A Journey through the Malaysian Rainforest Aboard the Legendary Eastern & Oriental Express

25.05.2024 - 14:45 / cntraveler.com / Nova Scotia

I pried open the blinds, letting dawn’s filigreed light into the cabin. Outside my window, wild forest zoomed past. All night the train had barreled up the “jungle rails,” a historic set of tracks that spans the length of peninsular Malaysia, from its southernmost tip to its border with Thailand in the northeast. Those tracks would lead us to Taman Negara, one of the world’s oldest rainforests and the last refuge of the Malayan tiger.

I was one of 56 passengers, from as far as Texas, Romania, and New Zealand, who’d assembled the previous afternoon at Singapore’s Woodlands station to experience the return of the Eastern & Oriental Express, A Belmond Train, Southeast Asia, four years after being shut down by the pandemic. Waving the sticky heat around with our tickets, we awaited our boarding call, combing the crowd for the likelihood of new friendships.

Belmond’s Eastern & Oriental Express returns to Southeast Asia with two new routes from Singapore through Malaysia.

There’d be plenty of time for both great conversation and long silence. Over three days the train would bear north on the eastern coast to Taman Negara, then backtrack and head up Malaysia’s more populated west coast to Penang, before looping back to Singapore. We’d pass forests, paddy fields, and townships while cosseted in the silken luxury that Belmond’s sleepers, like the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, are renowned for. For its second coming the train has retained its trademark exterior green and gold, but its interiors have been carefully restyled. My cabin was bathed in peacock blues and jade greens, with vintage touches like brass lamps and fine marquetry. A velvet couch would turn into a bed at night; cherry wood paneling concealed a full bathroom. This was my private oasis—breakfast and high tea would arrive here, along with wake-up calls and turn-downs—and for my part, I’d sit by the large windows with the tasseled curtains and surrender to the views.

The cabins on the train (like the Pullman cabin, pictured above) have been restyled with rich velvets, Thai silks, and vintage touches like brass lamps and fine marquetry.

On our first evening the piano bar—resplendent in gold Thai silks, with tiger orchids blooming across the green carpet—was filled with laughter, the glug-glug-glug of Champagne pouring, and the tinkle of keys. An opening night special, magician Ming Da brandished a pack of cards and a broad grin for guests in floaty dresses and linen jackets. I met Andy and Chris, a young couple in tech from San Francisco, and Rob and Alan, brothers from Nova Scotia with unflagging pep. We toasted the start of the journey, then ate laksa bouillabaisse in the train’s glamorous dining cars as it trundled through the darkness.

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