We had booked an overnight sleeper train from Kuala Lumpur to Wakaf Bahru, leaving at 8.30pm and arriving the next day at 9.20am. We wanted to get this train because it is the last 3-4 hours of the journey when the views from the train through the jungle are meant to be the most scenic. Therefore we could get on the train, settle in and read for a bit, sleep and wake early and enjoy the views. Sounded perfect.
We took the bus from Melaka to Kuala Lumpur, put our rucksacks into the left luggage for the day and went off to enjoy the culinary delights of Kuala Lumpur once again! The train left bang on time and we got settled in to enjoy the journey. The train was different from indian trains as it was much narrower and only has an upper and lower berth on each side of the train (but the upper berth still folds up during the day so that the lower berth turns into two seats facing each other). On the first photo you can see the length of the carriage and in the second photo is me settled onto the bed, although I was tossed to the upper berth for sleeping as the lower had more space!
The railway line was single-track and we had read that the train could be 'quite rickety'. We hadn't really translated that this meant you would be tossed around the bed at night and that the stopping at every ramshakle village meant jolts and starts. Also there were large open gaps between the carriages, so when you leave the carrige to go to the toilet you had to maouver over open spaces where you could see the train tracks passing below whilst trying to manouver between the jostling carriages!
Still, we had lovely jungle views to look forward to in the morning! I managed to sleep OK but Colin hardly slept a wink. We woke at 6.30am so that we could enjoy the scenery for the last 3 hours of the journey, but it was still pitch dark. About 7.30am we could start to see the scenery. It was really jungley and the passing villages quite quaint with children running alongside the train and waving at you. After 2 hours of this, and to be honest, that was enough we realised that we should be at our destination.
Unfortunately the Conducter came along and informed us that there was a 3 hour delay. We weren't really that bothered as the train was air-conditioned and comfortable. The 3 hour delay turned into a 7 hour delay and during that time there was worse was to come. A local train in front of us had broken down and that train had been moved into a passing place. When our train moved alonside the passing place all the passengers from the train were moved onto ours.
There was not enough room for all the extra passengers (seemed like everyone and their granny had came on the train), extra luggage, huge bags of rice and noodles and all the other paraphenelia. So, people were sitting between the carriages and had opened all the train doors. This meant that the air-conditioning was no longer effective and also our snacks and drinks were almost finished. The last 3 hours of the journey were hot, sticky, noisey, hungry, thirsty and very uncomfortable - made worse by the fact that a 13 hour journey had now turned into a 20 hour journey (we had known it was a slow train, but not quite that slow)!
We were very relieved to get off the train and get a taxi to Khota Bahru to enjoy the next few days there. Unfortunately Kota Bahru was another disaster!
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