Japan Stories: November 1999
A Great Railway Journey
Although we'll be in Japan for a year, we here on regular tourists visas that only last 90 days. This means that we're forced—forced—to take a trip out of the country every three months so we can come back in with new visas. This schedule gives us a good excuse to plan trips to places we want to see around Asia.
Our first visa-renewing trip is to Southeast Asia. Jan's been bugging Angela for ages that we need to take a long trip somewhere by train, and this seems like a good time to do it. Southeast Asia is the location for the Eastern & Oriental Express—the sister train to the famous Orient Express in Europe. The E&O seems like a great way to travel in style while seeing more of the country than we would traveling be plane.
We'll do the trip in two legs: the first leg is from Singapore, at the southern tip, to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur (or just "KL"). We'll get off the train there and spend a week in Malaysia before boarding the train again. The second leg of the journey will be from Kuala Lumpur up the isthmus of Thailand to Bangkok. Along the way, the train will stop for whistle-stop tours of sights like the old British outpost of Georgetown and the Bridge on the River Kwai.
Route of the Eastern & Oriental Express along the Malaysian peninsula
We board the train in Singapore after a morning walking around. Downtown Singapore is pleasant to the point of being nondescript, like what you'd get if you made an island entirely out of American corporate campuses and shopping malls. At Singapore's train station we're greeted by an enormous sign saying, "Welcome to Malaysia", which seems premature to say the least. It turns out the entire Singapore train station was sold to the Malaysians a long time ago, and is considered foreign soil. (Singapore is slowly buying back the station piecemeal.)
The Eastern & Oriental Express waits for boarding at Singapore Station
in "Malaysia"
We pass through customs and find our train car. The car's steward shows us to our compartment. For the first leg of the trip, we're in a train car that has six compartments; on the second leg, we'll be in a car that has four compartments. (The train also has cars with only two compartments, but half a car to yourself is just too, too much.)
Afternoon tea in our compartment
Every part of the train is beautifully appointed. There's inlaid wood marquetry on the walls, beautiful upholstery on the seats, antique lamps on the tables, and marble countertops in the attached bathroom. The service is also outstanding. We've been in our compartment for just a few minutes when our car's steward comes in with afternoon tea and scones. (This train sure is a far cry from Amtrak and its 1970s indestructible steel and red vinyl decor.)