Jungle train
"Buses
drive faster, are much better to travel. But the
local train through the jungle is very charming"
Taman Negara National Park
Perhentian Islands
The jungle
train at the end of its jungle trip in Gua Musang
(photo Bill & Jaz)
There are two train services
in Malaysia very interesting for
tourists: The "Eastern Oriental Express" and the
"Jungletrain"
The Jungle train is more basic. You can choose a hard
seater or a soft seater, there are air-conditioned
compartments and there are non air-conditioned
compartments. In the last you will meet the local
people, traveling to another kampong or there are
girls/boys going to school.
The Eastern and Oriental Express has a lot of
luxury. The train is going from Singapore to Bangkok
and stops in every interesting city's along the
railroad (Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Butterworth
(Penang)). In these places the train will stop for
some hours, so that the passengers can make an
excursion. This train is expensive: 1500 US or Euro.
The jungle train is traveling through the jungle
from Gemas to Tumpat, which is near Kota Bahru (10
km). If you want to make that trip, you have to do
South to Gemas. Maybe you can stop for a night in
Malacca, which is a very interesting town with its
colonial history.
From Gemas the train will go North to the Thai
border (Tumpat).
When you come
for the first time to Malaysia, then it will
be better to visit the National Park Taman
Negara at first. You'll come back out of the
jungle by boat at twelve o'clock from Taman
Negara to Kuala Tembeling, In Tembeling you
can take a taxi to the nearest station.
Probably this will be: Mela or Jerantut.
Plenty of taxi's will be waiting for you to
bring you to the nearest station.
The train will leave at 13.00 hours, so you
don't have to hurry. The passage to Tumpat
will take 8 hours. Late in the evening
you'll arrive in Tumpat.
From the little towns Jerantut or Mela the
train will go North and you will be
traveling through the thick jungle. The
train will stop at a kampong to let
passengers in and out. Sometimes
schoolgirls, which are going home, sometimes
a local who wants to visit some relatives.
 |
The whole stretch has only one track. Every
time the train stops (8x), the vendors will
come so sell you eggs, litchi's, cake or
those plastics bags with lemonade.
For a foreigner you are a an "object of
interest". Specially when you have chosen
for a hard seater (wooden bank).
The locals don't even dare to sit beside
you. Just invite them to sit next to you.
Until Gua Musang you will see nothing but
jungle and sometimes a kampong. Near Gua
Musang you get more view of the landscape.
The green jungle is behind and you will see
more rice fields. |
You're
arriving late in Tumpat, but don't worry, a lot of
taxi's are waiting to bring you to Kota Bahru, the
capital of Kelantan. The taxi-driver will take you
to the hotel you want, even when you haven't booked.
There's a day train and a night train on the track
from Gemas to Tumpat. The day train is stopping more
often then the night train. It's obvious, that the
day train does the track in shorter time, because
less people are getting of the train.
Check the departure times at the KTMB:
www.ktmb.com.my
Around Kuala Lipis.
Anyone knows this station? (photo Bill & Jaz)
José
had a "hard seater" and she told me this about the
jungle train:
"Our
departure was on Saturday from Mela. It was quit
busy on the train, because of the school holidays, I
think. We had chosen for a hard seater, because we
thought it was only 8 hours on the train.
Later on our mood became more pessimistic, because
it took a long time. There was only one track for
the train. We had to stop for some time, wait three
quarters of an hours and then the train moved along.
Then again stopping, waiting three quarters of an
hour and again moving along. That was about six
times.
Indeed there were air-conditioned compartments, but
we booked one without airco. Sometimes people went
to the these air-conditioned compartments to cool
down. It seems, that the night express is moving
much faster.
The last stretch (Gua Musang - Tumpat) was very
beautiful: there were mountains and we had a lovely
view. In the jungle you'll see only green. Just
trees and sometimes a kampong.
Every time, when the train stops, the locals will
come to sell you snacks or drinks. Children were
staring at us on the train. No one was sitting next
to us. We invited them to sit next to us, but...
when you're 8 feet tall..... We didn't look so
strange!
Finally we arrived at 11 o'clock in Tumpat (near
Kota Bahru). To hours later then planned. There were
a lot of taxi's waiting to bring us to Kota Bahru.
We were tired and maybe we paid to much for the taxi
ride, but he went with us to several hotels. Most of
them were fully booked, because of the school
holidays. But he gave us the right address for a a
wonderful stay on the Perhentian Islands: Suria
Resort or Coral Bay."
Mela Station (foto
Bill & Jaz)
