Re: Help with o/seas trainsLONG

["Phil @big pond" <trapcleaver1@bigpond.com>]

Good morning Mr Smith .
First I take slight exception as to being called anonymous Phil as is only
Spam trap  and you remove word trap
2 on web sites within sig  are not only email but phone numbers and I use my
real name  . So anything but  the grey man .

3 Many posters were of help as details prices and timetables changed in
April
And web sites in Malaysia have not been upgraded  to reflect

Got off plane at Sing
cab to station  being repainted and is still a bit Tatty
 as fare to Butterworth  if bought in SING  is 130 Singapore dollars  156 oz
dollars at that days exchange rate
I Caught Train to Johore Baru  $2.00  had to wait about 5 hours for Rakyat
express as sleeper to KL  gets in at
0630 next morning paid  59 ringgit  ( $21 Aus $)  Great trip comfy bed
enjoyed fine meal across road at shopping centre in JB
bought gifts retail at 80% cheaper than KL  shoes clothes bags etc
Got to KL and Bang  no train until midnight which would have added another
day to time Table
What to do ?
Cab to bus station and caught 7.20 bus with stunning tall blonde Swedish
chicks to Butterworth via Ipoh
22 ringgit   train was late into Butterworth  due to floods
Caught cab to Air base where shower shave and meal was prepared for me in
the mess with a fine South African RED
Driven back to train to BKK 98 ringgit and slow due to floods and some nut
case locked himself in Toilet at Border and did not come out . so another
delay until heavies arrived . So with typical Thai pragmatism
they loaded guys with uniforms and train took off complete with nut case and
hard case smiling mil types.

WHAT A GREAT TRIP  the locals are having a religious dispute over things not
germane to this group ,
And as mentioned  things went bang ( I was also in area when that
happened -only a day after a Real serious clash up on Burma border with 155
105's etc dropping to within 300 metres)  So guess nut case put the mochas
on me

Trip was great as up the front of the Thai train is a baggage car  complete
with cooking facilities fir the guys with guns and others
 as train was slow  had plenty of time and wandered about without any
hindrance ( apart from squeezing past nut case area and the weird part was
the 'minders" and nut case were having a bit of a sing a long  funny trip )
Anyway train halts for about 40 minutes and  vendors appear out of the scrub
with tucker and tins of soft drink
So as they did not have large note change  ended up with a few cans of Pepsi
and sprite (pronounced Spur  write)
and heaps of pork and dried fish and some fresh vegies  and a great local
delicacy DURIAN stinks but is good Tucker .
wander up to engineer ( driver) and head minder and they like Dunhill smokes
so we start yakking (helps that I speak read and write Thai)
They ask about if the white bloke really can eat what he is carrying and
advise that we are now going to be really late as a wash away up a head has
literally rained on the trains parade.
Back to discussion about food and  what does Kangaroo taste like ?
End result I offer to make up Aussie bush  stew with pork and dried fish and
all the vegies ( locals are sent off for some spuds and onions garlic etc)
So into the front wagon and do shearers cook impressions and as I had some
flour ( used salt and lemonade to make a sort of damper) cooked up a meal
and all had a pretty good time.
Train trundles off at the pace of a startled snail with a club foot .
I trundle back to seat as its now been turned from a seat into a bed again .

Some hours later  some of the crew appear and beckon up front  they are
having food  from rail resources.
And invited to discreetly go to the closed off area . Guy who is chief
minder has changed into non fatigue uniform
is of substantial rank and Trained in Aus  speaks excellent English all of a
sudden and is wearing SAS wings .
The joke was on me and the rest of the trip was speaking very candidly on a
broad range of topics.

This was an EXCEPTIONAL Trip but without the entertainment of the nut case
who eventually came out when they got his girlfriend to speak with him on
the mobile  and the floods delays impromptu cultural exchange of recipes
etc. It would have still been a pleasant and comfortable trip

By the way train has excellent menu for breakfast and is  cheap well served
and no  tummy problems
Really if you like trains and people  this is a really great trip but slow
and very different from what you get inoz in fact I reckon better .
Carriages are made by Daewoo and Hyundai  and are modern and very comfy air
con can be any where between blizzard and  comfy step outside to 35 degree
heat and 98% humidity and you DO feel the difference

The other thing of mention HAS  to be the toilets - they are of the squat
type and to the Pharang/ Mat saleh ( us Aussie types) may come as an initial
shock also get in early as it has a shower type arrangement and often you
end up more scruffy and dishevelled
than when you went in . So if your gone in the knees or fetlocks  be advised