KL Sentral -> Ipoh -> Padang Besar -> Bangkok ( ~ 29 hours)
Day 1 (Day 4 of the Singapore - BKK trip)
Kuala Lumpur - Ipoh
Boarding : 6:30 am KL Sentral
At last, I'm on my way to ride the long-awaited train ride from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok. We boarded the train, found our seat and settled in.
The train left the station on time for Padang Besar. We would alight at Ipoh for about two hours before taking another train to Padang Besar.
KL city landscape changes to greenery as the train chugged north towards Ipoh. We ate our breakfast that we'd packed earlier that morning before exploring the train.
There is a prayer room, cafeteria and toilet facilities. After about 2 hours, we arrived at Ipoh Station.
Ipoh
Ipoh Station is housed in an iconic colonial building with basic facilities, along with a small cafe and convenience store. There is no locker storage. HT checked beforehand on the well-known 'Ah Chow Kedai Kopi' along Jalan Bandar Times for brunch.
We took a Grab (RM3) to the coffeeshop. It was crowded but we managed to find a table for ourselves (+ our luggage). The wanton noodle, Chee Cheong Fun and coffee were good.
[Grab service is so reasonably priced]
When we came out of the coffee shop, we realised that Nam Heong was across the road, and Sin Yoon Loong was a few shops away. We decided on another cup of tea and curry noodles in Sin Yoon Loong, and HT packed dim sum from Nam Heong as part of our dinner.
We then took another Grab (RM4) to get back to the station.
[Ipoh = good food = expanding waistline 😐😉]
EP 9274 bound for Padang Besar left the station at 12:26pm.
[I'm getting closer to Bangkok 😍 ]
There were more stretches of cultivated farmland along the way.
Time passed relatively quickly as I looked out the window, and the train arrived at its final destination at 3:23pm.
Padang Besar
Padang Besar Station is Malaysia's border station for passengers to cross the Malaysia - Thailand border before connecting to the Thailand Railway network.
It was crowded, and I then realised that many people cross the border to Hatyai for quick shopping trips and/or short holidays. Although we did not need to buy a ticket, we queued at the Thailand ticket counter to obtain the Thailand Customs Immigration card.
Padang Besar Town
We had about two hours in Padang Besar, but the railway station was not within walking distance from the town. After a short deliberation on what to do next (it probably would take maximum of 10 minutes to explore the train station thoroughly), we decided to hire one of the taxis waiting outside the station for a 1 hour return ride around the town.
[and it is more justifiable to include Padang Besar into 'Visited' travel list?! 😏]
The taxi uncle stopped by an open air market, driving past a shopping area and then to the town centre. He suggested that we walked around and he could wait for us in the car. We declined the offer. Fare : RM20 + RM5 tip.
[What if he drove off with our luggage still in the boot? Do we then have to abandon the train ride, or proceed without our luggage?! I think I'd rather just visit the town from sitting inside the taxi😊]
Crossing the border
After the taxi ride, we had a waffle and a drink at the cafe, and then waited near the staircase that led to the immigration counter (and the train platform) downstairs. The Malaysian Railway staff signalled that we could proceed downstair to the Malaysia Customs.
After clearing the Malaysia Customs, we waited at a holding area for the Thailand Customs to start customs clearance. The Thailand Customs counter opened and we crossed into Thailand.
[😃 First trip to Thailand after the pandemic 😊]
Special Express 46 International Express
The train has two sleeper carriages and one third class (regular seating) carriage. We boarded the train and found the seat we booked in one of the sleeper carriages. Although the fan was on, it was rather hot and stuffy.
[The train was similar to the Bangkok to ChiangMai train that I took with SP many years old. I vaguely remembered that it was not as hot?! 😑😟]
Once the train moved off, the air conditioner came on 😌. We realised that they didn't have power connectors for each individual seat 😔 Instead, they only had two power connectors for the whole carriage (which had 36 seats?). One of them was at seat 30, so I quickly took my cable and used that to charge my phone.
The train passed through a few small towns before arriving at Hatyai. The third class carriage was detached from the train. In turn, other carriages were attached and many passengers (mainly locals) boarded our carriage.
Food vendors came onto the train to sell a variety of foods too. We ordered our dinner from the train's cafe staff walking along the aisle after the train left Hatyai.
The train staff walked through the carriage to set up the bed for the upper and lower berth. I climbed up to the upper berth, and the bed was rather narrow, I pulled shut the blue curtain, hoping I wouldn't fall off... 😶
[I woke and dozed off a few times 😴😵😴]
Day 2 (Day 5 of SG-BKK trip)I was awake by early 5+am, and we got ready and made our way to the dining car. We ordered a breakfast set to share as we also brought along a cake for breakfast too.
After our breakfast, we walked through the length of the train, passing through the private cabin (first class), second(seat) and third class carriage.
At every stop, vendors came into the train to sell food. We bought some coconut (as recommended) a colourful (we chose green) noodle-like snack (it was candy floss) and pomelo. It was yummy.
We arrived at Bangkok after leaving KL central about 29 hours ago. I'm glad I did the trip.😊
Thoughts
We discovered that EP9272 (from KL to Ipoh/Padang Besar) could only be booked online 24 hours before the train departure time. HT made the booking at 7:08am on Sunday, and managed to get the tickets.
[HT, Thanks for doing the ticket booking 😍]
My watch automatically adjusted to Thailand time (1 hour behind) when I reached Padang Besar. I thought the train was an hour early!!! Be careful of the changing of time at the border!
We could have taken a shuttle train to Hatyai for a stop-over. Then, we would have the option to book the first class cabin (Hatyai - Bangkok) as the carriage is added on in Hatyai.
It was such a coincidence that BL offered a free ride from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, HT happened to be in KL, and I could squeeze in this trip. It had taken me too long to embark on this rail ride. I was glad that I finally did it.
I don't believe in revenge 👿. However, doing this trip between two other planned trips seem 'revengeful (revenge travel)'?! 😯? IT is not lah... I just seized an opportunity to do a short rail trip 😉.
I should try my best to do the Vietnam-China or the Laos-China rail soon. Then, adding up all the other rail rides I've done (the first being Guangzhou to Beijing in 1990 or Bangkok - ChiangMai in 1989/90?), I would cumulatively travelled from Singapore - London by rail. 😊
If not for the terrible Amtrak cancellation for my trip from NYC to SF (only did NYC to Chicago) in February, I would have almost taken the trains around the world? [Haha 😀 showing off] Anyway, Amtrak rail is currently not in my travel list.
[Tran-Siberian - Oct/Nov 1990] 👇
😊
On the same trip
😎