Zip Trip to Malaysia - Photo Trip Report

[Big Boy]

Background

Before I begin, I should give you some background to my trip. For many years I’ve considered the railway journey into Malaysia. The idea of sleeping in a bed on a train, and waking up many miles from my departure point has always fascinated me, but I’ve never actually done it. I think it has been the absence of a travelling companion that has been my main obstacle. Funnily enough, when I eventually found a companion, a third party said that if I’d asked, they’d have accompanied me as well.

We’ve had a lot of friends visit us in Hua Hin this year. I think David is our last for 2019. He miscalculated his visa duration, and booked his flight home after his visa had expired. That gave him a couple of choices:

• Extend at Immigration for a couple of days – cost 1900฿
• Overstay and pay the exit fine - 500฿
• Do a border run to somewhere – Malaysia cost about 1900฿

So, a marriage made in heaven – I wanted to do a zip trip to Malaysia, my friend needed to do a border run, so I started making plans.

I can already hear many of you asking, “Why a zip trip, why not stay longer?” The answer to that is simple – I’ve read many reports saying what a rotten place Malaysia is, and there’s nothing to do there. OK, I've only zip-tripped the place, but when I get to my conclusion, I will explain why I think I’ve read so many negative reports.

Because most reports have been so negative, I used an old trip report on Hua Hin Forum to plan our short stay. We loosely followed what they did in Kuala Lumpur before us, and had a great visit.

The Journey Begins

In my mind, I always find it hard to imagine the length of the lower leg of Thailand. I’ve been to the likes of Krabi before, and have felt I’ve been a long way South, but Krabi is only about half way. Malaysia has just been a little lump at the bottom of Thailand in my mind.

The first leg of our journey was an overnight sleeper from Hua Hin to Padang Besar, departing Hua Hin at 19:13 (yeah, that’ll be right). People often think I exaggerate when I talk about Thailand, but I only say it as I see it. I told my friend that most trains are 2 hours late by the time they reach Hua Hin. Of course, I exaggerate. We departed Hua Hin at 21:05, so yes, I was exaggerating – the train was only 1hr and 52 minutes late.

One mystery that would be solved at Hat Yai was this was train No.37 and No.45. The destination on the departures board was shown as somewhere different to Padang Besar. Our ticket was for train No.45

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The train before ours (also late) was one of the more modern trains that pass through Hua Hin. My friend’s hopes were immediately raised that we too would be travelling on a modern train.

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We’d noted where car 3 had stopped on the earlier train, and positioned ourselves in the same position on the platform in readiness for the eventual arrival of our train.

When our train arrived, it was a vintage Thai train. The cars were not numbered in any way, and we had to make a logical guess at which was our car. I applied my best Thai logic to the problem, and boarded the 5th car from the engine. I’ve definitely gone native because my (instinctive) Thai logic was spot on. We were in the correct car.

I stood at the entrance to the aisle of car 3, and I could see a uniformed helper signaling me to my bed. First problem, I had a large, heavy suitcase (to save Air Asia costs, we’d combined out luggage into a single suitcase – mine), and there was no luggage storage. The aisle was blocked with everybody else’s luggage, and I had to clamber across other people’s bags to beds 22 and 24. (when adding photos to this report, the luggage is not as bad as I remember - I think my case was so bad, every little obstacle was a problem- even shoes) Of course, my case was the largest, and really blocked the aisle. Everybody else had retired to bed, and there was even an element of snoring throughout the carriage. We weren’t ready to sleep, but felt we shouldn’t be making any noise either. So we both lay on our bunks, closed our aisle curtains, and I watched Thailand at night go by.

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The bed itself was quite comfortable, and the bedding was clean. Now we have to remember, this was a Thai train and Thais are not very tall. I’m >6’5”tall. If I wanted to put my legs straight out in front of me, I had to lift my feet at an angle of about 300, resting them just below the top bunk. I soon got fed up with that novelty and found a regular ‘curled up’ sleeping position and managed to drift off to sleep. I had to get up once in the night to pee (sorry, too much information), and the toilet was dire.

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I was awoken a couple of times in the night by the motion of the train, but slept remarkably well. Everybody was awake, and the beds had been restored to seats by the time we reached Hat Yai. Now the train number mystery was solved…………train 37 went on to somewhere else, while we (train 45) went on to Padang Besar. This was achieved by the train being broken up and shunted around the marshaling yard until the correct configuration had been achieved. Some of the shunting was a bit fierce, and had some unsuspecting people falling around. Typical Thai Health and Safety I guess.

So, our journey continued to Padang Besar. When we arrived, everybody got up, ready to disembark. We were promptly told to sit down again. We were going to Padang Besar. But, we’re at Padang Besar. Yes we were, but our Padang Besar was a further 6 minutes towards Malaysia. How very Thai, having 2 railway stations with the same name so very close to each other. We had arrived at the Malaysian border.

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……./to be continued.

[PGS]

I am looking forward to your continued report. It is great and interesting reading.

[hin]

You were lucky ro get the older train as it is more comfortable. The newer cars have a much narrower bottom bunk, almost as narrow as the top bunk. A hint to anyone thinking about a sleeper train trip - do not have your meals brought to your seat unless you prefer it cold and often arriving at inconvenient times, conflicting with when you might want to be getting into or out of bed. Much nicer to make the trip to the dinning car and sit at a proper table with a table cloth, plus the menu is better and larger than what they bring to the cars. Also more latitude on what time you might want ro eat. I do not remember what times the dinning car is open but any train employee can tell you.

[Bamboo Grove]

I remember in the final years of my Thailand time, I started using the first class in the sleepers. Only slightly more expensive but much more convenient.

[Big Boy]

We did wonder about whether there was a dining car, but 2 things stopped us looking:

• Everybody else appeared to be asleep, and we didn't want to disturb them.

• Despite being on the 5th car from the engine, ours was the first sleeper car. The restaurant car wasn't forward. We weren't sure about where the 'lady car' was. We didn't want to break the law by accidentally entering the lady car.

My friend would have much preferred 1st class - I wasn't too fussy, but 1st class did not seem to be an option on this trip. It was not offered when I checked online, and neither was it offered when I booked.

[Dannie Boy]

We did wonder about whether there was a dining car, but 2 things stopped us looking:

• Everybody else appeared to be asleep, and we didn't want to disturb them.

• Despite being on the 5th car from the engine, ours was the first sleeper car. The restaurant car wasn't forward. We weren't sure about where the 'lady car' was. We didn't want to break the law by accidentally entering the lady car.

My friend would have much preferred 1st class - I wasn't too fussy, but 1st class did not seem to be an option on this trip. It was not offered when I checked online, and neither was it offered when I booked.

They don’t have first class on all of the services - I’ve only used it once on a trip between Bangkok and Chaing Mai but that was about 17 years ago so no idea whether the service has improved or not but back then, first class was infinitely better than a second class sleeper

[Big Boy]

As this was 2 trains, which had to be split at Hat Yai, I guess it might have been 1 shunt too many if they did 1st class as well.

[HHTel]

We did wonder about whether there was a dining car, but 2 things stopped us looking:

• Everybody else appeared to be asleep, and we didn't want to disturb them.

• Despite being on the 5th car from the engine, ours was the first sleeper car. The restaurant car wasn't forward. We weren't sure about where the 'lady car' was. We didn't want to break the law by accidentally entering the lady car.

My friend would have much preferred 1st class - I wasn't too fussy, but 1st class did not seem to be an option on this trip. It was not offered when I checked online, and neither was it offered when I booked.

They don’t have first class on all of the services - I’ve only used it once on a trip between Bangkok and Chaing Mai but that was about 17 years ago so no idea whether the service has improved or not but back then, first class was infinitely better than a second class sleeper

I've only used the train once from Butterworth to HH and I had a cabin so must have been 1st class. I remember it being very comfortable with a little man to bring food and drink when called. I remember it being very cheap at around 1,000 baht. It was some time ago and there was no changing trains at the border.

[Big Boy]

I've only used the train once from Butterworth to HH and I had a cabin so must have been 1st class. I remember it being very comfortable with a little man to bring food and drink when called. I remember it being very cheap at around 1,000 baht. It was some time ago and there was no changing trains at the border.

Alas, all regular passenger trains stop at Padang Besar these days, and you have to change.

[Big Boy]

Posting the next installments will always be easier for me in the morning, so here's the next 2 installments a little earlier than expected.

Padang Besar

During the journey to the deep South, the train had recovered about a hour of lost time, but we were still about an hour late. We also had to contend with the time difference of +1 hour. So, it was about 10:45 Malay time. Our train to Kuala Lumpur was at 13:45 – a 3 hour stopover. Padang Besar was a brand new station – spotlessly clean. It was here that we had to cross the border – my first experience of biometrics.

I went through Thai Immigration no problem, walked around the corner and through Malaysia Immigration. I knew there was no visa required, but I was pleasantly surprised to have received 3 months on arrival.

We then had to run the gauntlet of touts offering to help us buy onward tickets to Kuala Lumpur. This surprised me because I’d checked the Internet the day before, and there were no tickets Kuala Lumpur to be had. The touts did con quite a few people out of their money, but I’ve no idea what the people received for their money because none of them caught our train.

We had 3 hours to kill and a very big/heavy suitcase to lug around. We opted for the station cafeteria. Well, we wished we hadn’t bothered. The cooked food all contained coconut, which my body instantly rejects, the coffee was 3 in 1. I suffered a coffee and my friend had a bottle of orange. Nothing else took our fancy. So, what do we do for the next 2 hours 30 minutes?

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Even though I had the suitcase from hell, we decided it had wheels, so we’d go for a wander around outside the station. I had read there was nothing to see or do in Padang Besar, but people exaggerate. I wheeled my bag down the disabled ramp, and there we were, outside of Padang Besar Railway Station.

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To Malaysia

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To Thailand

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Basically, people were 100% correct. Absolutely nothing there – I think we were in No Man’s Land between Thailand and Malaysia. Actually, I lie – there were guys wandering around with big guns.

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So it was back to the waiting room, and we found seats well serviced by a big fan.

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I found another ramp to go and explore, which gave a good view of a couple of trains

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and the lorry border,

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but it did become a bit like watching paint dry. It was back to the waiting room, where the only entertainment was watching the touts work their magic amongst their unsuspecting victims.

Padang Besar to Kuala Lumpur

This is where the WOW factor begins. The 13:45 ETS Platinum service. After the OK service from Hua Hin to Padang Besar, this was the Rolls Royce treatment. Virtually new rolling stock, running exactly on time for the entire 5hr 35min service, and it reached some speeds Thai trains can only dream of. It was spotless, huge toilet facilities, air conditioned (a touch on the cold side), hot food and beverages. It was excellent.

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A funny story with this photo. The 2 sat down are the snack bar operators. We got on the train before it was ready to board. The doors locked behind us, and they couldn't get us off - we were told to sit down. Other disgruntled passengers started knocking at the door.

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Looking outside the window as the train sped along, the big thing that struck me was the lack of rubbish. There was no plastic carrier bags or bottles, no sweet papers or fag packets – nothing. I’m obviously turning native, because it just didn’t look real any more. Even wooden rural properties on 4 legs, there was nothing. I think every rural property in Thailand has a rubbish tip. Having said all of that, and it was impressive, as we entered Kuala Lumpur, we did spot a couple of rubbish hotspots, but even they were minimal.

When we arrived at Sentral Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, we found the size a bit daunting. It was huge. I’d done my research, and knew that we needed the LRT Kelana Jaya Line. Everything we needed to do was on this line. We walked around and around but couldn’t find it. We were still unsure about talking to the natives but eventually had to ask. It became very apparent very quickly that everybody in this town spoke perfect English. Well, if we hadn’t asked, we’d probably still be looking. Such a vast station, but once we knew the way, it was easy.

Next challenge, buying a ticket to KLCC where our hotel was situated. There were loads of people stood at machines, but we didn’t have a clue. There was a desk with somebody stood behind it – much easier talking to a human. “2 tickets to KLCC please.” We are directed to the machines, but he did give us a valuable clue – No. 5. With that information, we were able to master the ticket machine, which dropped us 2 little blue tokens for less than 5 Ringgits (1 Ringgit was 7.3฿ while we were there).

It should be easy from here, just like the London Underground – wrong. I’ve mentioned my big suitcase already. I scanned my token, the barrier opened and I walked through dragging my case behind me. Oh flump!!!! My case is too wide and jams up the barrier system. Some official lady comes out and between us with a bit of kicking involved we managed to unjam things, but I’m now one side of the barrier, and my case is the other side. With Herculean strength, I leaned over the barrier and managed to haul my case over the barrier. However, my travelling companion was stranded the other side of the barrier with dozens of other passengers. The officious lady just gave me that stupid Farang (don’t know what it is in Malaysian) look, and freed the barrier. Everything was moving again.

The rest of the journey to our hotel was without incident. A lucky guess meant we turned the right way out of the LRT station towards our hotel.

When we got to our hotel rooms, we were quite astounded by the view. Christmas lights in London were never this good. Laying on our beds, the view was the Petronas Towers – absolutely brilliant.

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The big bonus when we checked in – 2 free drinks. The beer here is very expensive, so this was great news. We were knackered after our epic journey, and neither of us are big drinkers, so decided we’d put this pleasure off until the next day.

……./to be continued.

[caller]

Excellent report BB! Great reading

Have to admit that I have never heard of the term, 'zip trip' before.

What that hotel good, apart from the views?

[Big Boy]

The hotel, Le Apple Boutique Hotel@KLCC, apart from having a stupidly long name was perfect. Very compact compared to what was around it. Here's a sneak preview from the top of the Petronas Towers looking down (smog was incredibly bad). It's the small hexagonal building in a jungle of much bigger and better hotels such as the giant 4 Seasons Hotel in the same area.

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I knew I wanted to be somewhere near the Petronas Towers, and when I looked on Agoda, it ticked all of the boxes e.g. we wouldn't have time for things such as gyms or swimming pools, and it was very close to the LRT.

There were a lot of very cheap hotels on offer (<500฿), but when we drilled down, we were finding comments such as shared bathroom', which didn't appeal to either of us.

Le Apple had everything we wanted/needed. We all have different standards, so I wouldn't like to recommend it, but comfortable/perfect for us.

[dtaai-maai]

Oh flump!!!!

Flump...???

[Big Boy]

Yes, that is Malaysian for the air is blue

[PeteC]

Could you fit your case on that overhead rack on the Malaysian train?

The famous behemoth has not yet made an appearance in the photos.