I'm delighted to say that the train from Kuala Lumpur to Penang was very good. It was clean and tidy, the bunks were nice although we were on the top bunks which were a bit smaller than the bottom ones. There was a buffet carriage attached and so you could have a sit down, chow on some Pot noodles before heading to the carriage to get some sleep. There were even decent ladders to get to the top bunks unlike the Indian ones which required you to have some knowledge of the Indian Rope Trick before ascending. The top bunks were okay, Grant managed to crash out before me but said he did wake up during the night. As for me , it took a while to nod off nearly napping., this wasnt such a bad thing as when we arrived at one station in the early hours, we stopped off adjascent to The Eastern & Oriental Express. So that was a treat to see. Apparently it's excellent and looking at the wonderful dining cars, I could see why. I didnt see anyone famous on board though, then again they had probably been knocked out by copious amounts of Gin & Tonic.

For me, I slept relatively well and awoke screaming only a few times, when my old friend claustrophobia came creeping into my subconscious for the old surprise visit. We arrived into Burtterworth station at 5.30 am and there's not a lot to do there...so we walked over an empty motorway and found a smash & grab. We asked to be taken to the nearest McDonalds. Say what you like about them, they're always open and almost always near to a commercial hub. ..and this was the case here. So we've had some coffee and have a bit of a wait on our hands as the train to Bangkok doesnt leave until 2.30pm.....then it's a bit of a haul as it wont arrive until 10.30am the next day. The scenery apparently is meant to be superb and so this is one train ride we're definitely looking forward to.

So with some time to spend we're now going to leave the Western delights of Ronald McDonald's and head to the ferry port for a visit to Georgetown, Penang. The ferry will take 15 minutes and is very cheap. I may even get some plasters over there, as last night in an act of kharma for something I'd done earlier in the day, I managed to walk face first into a plate glass window. I didnt break it, but it broke me....with a couple of cuts, some finest claret and two excellent bumps on my forehead. This is the East...dont mess with Kharma.