All aboard....the Eastern Orient Express, with bookends in Bangkok and Singapore

[love_the_life]

As I said our flight from SYD to SIN was very pleasant- good food and excellent service. There was one unfortunate incident, however, as there was an apparent case of attempted theft perpetrated on the passenger on front. Security were at the aerobridge door waiting when we arrived. We were able to disembark but the passengers involved were asked to stay in their seats. Whatever had happened QF seemed to be handling it well and did treat the incident as severe.
It got me thinking about the prevalence of such occurrences.

 

[Pushka]

As I said our flight from SYD to SIN was very pleasant- good food and excellent service. There was one unfortunate incident, however, as there was an apparent case of attempted theft perpetrated on the passenger on front. Security were at the aerobridge door waiting when we arrived. We were able to disembark but the passengers involved were asked to stay in their seats. Whatever had happened QF seemed to be handling it well and did treat the incident as severe.
It got me thinking about the prevalence of such occurrences.

Goodness, as if you think you could have a safe "getaway" on a plane. Do you know what was stolen? I'm assuming passport?

 

[love_the_life]

I really don't know what went on even though the passengers were in the seat in front. We did see some hand luggage strewn around the floor and MrLtL said he saw money and credit cards. It was when the cabin was dark and most were asleep.

 

[love_the_life]

View from the lounge! Chatrium Hotel seems very pleasant so far. We have a one bedroom river view room with kitchenette and balcony- so will take a few pics tomorrow but here's the view from the executive lounge!

 

[love_the_life]

A slow morning then we jumped on a long boat to go up the river and canals. A couple of hours well spent.

through the lock to enter the canal system

 

[love_the_life]

I meant to post some information on our flight from Singapore to Bangkok on CX. We had booked a fairly cheap Y as it's only a couple of hours but at check in were upgraded to Y+ which was appreciated especially seeing that Y was chockers with families and kids most by the look of it continuing on to HK. Service as usual was excellent. There seemed to be only 2 one world status pax in Y+ as both the purser and J FA sought us out to introduce themselves. Y+ on QF though IMO is superior - no welcome drink and food straight out of economy, plastic glasses included. But of course nothing terrible and it was a free upgrade so not complaining. The plane was on time and although a bit bumpy, a nice flight. The hotel car was there to
pick us up and take us to the hotel.

Singapore airport was all decked out for Christmas!


Arrival at BKK

 

[Pushka]

Singapore puts Australia to shame when it comes to Christmas displays. The reason being political correctness - but I think it is an excuse for laziness and cost cutting.

 

[get me outta here]

Australia holds the Guinness World Record for Christmas Light Displays (in Canberra), and that is 'correct'. Christmas lights display in Canberra's CBD sets new Guinness World Record - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[love_the_life]

Naturally it is Canberra! We do everything better ;-)

 

[love_the_life]

Hotel is pretty good. It just misses slightly being really top class at a few points. Service is good but at times a bit chaotic. That said when we were deciding on where to venture from Sathong pier yesterday, a young woman offered to help us - turns out she was a hotel employee and recognised us. To my shame I did not recognise her at first and assumed she was selling something so was a bit brusque at the beginning. I think that we are so conditioned to treating strangers with suspicion and it's a sad reflection.

The sitting area



The bedroom



Unfortunately just the one bedside table....and it's not one my side.

The view from the balcony

 

[love_the_life]

Well we've had no internet for the past few days on the train so apologies for the lack of any updates. Besides that I've been a bit slack in taking pics especially those of our food. By the time I have remembered the plates are almost clean!

So where was I? Oh yes, the last couple of days in Bangkok. We are not fans of the tourist thing rushing around to see the sights. We did have s guided walking tour of Tonburi area through the Soi (narrow laneways) with a young chap who had majored in Thai history. It was 3 and s half hours of fascinating info as the area is home to several different groups, with Chinese temples but also quite a strong Catholic representation curtesy of the Portuguese. Food tasting along the way and a visit to the small Portuguese bakery for lemon tea and cake!




We did visit Ayuthaya to see the ruins of the old capital. They were so interesting, more than unfortunately can be said of our guide.

 

[love_the_life]

So that leads us to the train trip. Late checkout and a taxi ride to Hua Lamphong station. Luggage collected and whisked away- some to turn up in our cabin, one larger case destined for the luggage compartment to be collected at the end. We knew that the cabin would have limited storage so only had 2 small carry ons with our clothes for the next four days.
This was to be a quick and cheap getaway so a diligent 'opportunity cost' analysis indicated s Pullman cabin would be sufficient, small but adequate. Well it was certainly cosy but at least we had a bathroom and a bed!

By day


By night


And there was always the observation car at the rear of the train


Or the bar

 

[love_the_life]

Oh I meant to mention the dogs in Bangkok. Everywhere and mostly sleeping. This boy caught our attention, he was like this when we went out and had moved spots but still in the same pose when we returned.

 

[Pushka]

Did you tickle his belly?

 

[love_the_life]

Tempting! He was so fast asleep not even the people walking past disturbed him. He was right in the middle of the walkway as well.

 

[amaroo]

We did visit Ayuthaya to see the ruins of the old capital. They were so interesting, more than unfortunately can be said of our guide.
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Really enjoyed visiting Ayutthaya - we were there early 2012 after the 2011 flood water receded.

The high-water mark was impressive!

 

[love_the_life]

That's some high water mark- very impressed

 

[love_the_life]

I thought I would describe the trip not sequentially, but rather by sections - the train, other passengers, food, excursions. Hopefully that way I'll not forget anything, but here's not promising!

The train itself was long and that's an understatement! Although there were only about 110 passengers, there were 12 carriages with accommodation for passengers, there were also 2 dining carriages, kitchens, library, bar car, staff quarters, saloon and observation carriage. Believe me we had no trouble achieving our 10,000 steps!
The locomotives seemed to be changed often, not sure why.
The track (narrow gauge) was pretty rough and a single track in Thailand but dual track and much newer once we hit Malaysia. The train did rock and roll round a fair bit.

 

[TomVexille]

This looks absolutely fantastic.

Can I ask who you booked through?

 

[love_the_life]

I booked direct with them as I do for most of our travel. They are now the Belmond group and a quick Google should bring it up. You can supposedly book on line but it did not work for me so I rang them and did the booking over the phone. From memory 15% deposit then the rest later. They had a deal of 50% off the second passenger. The tickets arrived by courier about 3 weeks before we left - lovely book of information and luggage tags etc. it was no drama at all.
I'll summarise my overall thoughts at the end of my report as I think if we did it again we would do a few things differently. Overall it was great though.