Woodlands and then a local taxi. All in all, moving the station from the built-up southern end of the island to the northern end is not good news for the traveler.

It’s low season for the private, special-service E&O, with this being the only northbound August departure. Also there are only 15 out of maximum of 22 carriages on the train, and a mere 42 passengers, although I understand the return trip out of Bangkok will have close to double that. Instead of two meal sittings, there’d be only one. I asked what causes a low season, since it couldn’t be the local weather, which is always hot. A dumb question got a sensible answer. It’s the weather in Europe and North America. People don’t come here during the northern summer. They come during the cold of the northern winter.

While I had said that my only narrow-gauge trip in Australia would be in Queensland on the Sunlander, that will not be the only narrow-gauge trip in toto, since the Malay Peninsula rail systems are all narrow-gauge, specifically, meter-gauge. I’m writing this in my compartment on the E&O in real time, and, at least for a while, we’re bouncing so much I’m having trouble keeping my fingers on the keyboard. Walking in the narrow corridor, one bounces both upper arms on the walls while trying to walk. Passing someone on these narrow corridors you suck in your gut and nevertheless get to know them much better than you’d expected. So much for narrow-gauge.

The Eastern & Oriental Express is run by the same firm that runs the Venice Simplon Orient-Express (VSOE) between London/Paris and Venice (2002/2), as well as to other destinations. The E&O sounds like another train that’s been around forever, but the concept of a Singapore-Bangkok direct connection called the E&O was started only in 1993. Malaysian trains (also serving Singapore) and Thai trains to this day run separately to Northern Malaysia’s Butterworth (serving Panang Island and George Town), but a change of train and an overnight is involved, and I understand the service is quite basic. Therefore, the E&O, having agreements with both railways, is the first and only seamless through service between Singapore and Bangkok. The entire route is 2030 km (1262 mi).

The train itself was built in Japan in 1971 and operated from then to 1979 in New Zealand as the Silver Star, but today there are no overnight trains in NZ. The same person who did the VSOE and the British Pullmans purchased and totally refurbished the rolling stock in 1991, and remodeled and rebuilt the interior. It is paneled in elm, cherry, teak, and rosewood, including fancy marquetry. In marketing the trip, the company includes the statement that “it’s the romance of 1930’s colonial travel joined with modern luxury”. That’s a little dreamy, but I’ll go along with it.

In addition to the sleepers front and back, in the center there are restaurant cars and bar-lounges. The observation car at the end is a lounge as you enter and then an open-air viewing area at the end. One public room is more gorgeous than the next. My research shows that we travel at about 60 km/h (37 mph), and I can’t imagine how much bumpier it would be if we went any faster.

I may have mentioned this before, but the E&O was the first booking I did on this trip. Although they usually charge a single supplement of 50%, I heard they had taken four smaller compartments on the train and declared them usable by solo travelers at single rates, without a supplement (even though there’s an upper and lower berth), so I grabbed one. Walking through the train I’ve spotted huge salon-type compartments, but mine is just perfect for me. There’s a bath and toilet (as the British say “ensuite”) and a small desk with fresh flowers, all surrounded by marquetry woodwork. I read somewhere that it’s 5 m² (54 ft²).

The track is single, so we have to stop occasionally on a siding to let a train pass in the other direction, or let someone pass us. We’re sitting still as I write this.

We’re given a ticket before each meal telling us which table we’re at, since they do mix-and-match seating to get you to meet different people. The meals consist of three small courses, and are quite good. A little while ago it was four o’clock, and so tea time, and the attendant stopped by asking what tea or coffee we wanted. I chose jasmine tea, and he brought a pot on a tray with local pastries. Perhaps you sensed I was sipping tea while writing the last few paragraphs. Talk about writing in real time!

The majority of the crew is Thai, and others Malay. The exception is the kitchen, which has a French chef and staff. This is something I question. While the food is excellent, and ultra-gourmet, why are we not eating Thai and Malay food? The Transsiberian had Russian food and the Transcantábrico stopped at (too many) excellent Spanish restaurants. Good as it is, why are we eating French food in Asia?

The origin of the E&O name is of interest. The four Sarkies brothers that founded Raffles had had a previous success before doing so, and it was in the aforementioned George Town on Penang Island (which we’ll be visiting tomorrow). In 1884 they opened the Eastern Hotel in George Town, and it was a great success, so in 1885 they opened the Oriental Hotel next to it. In 1887 they ran down to Singapore to open Raffles, but then in 1889 back in George Town, they combined the two adjacent hotels quite successfully into the Eastern & Oriental Hotel. Even though this train has no connection to that hotel, I presume it was named in hommage to it. The name remains very distinguished, but is actually quite silly, since “eastern” and “oriental” mean the same thing.

This is a rather good video of the Eastern & Oriental Express. Once again, it’s in German (I don’t pick these because of my personal language interests--it’s just the best video I found), but as we say, on se débrouille / one muddles through. In any case, the spoken text is very promotional in nature, and therefore quite boring, while the video itself is rather good, although still very promotional. Many scenes are posed; the piano player is correct, but I saw no one dancing; the observation car is correct, but no one rides over the Kwai bridge (for more about that entire nonsense, see below).

Malaysia   While the entire region is infused with Malay language and ethnicity--even Indonesians speak a variation of Malay--the only country to use the word in its name is Malaysia. Given this regionality, since after the colonial period ended, efforts were made to join together as much as possible into one country (although finally losing Singapore), it shouldn’t surprise that Malaysia, when formed in 1963, ended up with two sections, West Malaysia and East Malaysia.

East Malaysia is also called Malaysian Borneo, since it encompasses the northern part of that island. Of Malaysia’s 13 states, only two, Sarawak and Sabah, are on Borneo, 240 km (150 mi) to the east of the rest of the country. The separate country of Brunei (rhymes with “eye”), is entirely surrounded by Sarawak, which, however, actually splits Brunei into two parts, resulting in a two-part country located within a two-part country.

But we’re involved with West Malaysia, also called Peninsular Malaysia because of its location on the Malay Peninsula. It has seven (on this map, numbered) states along the Strait of Malacca and four on the east coast. Note Kuala Lumpur, the capital, located in its own district, and the state of Pulau Pinang (Penang Island), which consists of the island itself with its capital of George Town, plus a coastal strip including Butterworth, from where the island is accessed.

Our route the first day took us from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, but somewhat inland, so we did not pass through Melaka (Malacca). By early evening, we were in Kuala Lumpur, referred to locally as “KL”, passing the 2001 Central Station (which isn’t central, but somewhat to the south) and stopping instead for ¾ of an hour at the spectacular, and illuminated, Moorish-style Kuala Lumpur Station downtown, that dates from 1910 and is therefore just a century old.

Many of us were aware that the Petronas Towers in KL, at 452m (1482 ft), were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004, when they were surpassed by Taipei 101 (2009/44), which has now been surpassed by Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which I’ll visit in about a month. We also were aware that the towers could be seen in the distance from the main station, with difficulty, but nevertheless. It seems to me the train staff, given the interest, could have been more helpful instead of having many of us making multiple inquiries, but we managed to see them. I’d found out months ago that there was supposed to be an overpass between platforms that afforded a view, and several of us found that view, between nearby buildings. The negative was that it was a side view, and the towers almost lined up, so you could just barely tell one was behind the other. But then the point was made that, when we left the station during dinner, better views would be possible, and sure enough, when we started moving, dinner conversation abated as we looked, and got a number of fleeting, but complete views of the towers, much like in the above picture, but at more of a distance. Mission accomplished.

Here is a revealing comparison between selected tall buildings (the Willis Tower in Chicago used to be called the Sears Tower).

I had a good night’s sleep with a comfortable ride. We had been told to get an early start the next day to go to Penang to see George Town that morning, and a light breakfast was served in the room. Detraining in Butterworth, I was pleased to find quite comfortable weather, just pleasantly summertime-warm. Butterworth was named for a colonial governor of Penang, and the station is adjacent to the ferry for the 15-minute crossing to the island (there’s also a bridge further down).

I found that Malay has adopted a lot of English words, and then writes them according to Malay spelling. Just on arrival, I could already see that we were in the “stasen” where you could connect to the “feri” or to a “bas”. If there was any trouble, you could call the “polis”. And you could do business at the “kaunter tiket”, which also shows Malay word order.

In 1786, Captain Francis Light, representing the East India Company, acquired possession of Pulau Pinang / Penang Island from the local sultan in exchange for protection from the Thais. He established George Town, named for the English prince that would become George IV. Light also acquired a strip of land on the mainland, later known as Province Wellesley, which is where Butterworth is located, and which serves as a hinterland for the island. In time, both these parcels would together become the second smallest state of Malaysia, Pelau Pinang. As in Singapore, the municipal limits of George Town today have been extended to the entire island, although not to the mainland. Light’s son went on to establish Adelaide, Australia (more later), and today, George Town and Adelaide are sister cities.

33 years later, in 1819, another officer of the same company, Sir Stamford Raffles, would go on to found Singapore, which soon overtook George Town and Penang in importance, yet it is still interesting to see the parallel between these two locations, a parallel furthered by the fact that the Sarkies brothers founded their first hotel venture, the E&O, in George Town, and their second, Raffles, in Singapore.

A bus with a very good guide took us steps away to the ferry but then drove us to a center point in George Town. We walked through a Chinese market up to a point where a row of trishaws was waiting to take us in ones and twos around town for about a half hour. Up front, a trishaw (pedicab, cycle rickshaw, or just rickshaw) has an open seat on two bicycle wheels, behind which is the back half of the bicycle providing the third wheel, pedaled by a driver under an umbrella. I remember pedaling up Lebuh Armenian/Armenian Street. The closest trishaw picture I could find to the type we had was from a trishaw in nearby Cambodia. Try to spot the third wheel under the driver, and note that in Penang, the driver had an umbrella, but the passengers had no shade. These vehicles once had a valid use, but today are just tourist attractions.

[It’s ironic how things might die out in one place, but then reappear in another. While these in Penang are dying out, in New York’s Times Square pedicabs have been appearing more and more in recent years, and have only recently been legalized and licensed by the city. The New York version is larger, with college-age kids pedaling away up front with passengers in the back. You can take one right after the theater to your next destination. Therefore, in Penang, quaintness is in the eye of the beholder.]

The town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its unique architectural and cultural townscape unequalled, as I read, anywhere in East or Southeast Asia. We passed Chinese temples, mosques, Little India shops, and government buildings in colonial style. But I’d made a point to the guide of my particular interest in the Eastern & Oriental Hotel, located on the seafront, and he had told the trishaw driver to let me stop there for a few minutes, while he waited, instead of just passing it by like the others did.

Its history is parallel to Raffles in that it was a mecca for celebrities at its heyday, then declined after WW2 and closed in 1996. After a major restoration to its former grandeur, it reopened in 2001, and is known for its luxurious accommodations and restaurants. It’s not as imposing as Raffles, but is very impressive still. I went through to the garden above the seafront, and then poked around the lobby. I checked with the front desk, where I found out that today’s west wing had been the Oriental Hotel and the east wing the Eastern Hotel. In the lobby was a restaurant charmingly called Sarkies Corner.

There was a large photo display of earlier visitors. The entertainers were Charlie Chaplin (with a picture in costume), Orson Welles, Noël Coward, Douglas Fairbanks Sr, Mary Pickford, William Holden, Rita Hayworth; the authors were, from Germany, Hermann Hesse and Karl May (who wrote about the American West, never having been there), and from Britain, Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad. Somerset Maugham also stayed there. Among many politicians was Dr Sun Yat-sen, China’s first president. I was pleased to be able to visit this parallel to the Raffles, and also to the name of the train.

George Town was recently ranked 9th in Asia out of 254 cities worldwide for livability. It is a major destination for second homes and retirement.

The train had been reversed so that now I’d not only be riding forward, but the observation car had been moved to what had been the front of the train, now behind me, and much closer. In the afternoon, in the lounge, they had a demonstration and tasting of local tropical fruits. Quite unusual was a dipping powder for fruit made of curry powder, sugar, and salt. It was very good with the fruits, especially the pineapple. After that it was tea time in the room again!

Thailand   In real time: I’ve just caught up through today. We crossed into Thailand this afternoon and gained an hour. At this time, before dinner, I went to the observation car, now closer to me, to enjoy the sunset. The roofed-over back of the car is open on three sides, and in teak, with two brass bars where windows would be. Surprisingly, I was the only one there as I watched the track “shooting out” from under us as we zipped along. Thai village stations are labeled in both the Thai and Latin/Roman alphabets, I’m glad to see. The lush, green countryside flew by. It’s time to dress for dinner and find out who my fourth (out of five lunches and dinners) set of dinner companions will be.

The dinner companions were just as interesting as the others. You can always tell, when your table is among the last to leave the dining car. It’s now about 8:00 AM on the third and last day. Breakfast was served in the room, and we’ve been sitting for a while at the junction station to turn off the main route to go to Kanchanaburi, then beyond to the Kwai, before coming back to this junction to go on to Bangkok and end the trip. The train is quiet, and I stepped off on the country platform to absorb the atmosphere. I have also just learned that the Thai locomotive that’s been pulling us is too large for the side trip, and a smaller one is being provided, which is a bit delayed. In the extra time I had, I had a chat with the train manager, and gained some additional insights. She’s from Switzerland (Zürich), and over the couple of days we’ve had several bilingual talks. Today we spoke for about a half hour, first in English, then in German, mostly about travel, train travel in general and this train in particular.

The Kwai   If you want to maintain positive images about my visit to the Kwai, reread 2010/6 and stop reading this section.

The good news is, I saw the bridge, and from this very angle, if however fleetingly. The bridge station is before the bridge and right at it, and as we got off the train, the front of the train was already on the bridge, it was that close. The surrounding area today is full of trinket stands, and on the river are restaurants jutting out into the river. The curved arches on the bridge are the originals. When some arched sections were bombed out, technology had improved to the point that they could be replaced with just two longer spans, so the straight spans are post-war. The train did pull onto the bridge, then came back. No passengers were aboard, despite pictures you may have seen on the video. I later on saw the Museum, which was very complete, and across the road, I saw the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. I did walk around it, and Dutch stones were on one side of the central path and English-language ones on the other.

The bad news is, I was furious at how poorly planned this visit was. At the start, out of the train, we were shooed onto a stairway, that also had a small viewing area (as the train crossed) and then shooed down to the barge. The above picture shows people walking on the bridge, and enjoying the experience spending time there, and that’s just how it was, since there’s room on each side to do so. When I asked about this obviously interesting way to experience the bridge, I was again shooed down to the damn barge. And off we went. Stare at the above picture for a couple of minutes from that side angle and you’ll have seen the bridge for as long as I did.

And it was just a mere barge, schlepped by a motorboat. It went under the bridge and downriver, and that’s the last we saw of the bridge. Onboard was the most boring lecturer you’ve ever heard. He was very complete, and discussed the entire Pacific War, from Pearl Harbor to Midway to Manchuria. He even made reference to the Nazi invasion of Poland. At the end of some 20 sleep-inducing minutes, he tied it in to why this railway was built. As much as I like history, I was boiling over and others were trying to have a look at the meager scenery there was. It’s real overkill, like asking someone what the time is and him telling you how to construct a clock. The only interesting thing he said was that, while Americans remember Pearl Harbor Day as December 7, the Japanese consider it December 8, because of the International Date Line.

We got off at a dock and into buses for the short ride to the Museum and Cemetery. They allowed 1 ¼ hours for both. I saw everything I wanted, quite adequately, in half that time, and got back into the bus. I asked if we’d have time back at the bridge station to walk onto the bridge and was told we weren’t going back there, but to the main station in Kanchanaburi!

Let them keep the boat ride and overblown lecture. They should just balance the upstream time at the bridge adequately with the downstream time at the Museum and Cemetery. This goes back to my basic philosophy that, if you want something done right, Do It Yourself, and don’t leave it up to someone else to plan for you, as in this Kwai visit, unless you can help guide that planning.

At lunch I sat with a nice enough couple, but no conversational sparks flew as with the others. The E&O trip was great, including the Panang excursion, but this last day fizzled out. On to Bangkok.