ORIENT EXPRESS
Jul 10th, 2004, 03:02 PM
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Presumably this is the Eastern and Oriental Express from Singapore to Bangkok and vice versa, and no the Orient Express of Agatha Christie fame, whose nearest counterpart would be the Venice Simplon-Orient Express, which goes nowhere near Asia.
If the former, I've taken it from Singapore to Bangkok. It's remarkably luxurious, fabulously decorated and fitted out, with fretted brass screens, complicated marquetry and inlays, lacquer work, hand-woven carpets, all the work of Malay, Indian, and Chinese craftsmen. Even the simplest cabins have private bathrooms with hot showers, beautifully woven fabrics on the chairs and beds, and golden curtain tassles big enough to knock someone out with.
The food is first class, with passengers rotated amongst different equally sumptuous restaurants, and the food is first class.
Of course it's a tourist trap--the whole experience is entirely artificial. This is no revival of some golden age of colonial railways. There never was a train fitted out quite like this, and indeed, until this service was started no train ever ran all the way between the two cities, and no ordinary scheduled service does so to this day.
However, it's not a tourist trap in the sense that with the exception of lunch and dinner (breakfast and afternoon tea are brought to you in your cabin) you can avoid everyone else. There is a piano bar, however, a small library, and an observation coach, and there are two side trips--one to the island of Penang with a (slightly embarrassing I felt) cycle rickshaw ride around town, and one to the modern version of the Bridge on the River Kuai, complete with a rafting trip past the original site and a visit to one of the allied cemeteries.
I'm no fan of organized events, but I'd happily take this trip again, and spent much of it just relaxing in my compartment, reading, watching the rubber plantations go by, and enjoying the absolutely impeccable service.
As far as I know there is no way to avoid the published tariffs for the trip, but it's good value for money anyway. If you can afford it, the best way to round off the trip (heading north) is to have The Peninsula send a Rolls-Royce to pick you up.
My only criticism of the train would be that if you are unfortunate enough to be delayed, and the train has to pick up speed to make up time, it's rather heavy for the narrow gauge on which it runs, and sways about a bit. But this doesn't last for long, and may not happen at all on some trips. The carriages were originally built in Japan for New Zealand, and as a railway enthusiast was explaining to me there a few weeks ago, turned out to be an expensive white elephant, left parked in sidings most of the time due to various disputes. Even so, once sold to the current owners, the rolling stock spent several years in sidings in Singapore being fitted out to their current resplendent form.
Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html
If the former, I've taken it from Singapore to Bangkok. It's remarkably luxurious, fabulously decorated and fitted out, with fretted brass screens, complicated marquetry and inlays, lacquer work, hand-woven carpets, all the work of Malay, Indian, and Chinese craftsmen. Even the simplest cabins have private bathrooms with hot showers, beautifully woven fabrics on the chairs and beds, and golden curtain tassles big enough to knock someone out with.
The food is first class, with passengers rotated amongst different equally sumptuous restaurants, and the food is first class.
Of course it's a tourist trap--the whole experience is entirely artificial. This is no revival of some golden age of colonial railways. There never was a train fitted out quite like this, and indeed, until this service was started no train ever ran all the way between the two cities, and no ordinary scheduled service does so to this day.
However, it's not a tourist trap in the sense that with the exception of lunch and dinner (breakfast and afternoon tea are brought to you in your cabin) you can avoid everyone else. There is a piano bar, however, a small library, and an observation coach, and there are two side trips--one to the island of Penang with a (slightly embarrassing I felt) cycle rickshaw ride around town, and one to the modern version of the Bridge on the River Kuai, complete with a rafting trip past the original site and a visit to one of the allied cemeteries.
I'm no fan of organized events, but I'd happily take this trip again, and spent much of it just relaxing in my compartment, reading, watching the rubber plantations go by, and enjoying the absolutely impeccable service.
As far as I know there is no way to avoid the published tariffs for the trip, but it's good value for money anyway. If you can afford it, the best way to round off the trip (heading north) is to have The Peninsula send a Rolls-Royce to pick you up.
My only criticism of the train would be that if you are unfortunate enough to be delayed, and the train has to pick up speed to make up time, it's rather heavy for the narrow gauge on which it runs, and sways about a bit. But this doesn't last for long, and may not happen at all on some trips. The carriages were originally built in Japan for New Zealand, and as a railway enthusiast was explaining to me there a few weeks ago, turned out to be an expensive white elephant, left parked in sidings most of the time due to various disputes. Even so, once sold to the current owners, the rolling stock spent several years in sidings in Singapore being fitted out to their current resplendent form.
Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html
Jul 11th, 2004, 05:14 PM
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I think if I won $100m on the lottery I might enjoy the train but I feel that it is only worthwhile if you are 'really' wealthy' otherwise it is a 'huge' sum of money. I wish some bright company would come up with something 'in-between', not so luxurious but up on the current Malaysia/Thai Railways trains. Something that costs a few hundred bucks, not 'that' would be great!. I think train travel is a great way to travel but the E&O train is mega expensive.
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