The first time I ever took a train was in my 20s when I visited East Asia before my final year of university. Since then, I’ve taken trains across China, Japan, Taiwan, and several other countries in Asia, as well as Western Europe. Taking the train, whether high-speed or regular or sleeper, is to me an essential part of travel. While taking a plane might be faster, it’s also too easy and too convenient. Riding a train lets you see more of the land, people, and scenery, and it can also be comfortable and pleasant. Of course, it can also be noisy and jarring if your train is one of those antique ones that shake with every turn of the train wheels and give off a loud racket incessantly. Whatever the case, I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy this form of transport that was alien to me during my childhood and adolescence.
Here, I’ve listed trains I took in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
I took trains along the West coast (Wellagama to Colombo), then into the central highlands from Colombo to Kandy and Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. The trains were either very old or relatively new but modest in speed and appearance. Finally, I took an overnight train from Eliya Nuya back to Colombo, but on a seat, not a bunk. That last ride was quite rough because the train was several decades old and provided a turbulent and noisy ride that prevented me from getting any sleep. Thankfully, it was the only bad train trip I had in Sri Lanka. All the other train rides gave me the best views I’ve ever had from a train, and the one from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya was amazing as it went up mountains and along a ridge overlooking deep valleys and tea plantations.
Malaysia
I took the train from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, then from that city to Penang (actually to Butterworth station then ferry). The trains were modern and clean, and the rides were smooth. They weren’t particularly fast but as the duration of both of my trips were only a couple of hours, that was ok. While Kuala Lumpur’s train station was quite large and busy, most train stations in the rural areas between KL and Ipoh were small structures that were basically platforms and covered roofs. Ipoh’s stately colonial station, built in 1917, is the most attractive train station I’ve seen.
Arriving at Ipoh (above). Ipoh station’s fine and distinguished facade (below).
Thailand
Old, noisy and slow, but surprisingly comfortable, riding Thailand’s trains were better than I’d expected. The trains looked and felt like something from the 60s or 70s, and the train stations were very basic (see the photo below where people are actually sleeping at the side of the tracks), but riding the trains was quite nice. I took the train to go on a daytrip to Ayutthaya from Bangkok and back, then I took a train from Bangkok to Phitsanulok in central Thailand. I was served water and a boxed lunch on that latter ride, which were complementary and made me feel like being on a plane. I was actually impressed at that.
Vietnam
I took my first ever sleeper train, from Hanoi to Hue (it runs all the way down the country to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon). The train was quite old but relatively clean. At night, I could see nothing but in the morning, I enjoyed watching the countryside go by. Vietnam is a beautiful country and I saw a lot of postcard images such as farmers in conical hats tilling green fields, buffaloes plowing, and small lakes. I shared a cabin with a Vietnamese family with two little children (see the last photo). The younger one, a boy, turned out to be playful and a little naughty, but when I left the cabin to get off the train at Hue, he pulled on my small suitcase as if to make me stay, which was kind of touching.
