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See South-East Asia in style aboard the Orient Express
By Liz Gill
We're all cool, sophisticated train travellers these days, of course - able to appreciate our elegant cabins, the gourmet dinner with fine wines, and the discreetly attentive service.
At least we are, if we can afford the fares charged by Orient Express. And what really knocks your socks off, our group of travellers agree, is the sheer childish thrill of lying in bed on a train, just a few feet above the tracks, as it rolls onwards through the night into a dark, unknown, mysterious landscape.
In fact I've woken long before the Asian dawn partly to relish the experience of watching the full orange moon and the stars beyond my window and partly to be ready to see daybreak from the observation cars as we journey on towards Bangkok.
It does not disappoint. It is not just the strange splendours of the scenery - the brilliant green paddy fields, the water lily-covered ponds, the distant smoky mountains - it's the storks and egrets catching their breakfasts, the water buffalos lumbering into action, the cyclists who wave as they wait at the crossings on their way to work, all the homes on stilts with their lovingly-tended household shrines.
We are on the inaugural run of a new journey by the Eastern and Oriental Express from the Laos border down to Bangkok, and the excitement has been palpable from the moment the guard waved his flag at Nong Khai station. We raised our champagne glasses in salute as the great locomotive that was to pull the 22 carriages, with their distinctive green and cream livery, slowly drew away from the platform.
The new Eurostar might be all about the speed, but here in South East Asia the whole point is to travel at a more leisurely pace, the better to savour the surroundings.
So our train does not hurtle along, it progresses at an average, stately, 40mph and because much of the trip is along a single track there is a certain amount of stopping and waiting in a siding for the up-train to come past.
The narrowness of the carriages also means there is a strong sense of being in the heart of the place: at times the fronds of trees even brush into the open sides of the observation car.
Nor is the journey as physically smooth as with modern Western trains. Travelling in the aftermath of the rainy season, we realise the track is more spongy and hence more bumpy. If anything though, this enhances the experience: a little gentle bumping is far more atmospheric than a flawless glide.
By contrast, inside the train everything is lavish and gorgeous: the last-word in luxury is, after all, what people are paying for. The interiors, by the same team who worked on sister train the Venice Simplon Orient Express, use wooden marquetry veneers, Chinese and Thai lacquer, Malaysian motifs, wall carvings, engraved mirrors and hand-embroidered silks.
As well as the sleeping compartments, which come in three styles and sizes - the Pullman, the State and the residential - there are two restaurant cars, a bar car with pianist, and a saloon car with reading area and tiny boutique selling themed trinkets.
There are 40 local and European staff to look after the 132 passengers.
After the send-off champagne we take afternoon tea in our compartments, then it's back to the observation car to watch the sun go down, smell the woodsmoke and jasmine from outside mingling with the expensive scents worn by fellow guests and watch the moon ascend into the warm tropical night.
Someone points out that here the Man in the Moon is known as the Rabbit in the Moon: legend has it that the rabbit sacrificed itself to save the fasting - and starving - Buddha who then immortalised it in the heavens.
After a shower in the small but perfectly formed en-suite bathroom and a pampering with the posh Bulgari toiletries, it's dinner with everyone dressed to the nines for a feast that combines the flavours of East and West. Entertainment comes in the form of traditional Thai dancers.
While we've been enjoying ourselves our stewards have been transforming the 'day setting' of our compartments into welcoming bedrooms. In the morning they bring us breakfast and reverse the process before we make our way slowly into the teeming heart of Bangkok.
Progress here is slow as the train must often wait to let the rush hour traffic cross the rails. As we edge past shanty towns I can't help but wonder what the people who live there must think of this manifestation of consumption at its most conspicuous.
Bangkok was where our journey originally began. This was only the last leg of a trip which included three days in Thailand's capital and three days in Laos's capital Vientiane.
The two cities make a fascinating contrast: Bangkok bustling, vibrant, proudly monarchist, a riot of colour and noise and round-the-clock activity; Vientiane is softer, sleepier, once French-colonial, now firmly Communist cousin.
Laos must be one of the few countries in the world to have no railway system. So we actually needed to take a ten-minute drive from Vientiane, and to go across the border via the Friendship Bridge over the mighty Mekong river in order to catch our train.
Plans are afoot to change this before long, and to build another bridge which will enable Eastern and Oriental Express to directly link the two cities. It offers a quite unique perspective of the Far East in the 21st century.
THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN BANGKOK
:: Take a longtail boat along the canals and understand why it's been called the Venice of the East. Watch the water teeming with catfish - feeding them is a local pastime.
:: See the massive 50-ft long Reclining Buddha in the temple at Wat Po with the 108 auspicious signs on his mother-of-pearl feet.
:: Visit the astonishing Grand Palace complex, the kingdom's seat of power and spiritual heart.
:: Shop till you drop in the malls or the night markets. Bargain for fake jewellery, handbags and fashions - or lash out on the real thing.
:: Have a Thai massage somewhere swanky like the Chi Spa at the Shangri-La hotel which will tailor treatments to your personality or as the locals do at the massage school in the Wat Po precinct.
THINGS TO SEE AND DO IN VIENTIANE
:: Climb the Arc de Triomphe-inspired Patuxai Monument for a fine view of the city.
:: Visit the Great Sacred Stupa at That Luang, the national place of pilgrimage.
:: See beautiful antique textiles in the Textile Museum, then buy new ones for a few dollars in the market or for lots of dollars from specialist Carol Cassidy's weaving workshop.
:: Walk the bustling quayside and then take a dinner cruise on the Mekong to the city from the water.
:: Have a Laotian massage at Papaya Spa and be stretched, pulled and twisted by tiny women strong as oxen.
TRAVEL FACTS
:: Liz Gill was a guest of Kuoni Travel which offers seven nights in the Far East - three at the Shangri-La Bangkok (www.shangri-la.com) in the Krungthep Wing, three at the Settha Palace Vientiane (www.setthapalace.com) and one aboard the Eastern & Oriental Express (www.orient-express.com) from Vientiane to Bangkok from £3,262.
Package (two sharing) includes half board and flights with EVA Air (www.evaair.com) in Premium Laurel Business Class ex-Heathrow. With economy flights, prices start at £2,107.
Regional departures from Manchester and Glasgow into Heathrow start at £103 return.
Kuoni reservations: 01306 747 008/www.kuoni.co.uk.
:: Other Eastern and Oriental Express itineraries include two nights Bangkok-Singapore, three nights Bangkok-Singapore via the Malay Peninsula and a three-night Bangkok-Chiang Mai round trip in North Thailand.
Orient Express information: 0845 077 2222/www.orient-express.com
:: Additional images of Eastern Orient Express are available from Lisa Sharland at Orient Express Hotels, Trains and Cruises on 0207 921 4064 or by email to lisa.sharland@orient-express.com
Kuoni Travel PR Travel Manager is Anne-Marie Hansen on 01306 744 173 or by email to anne-marie.hansen@kuoni.co.uk
