Our plan: to take the train from Laos, through Thailand, Malaysia & finally into Singapore. This week we make Singapore.

Back on the Train

After detouring around Malaysia by bus & boat, it was good to get back to our train journey for the final leg, Kuala Lumpur (KL) – Singapore.
We booked tickets online, but unfortunately, all that was left were upright seats (instead of beds on the overnight journey). Never mind this was our chance to experience yet another type of carriage 🙂

KL station is impressive, attached to a massive shopping mall & with its own food hall. Plenty to do whilst waiting for our train.

The Journey

I think it is suffice to say that it was our coldest experience yet; bloody uncomfortable & noisy. My recommendation after experiencing all classes & seats for overnight train travel in Asia: 2nd Class, aircon, lower bunk.

Arriving in Singapore

We stopped at the border for a lengthy customs process & received our stamps out of Malaysia & then into Singapore.

The train then went over a bridge shared by cars & arrived in Singapore at Woodlands Station.

Woodlands was a bit of a surprise. It is very basic; well out of the city centre; has no facilities (we were eager for breakfast) & you have to catch a bus to the nearest MRT station.

Singapore

Singapore is not a cheap city! We found a very basic place to stay (but the most expensive in all our travels to date, at £37 per night blasting our £25 per night budget). It was well out of the city (very few Westerners around) & 10 mins from a MRT station. However, pluses were: eating locally was cheap (more Indian curry & chapatis) & it was only 25p on the red double decker buses into the city.

KL or Singapore?

We’d read the reviews of Kuala Lumpur verses Singapore and in our opinion, they’re wrong! Singapore is a much more interesting city & the people friendlier; the food is similar, but it appears to be a cleaner & greener environment.

What to do

We loved the following:

Marina Bay

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Gardens by the Bay

Situated in the area, behind The Marina Bay Sands Hotel, We went purely to see the Supertrees & were not disappointed!

Raffles Hotel

Fort Canning Park

Beautiful gardens to get out of the city heat, with amazing views.

Little India

Not as large, colourful or filled with such amazing aromas as Little India in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, but certainly worth the visit.

Hindu Temples

After all the Buddhist temples, it was great to have an insight into some of the Hindu temples in the City.

What Next?

The hectic pace of travel over the last 25 days has been quite tiring. Therefore our next stop is the relaxing Bali…