Go Solo Backpacking Adventure Train from KL to Bangkok

From 3 July 2012 to 5 July 2012

From the Philippines, I arrived in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on the 3^rd of July 2012 at 00.15.

I first had a money change of 100 USD which is equivalent to 300 MYR. I immediately traveled from the old KLIA airport to KL Sentral, at the heart of Kuala Lumpur, at 2:35. The bus fare is 8 MYR. I arrived in KL Sentral at 3:35 and immediately ate McChicken with coffee (10.20 MYR). I could not buy train tickets immediately because the ticket booth still opens at 6:45.

Departure from KL

I patiently waited until I was able to see the booth open for ticket purchase. Once it opened, the transaction went smooth. I have no difficulty placing my ticket orders with the tellers as we both understand English. I was able to tell the itinerary plan and they gave me the ticket for such a plan. I got my travel tickets at 6:55. My itinerary is from KL to Butterworth at 34 MYR and from Butterworth to Bangkok at 103 MYR. The teller told me that the trip is cut at the Butterworth station because the next trip which is the train to Bangkok.

So the adventure started. The train departed from Kuala Lumpur at 8:45. Along the side of the tracks, I saw the other sides of Kuala Lumpur: there are overlapping buildings in the sky, patches of mini-forests and backdoors of houses and apartments. I also saw a backdrop of compact housing units in the different towns passed by the train. There are humbly bowing bamboo bushes, some banana and sugarcane plantations, and some array of coconut trees. The sun also extends its piercing rays as the train window approaches the sunlight from the east and west at sunrise and sunset. There are also long electrical lines parallel to the train tracks or passing through the palm oil plantations at a far-away distance. There are also low-lying mountains, green and brown hills and dozens of canals where the water from those hills

Train ticket from KL to Butterworth, Malaysia

and mountains is emptied. There are also junked metals, dilapidated cars, motor parts, metal railway tracks stacked and garbage piles. The cell site towers are also catchy as they provide a man-made foreground to the greens and nature at the background. Surprisingly, there are also water buffaloes which I thought was only existing in the Philippines. They were taking a bath and enjoying the mud. There were some mud ponds, long and wide ricefields, and vast palm plantations that span beyond what the

Train ticket from Butterworth, Malaysia to Bangkok, Thailand

vision can reach. At the calculation of time, we may have been approaching Butterworth station when we passed by long railway tracks and some overpass under construction. One could not but conclude that Malaysia is booming in the construction industry and busy with its public infrastructures. The railways are being modernized, and the subdivision patches scattered on both sides of the railway tracks also compete with the development of the public infrastructure. These are happening even after the Petronas Towers were completed years before. Could it be that the completion of the once tallest building in the world is the signal rather than the end of development in Malaysia?

Inside the train from KL to Butterworth

I could feel the difference in the train movement in Malaysia and in Thailand back then. While the train ride in Malaysia is smooth, the motion becomes staggered and noisy as we entered Thailand. I can only imagine the situation of train travel in the Philippines back home, which is even worse than Thailand, aside from the fact that the train industry is dying back home.

I can only feel but envy at the improving infrastructure of Malaysia back then. I could remember public infrastructure in the Philippines which started in 2010 at the time of the President GMA but it was only focused in Manila and nearby provinces. Some projects were not even continued by the president next to her due to political conflicts. An example is the North Railway project from Caloocan to Malolos, Bulacan. However, the current president is so strong and focused on infrastructure, social revolution, and government bureaucratic reform amidst the many destabilization plots, internet, media, and church antagonism against his campaign on illegal drugs, corruption, and other useful reforms. I liken the effort to salvage the Philippines from narco-state at the time of Duterte to the defense of the Philippines against communism during the time of Marcos.

Inside the train of KL - Butterworth journey

Inside the coach of the train is my resting place. It is a convenient seat for a traveling king and wide enough for a searching philosopher to lie down and have a convenient sleep while his quest for knowledge continued. The train is cool and airconditioned inside. There are train police hovering around to check the tickets and see the security situation around. They are courteous and handsome.

Around the ferry station of Butterworth overlooking Penang Island

Those views passed by my vision so fast that I did not notice time as we reached Butterworth station at 16:25. Since I knew that the first trip ends there, I went down the train. But, loneliness suddenly wrapped me as I saw humanless areas from a distance. The place looks like a vast dry land without houses. In fact, the only building I could see is the building where I stand, the building of Butterworth station. The backdrop of the station on the east side is a mountain while at the west is the blue sky. Later did I know that that "blue sky" side is where Penang Island is.

The good thing with the public spaces of Malaysia is that there are wide pedestrian lanes. I walked from Butterworth station to the place where people are headed. I asked others where they are going and they told me that they towards Penang Island. They also informed me that I have to spend the night on the island because the next train (to Bangkok) is still the following morning. It was there that I remember that I did not understand what the teller meant earlier that morning when she was instructing me about the itinerary.

At the entrance gate to the ferry station, I dropped 1.20 MYR coins and walked straight to the ferry boat and waited for 5 minutes before it runs to the other side. The ferry departed at 17.15 and reached Penang Island at 17.30. The island is clearly visible from my origin. Near the ferry station are restaurants where one can eat, drink and briefly stay for some refreshment. I immediately felt hungry after smelling food. They smell like the food in Indonesia. I ate nasi ayam penyet pake air botol. Harganya 6.50 MYR di dalam Tanjung Café. I do not eat much when traveling but I make sure that I taste the food that I feel is delicious. My taste buds learned to switch off themselves when I am traveling. They may see my limited budget or protect me from unnecessary eating and food poisoning during trips.

After being sated, I felt the night is approaching fast so I went out of the place and looked for a taxi. At first, I was hesitant to hire a taxi because the driver might overcharge me. So I walked a bit away from the ferry station and searched for a taxi far from the station thinking that the fare might be cheaper there. I was able to find a taxi and it belongs to Pak Lim Chin, inside the taxi is his big id containing his name and picture and some details of his car. He is fluent in English but it is in hard Malaysian or Singaporean accent. I handed to him 10 MYR for the fare. He directed me to a lodge where I stayed for the night.

I lodged at Crystal guesthouse. It has cost me 40 MYR overnight. I was instructed

My lodge at Penang Island

by the landlady that I can leave at 11:00 the following day. The lodge is on the second floor of a shophouse-like building. It looks old but is clean. There is just this one cockroach that visited me during the night and that negated my first impression of cleanliness. Nevertheless, the courtesy of the landlady and her abundant smiles made my stay pleasing. One thing I noticed though is that there was no wifi access at the lodge so, in order to access the internet, I bought a sim card at 8.50 MYR and loaded it with 10 MYR. In my room, I saw a post about teaching in Thailand. This had tickled my curiosity to consider looking for a teaching job in Thailand when I reach the place. It has an email address awesomethailand@yahoo.com.

Since I was tired of the train travel, I slept early, stayed for the whole night in my room, but woke up early the following day intending to have a leisurely walk at the streets of Penang Island.

I woke up the following day 04 July 2012 at around 5:00. It was still dark but the streets are brightly lit. I went out for a two-hour walk. There were police telephone posts at the edge of the streets. I saw a lot of shop houses that appeared like curtains along the streets. There are some green parks and public spaces. I even saw the traditional custom of Malay men who are holding each others’ hands while leisurely walking in public.

There are also convenient stores along the walk so I bought bottled water, Gatorade, and bread roll at 12.90 MYR, and roti and shampoo at 8.40 MYR. I had also changed 100USD to 308 MYR. At that time, thinking that my time might not be enough to arrange for my travel ticket in Thailand and that the immigration officer at the Thai border might need my plane ticket back to KL as evidence of continuous travel, I bought a ticket at Air Asia Office in Penang for my Bangkok to KL flight. It was 440MYR. I was surprised by the price, it almost drained my pocket but I still got it though. It is better to be prepared than not being permitted to enter Thailand. With that, I had another 100 USD changed to 310 MYR to have a money reserve while on travel.

After checking out of the lodge, I immediately headed to the ferry back to Butterworth. I wondered at the fare collection style of the ferry because the ticket going out of Penang Island was free. Inside the ferry, I met Kyaw, a Burmese chewing a momma, hahaha! It was then that I discovered that some Burmese are also eating momma. Before finally leaving the ferry station on the other side, I bought nasi goreng ayam at 4 MYR thinking that the food in the train might not be available immediately. So I went to Butterworth and waited for the train. The schedule of departure was 14.20 but it became 14.45. It was a tolerable delay though. The sky was dark with thick clouds and was raining when we left the station.

My seat that is convertible to a bed at night

The train from Butterworth to Bangkok was not the same one I used the day before. Inside the train, seats can be converted to a double-decker bed during the night. Once converted, the area becomes a personalized room as one can close the curtain and enjoy sleeping there all night. It was already late afternoon when we reached and passed by Thailand towns but we have not passed by the checkpoint yet. I enjoyed the sites of the countryside on both sides of the train windows as divided by the train track.

I don’t know why I was extremely sheepish to initiate conversations with people inside the train. I saw some people engrossed in reading books, tinkling with their Ipads, -both young and old alike, and sleeping soundly. Nevertheless, I was able to talk to those near me thinking that I am making the journey only once. This gave me a dose of confidence to talk to others. One family I talked to was from Sri Lanka and the father said that they are only touring around. He thought of treating his family to a tour around the area.

One of the train station markers in Thailand

We reached the first town of Thailand in the afternoon of 4 July 2018. I was so happy to see Thailand and could not help but shout a bit and said, “Yeah, I am now in Thailand!” One thing that amazes me is that I was able to see new writing characters. I also felt a different aura of the environment. I felt like I entered a new world - a world of kings and queens in a Southeast Asian milieu. That was the feeling after I saw a picture of a king offered with flowers at each train station. I felt like a stranger walking on a red carpet towards the throne of the king of Thailand. I don't know if that was part of a dream or merely an image created by excitement.

A few hours later, 19.50 Philippine time, we reached the checkpoint and border of Malaysia-Thailand. Thailand is 1 hour late compared to the Philippines and Malaysia. At the checkpoint, we were asked to leave behind our big bags and only get our valuables when going out for an immigration check. The instruction was in Malaysian but I was able to understand some words because I know some Indonesian words which are still similar to Malaysian. I left my backpack at the train but brought my travel documents including my plane ticket (to KL). We crossed the train track through an overpass for a border check.

My food

Merienda: I felt like going back to my hometown in the Philippines with the choice of fruits

At first, we were directed to the Malaysian immigration exit then at the other side is the Thailand immigration entrance. I was thinking that it was easy to enter Thailand because I assume I look like a Thai with brown skin. I was also thinking that being a Southeast Asian is an advantage. But when I showed only my passport to the officer, he returned it without stamping any visa. He did this while speaking in Thai. I did not understand what he said but I anticipated that he might be looking for an evidence of continuous journey. So I showed him my ticket from Bangkok to KL. I told him that the ticket becomes useless if he will not let me enter Thailand. So, upon seeing the ticket, he got back my passport immediately and stamped a 15-day visa. The visa is supposed to be from 4 July 2012 to 18 July 2012, but I only used 3 days. In silence, he returned my passport with the visa stamped on it.

The adventurous travel continued for a night and day. At night, I paid my dinner and breakfast for 350 THB. They converted my MYR to THB. We had reached 5 July 2012 while traveling. I woke up at 8:00 Philippine time. While traveling, I explored the food inside the train. I also bought mixed fruit at 4 MYR = 40 THB. At 11:10, I bought a differently colored mango. It is strongly pungent and aromatic but I love the taste and aroma. I also had pomelo, singkamas, and Indian mango.

I recalled once again that in each train station in Thailand, there is a picture of the king and the picture is offered with flowers. The travel continues until we reached Bangkok at 13:45. My first sight of Bangkok station shows that it is old and dirty. I also saw many monks walking, and many Filipino-looking people. The platform is dilapidated. There are wide but unguided exit directions and poker faces. The train station was busy with people coming in and out of the wide doors and going up and coming down the levels of the building that envelopes it.

At the station, I took a shower service for 20 THB. I had my money changed from 150 MYR to 1,423.50 THB. I also bought a postcard worth 75 THB. Since the evening is approaching, I immediately walked along the streets and looked for a cheap lodge to stay for a night. I also got time to go to Bangkok post office and sent a postcard in the Philippines. It was only a walking distance from the train station. When I looked at the map online, the characters are all Thai so I had difficulty reading it. I was able to find a room nearby. It was around 450 THB for overnight.

My simple but spacious room

After reserving for the overnight stay, I went for a walk in the streets but I felt tired so I went back to my room and slept. My sleep was sound and deep that I was only awakened by the alarm from my cell phone. The following day, 6 July, I woke up at 4:00. I took a bath quickly because I was catching my flight at 7:00. One thing that complicated my rush and nervousness is that I could not find a taxi to bring me there because drivers cannot understand English. After several tries, I was able to find a driver who understood me after showing him my plane ticket. I paid him for the taxi at the airport and gave a tip.

Upon reaching Suwarnabumi International Airport, I immediately looked for the check-in stations of Air Asia. After checking in, I proceeded to the immigration booth and was immediately stamped with exit. Then I headed to the boarding gate which is very far from the immigration booths. I felt like I walked for less than a kilometer before I was able to reach it. Nevertheless, I was extremely satisfied with the trip because I learned something from yet another country – Thailand. There were not many places visited but I was able to see the surroundings, tasted the food, smelled the air, drank their water and my passport was stamped with a visa.