Riding the Overnight Jungle Train (First Class Private Room)

today i'm riding this overnight sleeper train for 13 hours through the jungle starting in the golden triangle winding all the way down to bangkok i'd book to first class cabin which features a bed seating area and access to a shower i'll also show you the other classes of travel the um catering and of course the beautiful thai jungles as we trundle our way some 500 miles south oh and i'd just like to thank squarespace for sponsoring this week's video so let's begin our journey late afternoon way up in northern thailand hello there and welcome back to the channel you join me today in sunny thailand i'm currently in the old town of chiang mai i need to go and get over to the train station to catch this epic journey so without any more to say let's go grab a tuk-tuk and get over to the train station [Music] chiang mai railway station is a couple of miles east of the old town on the other side of the pink river my tuk-tuk ride cost around four dollars including tef thank you so much my friend right then here we are chiang mai station i am gonna quickly nip into the 7-eleven across the road here to get a few supplies [Music] so you're not allowed to bring beer on board you're allowed to buy beer on board it leaves me one option let's hope no one searches my bags [Music] originally opened in 1922 and subsequently rebuilt in 1945 chiang mai station is the northern rail gateway to the thai capital largely operated by this state-run railway and i say largely because there is an exception here the eastern and oriental express and yeah before you ask it's on the list so with no need to purchase tickets today as i've done so already online full details and price coming in just a second let's hop foot it to platform 4 for the 6 pm special express featuring the brand new second and first class carriages we're gonna have a look at absolutely everything on this train today so you'll be seeing all the different types of accommodation we've got to continue up here right to the very front to car i'm not actually sure which car it is but basically first class [Music] despite being a very long train today there is just one first class carriage attached right at the front and this is why i suggest booking well in advance if you want to secure this cabin well fancy seeing you in here welcome to my little cabin i've just been told that unfortunately there's no food on the train which is a slight concern given i've just got beer and water so i'm just starting to cool down thankfully the air conditioning is on full blast and you'll never guess what hang on i love that national anthem being played before departing can you imagine if we have that on amtrak in the us or on national rail in the uk personally i think it's a lovely tradition though in thailand it's very much the norm with that we're well and truly on our way 13 hours to go so what's the setup today in first there are 24 sleeping births available and you'll need to put two of these to have the cabin to yourself if you're traveling alone i'm in the second cabin along which in hindsight is a fair old walk to the loose so i'd suggest being a little closer before we take a look around my room let's go and explore the rest of the train ordinarily i'd be heading straight to the dining car but as i mentioned it's not being attached today i walk through no less than eight second-class carriages of varying occupancy i start to wonder why this is the case but i can only guess the pandemic is very much to blame here these trains would usually be absolutely packed with tourists as we head deeper into the jungles surrounding chiang mai let's take a proper look at second class then with births either side consisting of upper and lower bunks there are a total of 40 in each carriage in the flash you can see it looks really exposed but as you'll see in a moment there are actually curtains which go across providing some privacy the seat itself is comfy with a fold out table and some stowage space although most notable i couldn't find a power outlet which in this day and age would certainly be an issue with dusk fast approaching a no makeshift dining car in sight let's make our way back through the train to take a proper look at my first cabin [Music] so what do you get in the first class sleeper well let's take a look around first of all i must say i'm loving the purple the first thing you need to know is that this cabin here is actually something that you need to book exclusively and when i say that if i had not reserved two seats in this specific cabin i'd be sharing with someone else there is a connecting door first of all so it would allow you to share if you were traveling and say to couples or a family unfortunately the train got quite noisy here so i'll voice this part over not only do you have a table by a window you also have a fold down one in the middle of your purple seating there is provided water thankfully as water is of course not drinkable out of the taps as for the rest of the space it's well utilized with a sink in the far corner and bedding stacked up ready for sleep in a moment yes that is a tv screen which provides an update of your route along with next station timings and an overall eta there's a further control panel with usb charger and a power outlet with attached reading lights in the corner most importantly for me there's good air conditioning which is adjustable by pulling the lever for high medium or low air flow all in all a solid sleeper cabin but we'll have to see what this is like when it's converted into a bed just before we do this and i get to show you the onboard shower it's time for a quick word from today's video sponsor squarespace squarespace make it super easy for you to set up and host a website and no you don't have to know complicated coding squarespace really have this down handling it all from your domain name through to the design hosting social media linking and even your search engine optimization the best bit is skyspace offering you a free trial and 10 off your first purchase of a website or domain just head over to squarespace.com forward slash track trendy and use the coupon code track trendy thanks again squarespace for making this video possible as the last bit of light fades from the skies it's time to go check out the first class lu and get myself ready for sleep there's a urinal and two standard toilet cubicles at the front of the carriage these weren't the cleanest and smell a bit if i'm honest but they did the job i mean it's a far cry from the more rustic loose seen on the older trains with literally a hole in the ground i mean this even has luxuries such as the b day feature now we'll head back down to my cabin where my cabin attendant is making my bed up for me a shallow mattress goes directly onto the seat and it's followed by a sheet and two pillows you get blankets provided separately to go over the top and shield you from that ice cold air conditioning in contrast here's what it's like when both bunks are made up and worry not i will be trying out the top bunk in the morning for bonus hilarity at my expense before i get ready for bed i feel like i should probably crack open the illicit beer that i've smuggled on board which is even more fitting now i don't have any dinner so it's a liquid dinner for me [Music] here we go still cold as well not wanting a chang over it's probably good i only smuggled one on board something really marries up though being able to enjoy an ice cold beer and a long rail journey it's definitely worth it love that no dinner but just a beer i think it's time to get some sleep so of course i wasn't expecting pjs to be provided though i have been told these are available on japanese trains spoiler coming soon nevertheless i've brought my own today of course it can't be a tt video without featuring nasa mind you this and a change of underwear is pretty much all i've been able to bring today the challenge of being a vlogger let's get my teeth brushed then and into bed no tim's to boot off this evening but still i have to boot off something it's tradition let's draw those curtains and settle into bed i wouldn't say it's the comfiest caledonian you win this one but it's fine for a night i'll see you lot in the morning then for yeah a shower night the next day well good morning still half asleep let's make the most of being up this ungodly hour and try out the shower towels and soap are provided but don't do with me and have to double back and grab them as for some reason i assumed they'd be waiting in the shower amtrak has really spoiled me the shower room is well basic it's a little unkept given how new the train is but this isn't an expensive product so let's roll with it well here we go [Music] now i definitely want to wear shower shoes today but i don't have any so i'll fashion the plastic covering which the towel came in into a sort of sanitized stepping stone another thing i've just realized is there's nowhere to keep your shoes so i'll pop these outside the door and hope no one makes off with them so the shower it's actually really good and i'm impressed being electric it's got decent power and i enjoyed a lovely warm shower on my little plastic island after a particularly challenging change back into my clothing let's head back over to my room [Music] now it's time to swap back into my polo and as i glance out of the window i find the sun beginning to come up out of all my rail journeys this is always the most magical part the sunrise as you hurtle ever closer to your destination with this in mind and as we begin to pass through more built up areas my cabin attendant comes to put my bed away while she's doing this i head to the front of the first carriage of course we're right behind the locomotive which i'm sure you'll agree offers quite a unique vantage point right we still have one more thing to do oh and by the way i did make sure to tip my cabin attendant i'm unsure of the expectation but well she was lovely so it wouldn't be one of my videos without trying out the top bunk the lever just here [Music] well that's interesting um not the most graceful as always but um but yeah i uh i don't know if there's supposed to be a ladder it's actually surprisingly roomy up here there's the same control panel you get below plus of course the tv which i still can't really work out anyway with that said i'm going to attempt to get back down [Music] and there we are back in my original seat thank you as we head into the center of bangkok i'm blown away by how closely integrated the train is into the surroundings it seems to almost go through people's homes [Music] well it's time to get off back to the heat of bangkok city that was quite the epic journey i hope you enjoyed coming along with me today and i guess it's a fitting end as well ending in bangkok railway station which in fact has been around since i think 1916. it was due to close but they kept it open anyway thank you so much for watching and i'll catch you all again next week thanks once again to squarespace for sponsoring today's video head to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com slash trek trendy save 10 off your first purchase of a website or domain

Channel: Trek Trendy

Views: 817,908

Keywords: first class sleeper train, sleeper train, overnight train, overnight jungle train, thailand sleeper train, luxury sleeper train, new thailand sleeper train, new overnight train

Id: XGpsx5Y67p0

Length: 12min 49sec (769 seconds)

Published: Sun May 08 2022