ON TRACK FOR SHEER LUXURY
Stunning scenery, company and cuisine and even a sing-song by the piano aboard a slow train as it wends from Singapore to Bangkok
The train clanked and wheezed as it neared the town of Nibon Tebal in northern Malaysia, while we sat mesmerised by the storm barrelling in from the south, black clouds flared by lightning scudding across the mountains and stirring the trackside palms and rubber plants.
The children flying kites in the last of the evening light jumped and waved enthusiastically, just yards from the track, before dashing for cover as we rumbled by. But by the time the first drops of rain splattered the roof of the observation car, we were already seated for dinner.
‘Anything is possible on a train,’ wrote Paul Theroux in The Great Railway Bazaar. ‘A great meal, a binge, a visit from card players, an intrigue, a good night’s sleep and strangers’ monologues framed like Russian short stories.’
The magical three- day journey from Singapore to Bangkok aboard the eastern & Oriental express proved just how perceptive he was. We ate wonderfully, drank giddy cocktails and sang songs in the piano bar, had our fortunes told, delighted in the wit and warmth of our f ellow passengers and woke to the shattering beauty of an Asian sunrise.
The journey began in the colonial fivestar splendour of Raffles hotel, home of the Singapore Sling and the Long Bar, the only place in the city state where littering is not only legal but positively encouraged (the peanuts are free and you chuck the shells on the floor).
I’d flown in from Glasgow via Dubai with emirates and had slept so soundly in the comfort of business class aboard a double-decked Airbus A380 that I arrived jet lag free. A quick tour of the hotel’s estate afforded an amusing insight into its past, including the incident in 1902 when the last tiger in Singapore was shot, having unwisely taken refuge under a billiards table.
Check-in for the eastern & Oriental express takes place at the hotel and we gathered for the short coach journey to Woodlands Station to depart. The train was waiting, magnificent in green and cream livery, its 22 carriages stretching half a mile. Stepping aboard was like slipping back in time, the carriages dark with intricate wood panelling and marquetry, although the current train only came into service in 1993.
MY luggage had already been placed i n my compact Pullman cabin ( careful packing is required for the journey as large suitcases have to be stored for the duration of the trip). After a short delay for an incoming commuter train, the e&O heaved away for the 1,250-mile, two-night journey to Bangkok. I was served tea (and a moreish curry puff) in my cabin before joining other passengers in the open-air observation carriage at the rear of the train.
This was the best vantage point to enjoy the journey. The train averages a stately 45mph, so you’re not hurried to take in the views. As we crossed the Johor Strait into the Malaysian peninsula, the sights scrolled like a cinema reel. Tin shacks and trackside washing lines gave way to rubber plantations, then into thick jungle, the soundtrack changing as we crossed old iron bridges and held up traffic at dusty crossings as night fell.
Dining is a big part of the e&O experience and dressing up is encouraged. Unless you request to be seated alone, different couples are paired for each meal and it’s a great way to get to know your travelling companions – almost all of whom are marking a special occasion, from birthdays and anniversaries to honeymoons and new civil partnerships.
The food, produced from impossibly narrow galley kitchens by chef Yannis Martineau and his team, is outstanding, and after four perfect courses, everyone headed to the piano bar for nightcaps and lounge tunes from Pete the resident Singaporean pianist, who’s been with the train since the very first journey.
Apart from scheduled stops and shorts breaks in sidings to let regular rail services past, the e&O is constantly in motion, which can i mpact on sleep. In Pullman cabins, the sofa is turned into a bed at night and a second bed is pulled down from the wall in a bunk arrangement. The state rooms have two sofas which are converted into side-by-side beds. If you’re a light sleeper, do request a middle cabin as the ones over the wheels are more bumpy. The en suite bathrooms are small and functional and it’s handy if you can shower when the train is stopped.
Depending on the particular journey, the train stops for a number of excursions. Delays (inevitable on this busy, single- track route) meant we arrived for the brief stop in Kuala Lumpur in the small hours