August 23 Day 2 North to Kuala Lumpur

This morning once again we almost rolled out of the breakfast room! The food selection had to be seen to be believed - it ranged from traditional Western-style to a veritable banquet of delicious Asian dishes. The temptation to try it all was almost overpowering but I managed to restrain myself - a little!

Oil Palm plantation

The main train routes through Malaysia. Today we traveled from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur.

Come 7:30 we piled into a bus which would take us to Kluang from where we were to catch a train to Gemas and then on to Kuala Lumpur. As chance would have it, we arrived in Kluang on the very day the King was to officially open its new station - or maybe he heard we were going to be there! All the roads around the station were blocked off in readiness for his visit so our bus couldn’t get through which meant a short walk to the station - escorted by a police guard! The place was crowded with army, security and police personnel dressed to kill including the soldiers who carried rather fearsome-looking weapons and wore balaclavas over their faces! It was quite exciting. The place was awash with flashing lights and a seemingly endless convoy of official cars pulled up  one by one to the station to disgorge ‘security’ personnel dressed in uniforms of every conceivable colour. Unsurprisingly, the place was crawling with camera-toting reporters. One of our group was interviewed and many of us were videoed. An auspicious beginning to our journey I’d say. Sadly we didn’t get to meet the King as he wasn’t due to arrive until 15 mins after our train departed but what a start to the day.

Selamat datang - welcoming all to the new station 

This chap had just been videoing me but turned away when I tried to talk to him.

Possibily Kluang's mayor

The train which took us from Kluang to Gemas

Sustenance along the way - cup of soup/noodles

And then we were on board and off to the small town of Gemas where we had a long wait till our next train, a high-speed train this time, which would take us on to Kuala Lumpur. Travel always seems to entail lots of waiting around and this was a good reminder that this was going to be a long slow journey! Upside of that is that there was time a plenty to talk to the locals who have been curious to know where we have come from and where we are going and how old we are.

Our marvellous leader Kara (centre) at the Gemas station

The village of Gemas

As we were finally moving heading north from Gemas one of the group discovered that she had left her passport and money in a little shop in Gemas village. Sacre bleu - everyone’s worst nightmare! She and her husband did a hurried exit from the train to catch a taxi back to Gemas. All was fine in the end - she found her stuff and they arrived in KL a few hours after us. As had been the case in Johor Bahru, our hotel was on the middle of a huge retail complex.

While waiting to check-in, two of our mad group filled in time playing Snakes-and-ladders 

Our stay in the glittering KL was short, just an overnight stop - time to eat, shower and sleep. By now everyone was starting to think that they had packed too much luggage but I guess we’ll grow accustomed to hauling it around from train to hotel and back again. Tomorrow we head for Thailand on an overnight train.