The Slow Train to Laos
The new line from Boten on the Chinese border down to Vientiane may be fast, if not full high speed, but for the next few years the line coming up from Bangkok in the south will remain much slower – and that’s got to be a good thing, I love slow travel by train. Time to relax and watch the world go by.
My journey to Vientiane starts at Bangkok’s now one year old Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal Station. If you haven’t tried it yet it’s like an airport terminal but without any lounges or retail therapy whatsoever. The system works though. You form an orderly queue at a zone number and about 20 minutes before departure an announcement is made and the newly installed e-gates are opened. Monks first, then everyone else, a rag tag army, behind. It’s an escalator up to the platform – or a lift if you have as much luggage as I do.
Ready to depart on platform 2 is Special Express 25, one of the modern Chinese built trains, and the good news is that I have managed to book a first class cabin all to myself using the SRT app. You can now do this 180 days prior to departure for long distance trains, although I heard a rumour that it might get shortened again. Carriage 13 (the single first class sleeper) by protocol is at the rear of the train leaving Bangkok. The departure time is after 20.00, so my guard has already made up the beds. He’s a grand wizard at this – the sheet is drum tight and creaseless.
The overnight journey up to the border at Nong Khai is effortless, and I enjoy a Penang curry served in my room from the restaurant carriage. Sleep didn’t come too easily, but that was about jet lag rather than comfort. The pads they put on the beds are excellent – far better than on an airline in business class.
Arrival the following morning is on time at 6.28 am. I know this as it gave me just 2 minutes to disembark and get out my phone & credit card ready for the opening of the LCR railway ticket release for 3 days time. This is like trying to get a ticket for Glastonbury, but for trains. With my Thai telephone number all set up on the app it took me just a minute to book and pay – and I’m rewarded with seat 1A in the business class carriage. I am now the Richard Burton of Chinese trains – his seat on Concorde if you ever heard the stories.
The snag here at Nong Khai is that I’m going to change to the train running behind me, Express 133. This one goes all the way from Bangkok to Vientiane (Khamsavath), but that’s a bit of a con, as you still have to get off to do the Thai exit border formalities, and it’s not nearly as comfy as my train. Rail wisdom says get here earlier and change. But it’s 90 minutes late despite just following the route of my on time train. No worries. I wait with the soi dogs and a scattering of backpackers until I’m invited by the security man to proceed to immigration.
Eventually we get underway. Only 5 carriages of train 133 cross the border, pulled by a spotless but old local GE locomotive. A brief ticket inspection as we cross the mighty Mekong and we pull into Khamsavath station in about 30 minutes, where visa paperwork is handed out like confetti. It’s not hugely organised, but as a Western farang I get to wait in shorter queue. All goes well until the $20 bills I present are deemed not crisp enough. I find some more, also rejected, and with one more throw of the dice find two bills that finally pass the ‘just printed’ test. From here it’s just a bumpy 30 minute tuk tuk ride into Vientiane and the civility of a nice hotel room in a charming city.
This is a straightforward trip and a great way to connect two amazing SE Asian cities. I totally recommend it. Do take train 25 to the border until train 133 is upgraded – or maybe they will extend train 25 to run all the way to Vientiane one day..
My next leg is onward to Luang Prabang on the Laos China Railway in a few days time.