As with most mornings here in KL I was woken by the sound of the Muezzin’s tones as the call to prayer was announced from the local mosque which is literally only a car-park away. I don’t mind this at all, I don’t have to set my alarm-clock and the sounds are far less jarring and almost reassuring. After all, these ages old calls are so familiar to anyone who’s spent much time in Muslim country’s. The place I normally go to for my roti canai breakfast normally has Muslim devotional music playing in the background. It’s similar to Qawwali music made famous in the UK by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Maybe the fact I had a CD of his and I’ve always enjoyed world music has influenced my sensibilities. When I went for breakfast yesterday the younger member of staff had changed the music to techno ‘Hindi Pop’ which was far more intrusive and less easy on the ear!
I didn’t plump for roti this morning, instead I tried Mee Sarawak at a place down the road that I’d spotted the other day. ‘Mee’ means noodles whilst Sarawak is the Malaysian side of the island of Borneo that’s bigger than the peninsular. I must get there one day.
Anyway, Mee Sarawak consists of noodles (obviously) with slices of pork and chicken, accompanied with a fiery chili dip and a broth made from the meat and noodle water with added spring onions. This being Asia nothing is wasted which means the pork hasn’t had the fat removed. Instead you have a fine layer of crackling atop it. It’s delicious but perhaps not the thing if you’re counting calories. As I walk around 17,000 steps and only eat two meals a day I’m not that bothered!
After eating a sizeable chunk of my day was spent getting picture of and exploring the city’s only monorail system from end to end. Looking through my picture archive I’d realised I’d not done this since 2012. In which time the size of the trains has doubled and the stations have increased in size to cope with ’em. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll do a blog dedicated to the network in the future, now I have the updated pictures to do a ‘now and then’.
Another place I visited today was a beautiful clan-house/temple dedicated to the those Chinese with the surname ‘Chan’. It’s a fascinating place as it explains the origins of the name and how the Chans have spread. I have a passing personal interest in this as the first Chinese people ever I met when I was growing up in Southport were a Chan family who moved in next to my maternal Grandmother way back in the 1960s. There’s a story to tell there, but that’s for another day…
Now I’m relaxing back at my hotel whilst editing pictures and watching crap on Netflix. It being Saturday Chinatown’s packed with people, so I’m happy to be out of the way. I much prefer it during the week when it’s not choked with people and cars.
To finish my blog here’s a few pictures from the day.
This wonderful piece of craftwork is displayed above the door of the Chan temple.
Part of the informative displays inside the temple/clan house.
Do the maths. Each one of these 4-car monorail trains can carry up to 430 passengers. How many of the cars below only contain 1 person? Oh, spot the breakdown which has made matters worse!
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I’ve had another slow day back here in KL, catching up on work and dodging the rain showers and thunderstorm that have been growing in frequency and intensity throughout the day. Most of my morning was taken up with planning and booking the last part of my trip. My back’s no longer a concern and I’d loved to have done a side trip to a beach somewhere, but I’ve simply run out of time. Instead I’m going to stay in KL for a few more days in order to visit a few more rail sites to record the changes here, then retrace my steps to Johor Baru for a night. It’s not my favourite place, but the rail scene’s going to change quite a bit over the next 12 months, therefore I want to record some of the changes. The fact a hotel in JB’s a third of the cost of Singapore and I don’t arrive until 19:45 as there’s only one train a day from KL may have helped influence my decision!
Whilst much of my day’s been taken up with picture editing (you can find maritime shots here and Malaysian railways here) I have nipped out several times, firstly for my roti canai breakfast – calorific but delicious, then for something I’d promised myself, which was a couple of hours exploring photo ops on the KL monorail system.
Very few cities have monorails. Mainly because they’re low capacity and pretty inflexible. But KL’s will be 20 years old in August. It’s not long – just 5 miles with 11 station between Kuala Lumpur Sentral station and Titiwangsa where it connects with the MRT and LRT networks. Essentially, it’s an eastern loop line that passes over roads that bisect some big modern shopping and hotel areas like Bukit Bintang. Originally 3 lines were planned but only 1 was ever built. Operated as a 40 year concession by the KL Infrastructure Group it never paid its way so the line was taken over by the government in 2007. They’ve operated it ever since.
It’s fun to take a trip on and photograph, but when you do you start to realise the limitations and complexities of such systems (think escape). For example, steel wheels don’t burst then catch fire! I’ll cover those drawbacks in my next blog as I’ll be having another play tomorrow now I’ve worked out a few good photo locations. In the meantime, here’s a few shots from today.
A monorail train bound for KL Sentral passes along Jalan Sultan Sulaiman.A monorail bound for KL Sentral beats the traffic at Maharajalela station.Two monorail trainsets pass each other just outside Raja Chulan station.
Walking home in time for a well-deserved (and needed) shower I downloaded my pictures and did some more work before heading out for my evening meal. Earlier I’d spotted a place down the road from where I’m staying which was advertising ‘Mee Sarawak’ (Mee being noodles and Sarawak a part of Malaysia), they looked really good but by the time I got there they were closed so I ended up at my old favorite where you can mix and match with the possibility you’ll see something you’ve never tried before. That’s what happened to me tonight. I saw a dark meat dish in a rich sauce and thought – let’s give it a go…
11:00 is cow lung. 13:00 is Tempe. 18:00 is mixed veg. The rest is a bed of rice with a couple of extra curry sauces thrown in. This is self-service. You load your plate and show it to the staff who then decide what to charge you. This was 5 ringitt- less than a quid.
It was chewy but full of flavour and the sauce was divine. Afterwards I asked one of the staff what it was I’d been eating. Cow lung, apparently. Well, there’s always a first!
Now I’m back in the comfort of my hotel typing this before switching off to watch an intriguing Icelandic film noir series I’ve discovered on Netflix. Talk about a small world…
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I’ve had a busy but easy day here in KL, if you count the fact I’ve only moved from my hotel to get food (delicious Roti Canai and a coffee for breakfast) and ensure I still get my daily quota of 12,500 plus steps uner my belt. That nearly proved to be a challenge as we’ve had another wet day in the city. Nowhere near as bad as yesterday but the morning was filled with showers. The afternoon brightened up with periods of intense sunshine which was rather handy as it allowed me to get my washing dried! The rest of the day was spent editing and captioning pictures to start to clear the hundreds I have in the queue. Now after a determined day both collections from Thailand are up to date. You can find the travel pictures here and the railway ones here. I’ve also finished editing all the Malaysian shots I’ve taken, all they need now are captions.
There’s been other work too. Dealing with picture requests from the UK, chasing up a few work enquiries and also trying the clean up my email inbox which has become ridiculously cluttered now I’ve not been able to log on as much through my phone and the fact the site’s had a redesign which has taken some getting used to. Today I spent several hours browsing and/or deleting a four-figure sum – and there’s still many more to do.
This evening the rain returned. Thankfully, it waited until after I’d nipped out to for a substantial evening meal of rice, curried Jackfruit and Tempe at a local Malaysian street-food establishment I’ve been frequenting for some time. This feed’s cost me 5 ringgit (less than £1). I’d just made it home before we were treated to several hours of thunderstorms and heavy rain with some impressive lightning too. Tomorrow’s forecast isn’t looking great either but we’ll see how much I get done earlier in the day as I might still venture out later.
In the meantime, here’s a taster of the pictures I’ve added today, plus a cute KL cat picture!
At one time, Bangkok MRT’s ‘blue line’ train ran almost its entire length underground. Now extensions at either end which have carried it across the Chao Praya river mean there’s substantial elevated sections, like this one looking West from Tao Poon station. A dozing KL street cat asleep on a pavement without a care in the world…
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Much as I’d liked to have lingered longer in Georgetown it’s time to hit the road and begin my journey south towards Singapore. I’ll miss this place, but I know I’ll be back again sometime. This is such a fascinating multicultural place with rich history I could never tire of it. Add in the fantastic food and the fact it’s a crossroads for so many travellers, what’s not to like?
The weather’s overcast making it a good day to travel. I didn’t want to risk my back (or the wheels on my case) so I got a taxi from Star Lodge to the ferry. terminal – well worth the 12 ringgit (just over £2) it cost me). With the limited capacity ferries only running hourly now I’ve arrived in plenty of time to get to the front of the queue for the 11:30 ferry before catching the 12:45 train from Butterworth.
For once, I’m going to write a rolling blog throughout the trip. I’m travelling ‘Platinum’ class this time, which is the Malaysian version of 1st which should make for a relaxing trip. It takes just over four hours to reach KL Sentral nowadays, a great improvement on the past. The only shame is that services aren’t more frequent with just five ETS trains a day linking the two cities.
There’s more than a dozen other Europeans in the queue for the ferry. I suspect most of them will be doing the same as me as the trains the best way to travel. Plus, Standard class only costs £16!
11:22. The ferry has disgorged the inbound passengers, now it’s our time to board. These ex-Langkawi boats are nowhere near as much fun as the old ferries but at least they get you there (most of the time).
12:45. (Malay time).
We’re off! Platinum class in these new ETS sets is rather good..
Almost as soon as we’d left we were served lunch. It may have been prepared and served in a plastic tray, beut the quality of the chicken, bamboo shoots and green rice was rather good.
These particular ETS sets are from the second batch supplied by CRRC Zhuzhon Locomotive Ltd but assembled in Malaysia in 2018. Like most Chinese rolling stock quality (or rather the lack of it) and attention to detail are the issues. Despite only being only five years old the sets are fraying at the edges. Some of the windows have blown so are full of condensation, paintwork’s flaking and nothing really seems to have been made to last. That said, what did KTM specify in the contracts – and was there a warranty? At least they’re doing a bit better than the SCS Komuter sets.
Build quality aside, they ride well. We’re currently bowling along at 139kph so the PIS screen above the doors tells me. Oh, and they don’t leak – which is just as well as it’s chucking it down outside as we approach Taipeng.
13:55 (Malay time)
We’ve just passed through one of the new tunnels between Taipeng and Padang Rengas that were bored as part of the line’s modernisation back in the 2000s. The old British built single track line used to stagger through these jungle-clad hills – which was great fun if you were a railway enthusiast, but not if you were an ordinary passenger keen to get to their destination.
This part of Malaysia is very attractive because its so hilly. Whilst the lowlands around the railway are cultivated by palm oil and rubber plantations and the occasional fish farm, the high hills with their lush jungle are mostly left untouched.
14:40 (Malay time).
We’ve just left the town of Ipoh. Its an interesting place I’ve visited a couple of times. I was another colonial centre famous for mining so not only does it have an impressive Edwardian station building it also boasts an attractive old town centre. I’ll post a couple of links to pictures later. This area provides the railway with a lot of freight traffic due to the massive rail-served cement plant at Tasek. The size of the rail yards around the town reflect this.
Next stop after Ipoh was Batu Gajah which has become a railway centre nowadays. The new depot and associated sites which include a CRRC plant replaced the old British-built Sentul works which was Malaysia’s Crewe, employing thousands of people. Batu Gajah’s far more up to date, built to maintain diesel and electric fleets – not steam!
As soon as we departed the staff fed us again, this time with a snack box containing peanuts, a kitkat and a carton of apple juice to accompany a hot drink (I plumped for coffee) as well as a Danish pastry and cupcake.
15:40 (Malay time)
We’ve arrived at Tanjung Malim which is the Northernmost extremity of KL’s ‘Komuter’ network. There’s a few stabling roads here, one of which contains two badly damaged cars from set SCS06. They’ve clearly been in a collision, but what with I wonder? No-one appears to be in a hurry to do anything with them as I passed them on my way North over a month ago. I’ve just Googled these class 92s and found out this set was badly damaged at this location way back in October 2018! 6 clearly isn’t a lucky number as this was the 2nd accident the set was involved in, and it was hit by a Class 26…
16:30 (Malay time)
We’ve crawled into Sungai Buloh which is the start of single line working through to KL Sentral whilst the second line’s being re-laid and rebuilt. It plays hell with capacity in the Klang valley and I’m hoping to have a closer look at work whilst I’m here.
21:30.
Time to round up the day from ‘Bigland Towers’ KL branch! My train arrived into KL Sentral spot on time. A one stop hop on the MRT system to Pasir Seni got me back to the City Lodge Hotel on the edge of Chinatown where I stayed earlier. I now have a room next door to my old one!
The rain that’s followed me all the way from Penang had remained over KL all day so I’ve not been tempted to venture out. Instead it been a case of getting my new ‘office’ set up. I like the rooms here as they have good desk space by a window with plenty of power sockets. Looking at the forecast the weather’s going to be the same tomorrow but I’m happy to have a day working, catch up on picture editing and UK stuff whilst having the odd wander for food. Here’s not as sociable a place as Georgetown so there’s no distractions in that way.
My new office…
Thankfully my back problems didn’t cause any problem with travelling. Maybe it’s finally on the mend which will be a relief – especially with the fact in 10 days I’m going to be spending an awful lot of time glued to aircraft seats!
Right, now it’s time to get on with a few others bits. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s rolling blog. One thing I haven’t explored on this trip is KL’s monorail. I intend to put that right before I leave…
To end the day, here’s a couple of pictures from Butterworth. The ‘new’ ferries may be lousy for taking pictures from compared to their counterparts, but the new shopping complex adjacent to the ferry terminal has a multi-story car park above it. Here’s the view from the 8th floor.
Class 25 number 25109 removes empty container flats from the North terminal. Vosco Unity is a Vietnamese bulk carrier. Built in 2004 by Imbari shipbuilding the ships gross tonnage is 29,963. After unloading she sailed to Prai (Malaysia) earlier today.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today’s my last full day in Georgetown – at least on this trip, although I did nip over to the mainland for several hours to amass some more railway pictures. As is often the case my timing wasn’t brilliant and the fates conspired against me. I was up early but wanted to get a local breakfast so I wandered up to the Komtar bus station to buy some Nasi Lemak. I struggled to find it where I was staying in KL but then the opposite’s true here. I love Roti Canai to start the day with but the place I used to get it for breakfast here’s closed down. Funny old world…
Suitably fed and watered I scanned the skies and thought a trip over to Bukit Tengah, the first station out of Butterworth would be worth doing as I could spend a couple of hours taking pictures before coming home. As the ferries are only hourly now I even had time for a wander and buy some ‘clackers’ for a friend. Remember ‘clackers’? They were a 1970’s child’s toy phenomenon. Two plastic balls on the end of some twine that you bounced up and down until they ricocheted off each other in an endless cycle like a devilish Newton’s cradle (with half the balls). Well that was the idea, most people lost control after a minute or so and got a hefty clout on the wrist. It was a passing fad, but here in Penang they’re back.
My diversions meant the first ferry I could catch was the 11.30 which was fine, I arrived early, found a hard plastic seat next to a fan, logged on the the free wifi and waited. The seat was a bad idea, because as soon as I tried to stand up my back/bum muscle problems returned. I’d been doing so well up to that point too – bugger!
Despite the setback I continued with my trip, catching the ferry to Butterworth before walking up to the station to buy a 2 ringgit return to Bukit Tengah, the first station up the line but which is the location of the new depot which services locomotives, multiple units and wagons. Photographically, it’s far better than Butterworth, but there’s not a lot going on outside the station, so if you were tempted to visit, bring your own snacks. There’s a big petrol station outside if you’re desperate, but the choice of food’s limited, expensive and not very healthy. Anyways here’s a sample of the pictures I took.
‘Dalian’ 29106 powers around the curves at Bukit Tengah en-route to Butterworth.
Right now I’m enjoying my last night in a town I love. I’d planned to have a drink in one of the old bars I photographed in the past but found somewhere far mor interesting. After the rain had come and gone I went for a walk and passed what the Aussies would call a ‘bottle shop’. Only this bottle shop provided seating and gradually took over the road outside. A shout from a chap I’d bumped into earlier led me to sitting with a mixed group. He was from New Zealand, but the woman next to him was from South Korea. Also present was a local Indian guy as well as a bloke from Catalonia, who was keen to emphasise he wasn’t Spanish! It turned out to be a lovely group. We asked a lot of questions of each other and covered a lot of political and social ground.
The ‘secret’ International bar. It springs up some nights apparently and its clients are far more interesting and communicative than the ‘posh’ bars nearby. Here people talk, they don’t sit and stare at their smartphones
Now I’m back at home, packing and preparing to move on tomorrow. I can’t think of a better ending to my time here and I’ll certainly return, one day. Happy places are so rare…
On my way home I passed the Hong Kong bar (est 1920) on Lebuh Chulia which used to be packed. But fashions have really changed and the fleet’s no longer in. Instead there’s one lonely lady left staring at her TV, surrounded by old mementoes of better, busier times.
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This won’t be a huge blog. Not because nothing’s been going on, rather the opposite! I didn’t get back to my hotel until late because I’ve been over to the mainland to meet up with a friend, Nicholas Lim. Nick is from Singapore but he’s travelling back from Bangkok. He’s broken his rail journey at Butterworth for the day before heading the rest of the way to Singapore by train tomorrow. As he knew I was in the area he contacted me and we arranged to see each other. I caught the ferry over to Butterworth where the pair of us enjoyed exploring part of the local rail network. The Northern sector of Malaysian railways is heavy with freight as well as a pretty intensive local passenger service. From February 18th that’s been strengthened by an extra three 3-car trains transferred North from KL that previously operated the suspended Skypark service. I can understand why. I travelled on it once and I was the only passenger. In contrast, the trains around Butterworth are busy, especially the ones to Padang Besar which often have six-car SCS sets working them.
We nipped out to Bukit Tengah the first station out of Butterworth which is where the new loco depot is located. On the platform we bumped into two local rail enthusiasts, both in their teens. Nick translated a question for me and I found out there’s 34 people in their local group which I found interesting, as it’s clear rail enthusiasm isn’t just a UK thing, nor is it confined to older ages.
We moved on to the next station, Bukit Mertajam to inspect the old steam locomotive plinthed outside the station. I remember it being outside the lovely old Butterworth station and wondered where it went. The years haven’t been kind to it. It needs some serious restoration (especially on the tender) otherwise in a few more years it’ll be a pile of rust.
As the Penang ferries are so infrequent now that was the limit of our travels. We headed back to Butterworth and caught the 18:00 ferry to Penang as Nick was keen to show me what he considered one of the best Nasi Kandar restaurants on the island. We boarded the free shuttle bus from near the ferry terminal to the Komtar centre and walked from there. I have to admit, Nick was right, this place is so popular you have to queue to get in – and I can see why, the combination of spices in the curry sauces was excellent and the staff are liberal with the mixtures. I had chicken and squid, both of which were delicious.
After eating we stopped off for a shared bottle of beer at a street restaurant which turned into an interesting experience as whilst we were sitting outside on the pavement the police turned up in a wagon and confiscated all the outside tables bar the one we were sitting at! The officers of the law had decided some infringement had taken place, so that was it!
I left Nick at the Komtar tower to get his bus back to the ferry terminal and catch the last ferry (21:00, what a travesty of a service) whilst I walked home. I’ll detail more of the trip tomorrow, but for now, here’s a few pictures.
One of the Chinese built 29xxx series freight loco’s which were bought in a palm oil swap many years ago. Known as ‘Dalians’ (after where they were built) they’re not as reliable as the ‘Blue Tigers’ but recent work has helped many of them return to traffic after being stored. This one’s returning light after having brought an intermodal service to the North container terminal. The new shopping centre built over Butterworth’s bus station provides an excellent vantage point from its rooftop car park. Here’s looking back across a ship in the oil terminal at Butterworth to Swettenham Pier on Penang and a huge cruise ship which is getting ready to set sail. Two more from Singapore are due in tomorrow, which might make for some interesting pictures. In the background to the shot are some of the many residential skyscrapers that have sprung up like weeds in past 10 years – and there’s many more to follow…Two of the redundant Penang ferries left rusting at Butterworth. Hiding behind them is one of their temporary sissy replacements. The huge ramps to the Butterworth ferry terminal that used to be rammed with cars. Now all they see is the occasional scooter.Also left rusting is former Malaysian railways ‘Pacific’ No 564.25 which was moved from Butterworth to a place outside Bukit Mertajam station.Wearing Skypark livery but with all branding removed (at least on the outside) set 33 sits at Butterworth before working a local service to Padang Rengas. Nicholas enjoying a plate of Nasi Kandar. It’s a mix of chicken, boiled eggs, veg and rice with lashings of different curry sauces.
Tomorrow I’ll be back to pottering around Georgetown whilst trying to catch up on editing todays pictures, so expect an earlier blog – or two.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
It’s been quite a day! I woke up on the sleeper train around 06:00 this morning, just in time to enjoy a wonderful dawn from the comfort of my bed. Food was soon sorted by the arrival of some hawkers who’d joined the train at the last stop so I literally bought breakfast in bed, spicy friend chicken and sticky rice, washed down with fresh coffee from a different hawker, leaving me free to enjoy the world passing by my window at a sedate enough speed to allow me to enjoy it. This Southern part of the railway is a marked contrast to the ongoing modernisation and double-tracking of the Northern sections as it remains undisturbed. You still pass through gorgeous little stations bedecked in bougainvillea and other colourful pot plants. The smart wooden buildings are home to sharply dressed staff. One stands by with green flags as our train passes whilst another collects and swaps single-line tokens with the driver of our train. The big brass station bell each station boasts remains silent because we’re not stopping.
Whilst scoffing my chicken and sipping my coffee a series of colourful snapshots passed by my window. A group of middle-aged women doing calisthenics in a lineside park. Klongs (canals) and rice paddies alive with masses of wading birds such as Lapwings, Egrets and Herons. Some burst into flight when they’re spooked by the train which causes a mass flight. It’s wonderful to watch. This section of line still is ‘old railway’ which is lined with telegraph poles and a multitude of wires which provide a perfect perch for other, smaller birds. Some sections of wire have been colonised by masses of spiders, like some weird alien invasion. Occasionally, the wires act as their own web, trapping an unwary child’s kite. We lost these telegraph poles in the UK many years ago although they were once a common feature. The last section of line I remember them in any number was the line between Norwich and Ely, but these are gone too.
Further away from the line the countryside is divided between palm oil or rubber plantations and rice paddy fields, leavened by Coconut palms and Bananas, just to remind you (where you in any doubt) that you’re in the tropics. The view from the train’s not always picturesque, but it is an insight into Thai life – like the shanties along the lineside on the approach to Hat Yai where plastic and other detritus takes over their back yards. Plastic pollution’s a big issue in Thailand and I’m really not sure how it’s being dealt with.
At Hat Yai our train’s split. The locomotive that brought us from Bangkok is taken off and retires to the depot and the station pilot (an old, leaky ‘Shovelnose) takes over to remove the two Padang Besar bound coaches from the head of the train and shunt them into an adjacent platform where a 3rd class coach is waiting to be attached to the rear. Then the locomotive to take us forward arrives. In this case it was an old Alsthom-built Class 44. Our train took on new passengers too – around a ten railway police who were there to escort the train due to the recent terrorist bombing of the line between Hat Yai and Padang Besar boarded. Three sat opposite me and I got into conversation with one officer who had good English. He translated my words for his colleagues. They were all incredibly friendly and chatty, which was great.
Finally, we arrived at Padang Besar where I went through the border rigmarole I’d completed only a couple of weeks before – only this time in reverse. I’d talked Charlotte and Adi through what to expect, which was painless. I did get quizzed by Malaysian advance immigration but once I explained I was returning to Malaysia with my niece and her husband the latter two got waved through without demur.
Upstairs, the Malaysian ticket office was closed but there are now two ticket machines which accept credit cards (but NOT cash) so I bought our tickets onwards to Butterworth. The train arrived 40 minutes later which gave us enough time to buy a drink at the Warung upstairs. I was surprised to see our train was formed of one of the Chinese built 6-car SCS sets. Last time I’d used the line it was an older 3-car ‘Komuter’ set that had been recommissioned to operate the new local services. By the time we got to Butterworth I understood why they now use the SCS trains – it was packed – and loads were waiting to board it for the return trip.
It was at Butterworth I had my biggest surprise and biggest disappointment. The interchange between train and ferry had always been a pain sine the station was rebuilt as you were up and down several flights of stairs. Now there’s a brand-new and expanded ferry terminal and the adjacent bus station’s in the basement of a massive shopping complex. All good so far, until it came to the ferry…
The old Penang ferries are gone. They stopped in 2021. The joy of sitting on the top deck of a ferry with massive open sides, admiring the view of Penang or watching the mass of commercial shipping are history – as are the chances of getting photographs. Instead we were loaded into a cramped, claustrophobic and awkward catamaran that used to ply the Langkawi route. How are the mighty fallen! You don’t even go to the old terminal anymore which was right next to the bus station. Now you go the Swettenham Pier, further north. But, (allegedly) this is all better because it’s ‘faster’…
As there were three of us we split the fare on a taxi to get to Lebuh Chulia. If nothing else, it saves the wheels on your suitcases melting on the hot tarmac. It may not be as toasty as it was in Kanchanaburi, but 31 degrees is still warm!
I have to admit, I’ve had a fun afternoon introducing Charlotte and Adi to Georgetown and I’m chuffed that they’ve really taken to it. It’s always been one of my ‘happy places’. Having spent a few hours wandering I can say it’s changed but not enough to destroy its character.
I’ll type more tomorrow, but for now I’ll leave you with a picture of what has been lost – which is a crying shame. Here’s one of the old Penang ferries, seen from a sister ship on my last visit here on the 24th February 2017.
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After an interesting and relaxing few days in Kanchanaburi I’m now back in the big city. To be honest, I enjoyed the journey back more than the one there which maybe has something to do with the light and the time of day. I was up at 05:30 in order to enjoy the sunrise and a cup of coffee before catching the 02:20 train. The early mornings where I’ve been staying are well worth getting up for – as you can see…
Looking down on the floating rooms from the communal area of the Tamarind.
I’ll miss the Tamarind hotel. It was a great place to stay, although next time I’d be tempted to upgrade to a room with a/c, but then no-one expected temperatures to hit 37 degrees!
The train back to Bangkok that time of morning is a local service that stops at every blade of grass but that means it’s more relaxed operationally. I bagged a seat in the rear coach next to the helpful young guard who willingly and without prompting lifted my bags up the steep steps onto the train and who was equally happy for me to take pictures from the open back of the train. Some guards get nervy about this as no-one wants a foreigner falling off the back coach, there’s too much paperwork!
Watched by a lone dog, ‘Shovelnose’ 4004 arrived from Nam Tok to head to Bangkok’s Thonburi station as ‘Ordinary train No 60.
On arrival at Thonburi I shared a taxi to Banglumphu with two young French girls who were in Bangkok for the first time. I was staying somewhere different for a change as my usual hotels were full. As my room wasn’t ready I dumped my case at the hotel and went for a wander, only to find the area’s packed. I’d only been away for a week! But in that time, the younger backpackers have returned. I couldn’t plan to do much other than a bit of shopping, work out my next day’s moves and respond to work emails from the UK. As I’m staying somewhere slightly more upmarket I’d been hoping for some decent wifi. That proved to be a disappointment – but I do have a/c! As said wifi’s rather pedestrian and I still need to eat, this is going to be a short blog. You may get more insights later but probably not. I want to have another early start checking out some of the new lines emanating from the new grand station at Bang Sue before I head South on the 15:35…
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– and final day in Kanchanaburi. After the opressive heat of yesterday I was worried I’d lose another to the heatwave. Thankfully, that wasn’t to be. I was up at dawn this morning to make the most of the coolness of the day – fully expecting to be grounded later as the temperatures rose. At least the Tamarind would be a reasonable place for that to happen. They have an upstairs seating area that’s open but shaded, there’s plenty of power sockets for charging up gizmos – and there’s a free supply of water, tea and coffee.
Being up so early had other advantages other than the cool and free beverages. The river looks stunning in the early morning light and the amount of wildlife you see from the elevated perch compared to my rover view is fascinating. Pairs of Kingfishers used the roof of my ‘floatel’ as a lookout – something I’d never had chance to observe before. Meanwhile, squadrons of Monitor lizards began their early morning patrol.
Mind you, they weren’t the only early birds. When I left the hotel at 08:00 the first of the mains streets bars were open – and with trade. An old British expatriate was already on his first beer and God’s knows what number fag. I saw him several hours later. He was still in the same seat but with a different shirt, so I can only assume he took a shower break! The expat community here is interesting. A lot (but not by all by any means) appear to be British – and very set in their routines. They frequent the same bars and stick in the same groups. Not only are they drinkers, most of them are smokers too – and their BMI tends to reflect this. I passed a few of them at what I assume is one of their favourite food outlets. Chaps were tucking into toast and omlettes, or even a full English – and what looked suspiciously like black pudding – and I’ve no idea where you’d get that from! ‘Thai spicy’ wasn’t on the menu.
I have to admit, I’ve bumped into a UK expat here who’s given me a very interesting insight into expat (or long-term visitors, as some are) and it’s been food for thought. I really don’t get going to the same bar everyday, with the same people – until one of them croaks, which is fairly likely, as these guys are neither spring-chickens or out jogging every morning! It’s not much of a life or old age, more God’s waiting room with cold beer, baked beans and bar girls…
Now, please don’t take this as in anyway a criticism of Thai people. I’ve met some lovely ones here. OK, one or two of the ‘Farangs’ local girlfriends can be as mad as a box of frogs after a session on the Thai whisky, I’m talking about the vast majority of people, all of whom have been so friendly and genuine.
Anyway, my breakfast was full Thai (glass noodles and chicken), after which I wandered home to prepare for the blast-furnace – only to find that – unlike yesterday there was a very pleasant breeze that took the sting out of the temperature. So I thought ‘sod it’ and caught the 10:44 train to Nam Tok, the end of the ‘death railway’. Besides, you’re in a sheltered railway coach with all the windows open and roof-mounted electric fans, there’s worse places to be!
I’ll add a full review of the line at a later date, but it was a great trip. Few tourists go all the way. Most do just do a section of it as part of a minibus/coach package that whisks around a dizzying number of sites. This meant I had pole position at widows as I was on early and knew what to expect as I’d traversed the line in 2009. You’ll get to see all of today’s pictures later. Here’s a few as right now I’m back at my hotel concentrating on packing and another early night as I’m catching the 07:20 back to Bangkok in the morning. The next chapter of my trip is about to begin…
Alsthom built 4130 running around the train at journey’s end at Nam Tok. This loco’s been on this working from Bangkok since I arrived. In my professional opinion, the best views from the train are on the Southbound run, but don’t get too far back down the trainset…
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Amazing the difference a good nights sleep makes. I woke up in a much more positive frame of mind this morning. Mind you, stepping straight out of your door to a wonderful river view does rather help. Here’s where I’m staying.
There’s such wildlife to enjoy here (and I’m not talking about the ‘girly’ bars). The river’s teeming with fish and the birdlife (of the feathered variety) is amazing. I’m quite content to pass the time sat outside my room on the verandah and watch the world go by. I’d only booked a couple of nights but I’ve decided to extend that by a few days as today’s been spent exploring the town and catching up on picture editing. It’s a sleepy place in the mornings. The town doesn’t really wake up until the heat of the day’s passed – apart from around the bridge where the tourist tat stalls are. A couple of bars open for the hardened drinkers, all old Western men who’ve either retired here or take long holidays to Thailand. I passed one such large group of Englishmen tucking into their beers at 10 am!
One place I did visit today is the war cemetery run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. A group of Thai workers were busy keeping it looking immaculate. A party of Thai schoolchildren on a trip were there at the same time. Each child picked a grave at random and wrote down the details of the soldier contained on the plaque. It’s a sobering place. Each one of these allied soldiers died building the railway, along with an estimated 100,000 Asian forced labourers.
The youngest soldiers (and a sailor) I found were 20. The oldest was 51. The average age would have been mid 20s. Such a waste of life – and sadly it’s still going on today thanks to the meglomania of old men like Putin. We never learn.
Now I’m back at my room, relaxing as the sun sets before heading off to eat. Tonight I’ll be busy finishing off some work so expect more pictures and commentary later. It’s Friday, so the place is beginning to fill up with folks from Bangkok who come here for weekend breaks. This could get interesting…
21:20 (Thai time).
Having had a wander for a bite to eat and enjoyed some fiery noodle soup (my fault, I loaded it with dried chilies) I’m now relaxing at home whilst the town gears up for the weekend. Here’s a couple of pictures taken on the main drag.
Not quite streetfood as it’s cooked in a cafe, but you eat it on the street! One of the main ‘girly bars’. Trade’s slow…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 