Traveling on the Orient Express

I have always been fascinated with the idea of taking a trip on the Orient Express train so when I came across a fascinating article titled, “Easy Rider” in the October 2018 issue of Condé Nast Traveler that described a week-long trip from Singapore to Bangkok I was intrigued.

The observation car in the Orient Express – photo courtesy of Condé Nast Traveler, October 2018

The author of the piece, Jo Rodgers is a travel writer who made this trip with her husband so I assume it was gratis or deeply discounted. My curiosity got the better of me so I went online and checked out the cost of this venture. It’s $3,100 per person, Pullman and $4,400 per person, Stateroom – not cheap by any means.

WHO TAKES THIS TRIP?

Rodgers describes her fellow passengers this way. “Except for a honeymooning Argentine couple, most of the other guests were British, retired and worldly; they offered us handwritten tips on how to arrange a private Vatican tour, or the best luggage for an African safari.”

THE INSIDE OF THIS LUXE TRAIN

The guest compartments, inlaid with cherry wood and hung in Thai fabrics, are unlike the cars on the famous Venice Simplon-Orient Express. Meaning: they are not antique. Rather, they were built in Japan in 1972 and launched on the Singapore/Bangkok route in 1993. However, they have the same bygone aesthetic with ample modern comforts, e.g., at night the soft beds and gentle rhythm of the train make for great sleeping.

EVENINGS WITH DRINKS AT THE PIANO BAR

The passengers mingled while sipping pink gin or Singapore Slings and singing along with Peter, the piano player who was elegantly attired in a red velvet smoking jacket.

The menu selections offered at breakfast, lunch and dinner were all superb. That much-quoted saying, “We all travel on our stomachs” is certainly true.

STOPS ALONG THE WAY

The train left at three o’clock from Singapore’s Woodlands station and made periodic stops along the way to visit spots such as: Kuala Lumpur’s Pudu Market, the Cameron Highlands, known for its raked tea plantations, George Town on the island of Penang, the fishing village of Baan Huay Yang and, finally Bangkok and a stay at the famous Raffles Hotel.

A tuk-tuk in Thailand

THE HISTORIC, ELEGANT RAFFLES

A guest of this iconic structure, Necia Wilden, a newspaper journalist describes it this way. “It is proper. And grand. And cosseting. You step from the steamy evening to this cool cathedral, with its soaring white marble colonnades, to be greeted by one of several staff-at-large who offers to find you a seat and fetch you a drink.” I hasten to add that she is also a food writer/editor who loves the finer things in life!

From chucking peanut shells in the Long Bar to nibbling scones in the Tiffin Room, traditions have always run deep at Raffles, Singapore’s oldest and grandest hotel – now celebrating its 200th anniversary – following a two-year renovation. The Long Bar remains untouched; to the relief of thousands across the globe – and is joined by 10 new dining and drinking spots

Photo: Courtesy of the Financial Times, 4/7/19

The ghosts of guests past include Charlie Chaplin, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, the Queen of England and Somerset Maugham, who has a suite named after him. And, speaking of Maugham, it is suggested by Rogers to read the author’s book The Gentleman in the Parlour that was published in 1930.

This travel journal is based on an ambitious trip that began in Burma, moved on to Bangkok and Cambodia where Maugham made a trek to the famous temple complex at Angkor Wat. He followed up with a river trip to Saigon and finally on to Hanoi where the book ends. But in “real life” Maugham went on to Hong Kong, crossed the Pacific as well as the United States before sailing the Atlantic and returning to London. He did all of this in 1922. Then he waited seven years before he finally decided to write about his incredible round-the-world adventure.  

Also in Blog