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Published: August 17th 2009
Gemas
Hotel Tropicana...a step up from the Bangkok Hilton!So we left Kuala Lumpur after 7 days of relaxation (and some may say laziness!) and headed off on the next stage of our journey to Gemas where we were to pick up the 'jungle train.'
We were keen to get on with our travels after our recuperation period and so arrived at Puduraya Bus station with anticipation. The bus (as expected over this side of the world) was delayed- this set a tone for the rest of the journey!
The driver of the nus was not the best either tailgating petrol tankers on the motorway or overtaking on blind bends (a style of driving we have become accustomed to in South East Asia! Unsurprisingly, a child was travel sick in the seats next to ours (you can imagine how Any felt about that!!!!)
Eventually, we reached Gemas, a small trucking town in Southern Malaysia- where we checked into the Tropicana hotel. We can only assume from the layout of the hotel that it was either a prison or police station in a former life! The rooms were off a central balcony area and the windows still had the cell bars on them! In fact with the cable t.v
Gemas
Complete with bars across the windows! and en suite bathroom it could have been any prison in Britain!
However, our bad luck was still not over! No sooner had we checked into the hotel and switched on CSI Miami, Dan cracked his tooth! It was an accident we had been waiting to happen the entire trip! I just hadn't imagined that an M and M could be the offending sweet!
So the next day- with Dan feeling sorry for himself and half his tooth hanging loose- we headed back to Kuala Lumpur. This time we had a more careful (if not too careful) driver. What should have been a 2 hour journey took 4 hours only adding to our Frustration- especially as the driver stopped every 15 minutes to go to the toilet! Tired and hungry and with the day almost over, we settled in to the Petaling hotel again for another 2 nights.
On Saturday, we found a private dental clinic in the suburbs of town which takes walk in appointments! Confused (as this is unheard of in England! Even an emergancy appointment in England has at least a months waiting list!) we took the complimentary drinks and 10 minutes later Dan
Gemas
Waiting for the (late) train to Gua Musang was accessed.
45 minutes and 30 pounds later Dan had a new tooth wall, a free taxi ride and complimentary notebooks! Try finding that service in the UK!
On Sunday we took the all too familiar journey back to Gemas, where we checked back into our prison cell (never thought i would have to say that sentence again!) and Dan was banned from any more chocolate products!
We caught the first half of the jungle train the following day, to Gua Musang. This was an air conditioned carriage that you couldn't open the windows on to look out- very disappointing! it was also -10 degrees in there and with our jumpers packed at the bottom our our rucksacks (we never thought we would need them out here!) we had to shiver most the 6 hour journey... or Amy did anyway!
We eventually hopped off the train at Gua Musang- which turned out to be a small frontier town in mid-Malaysia! The hotel we stayed in was clean- etc someone had left glasses in the sink so the bathroom was over run by ants!!
The following morning we awoke at 5.45 am to get ready to
Gemas to Gua Musang
Anyone would have thought we were riding a steam train! catch the 7 am jungle train. This was the real thing this time- nick named the 'jungle train' or 'the mail train' as it stops at every station between Gua Musang and Tempat (in the north.) This was 3rd class luxury all the way! We had the windows rolled down so you could see all the scenery and you could hang out the doors of the carriage. We were also joined on our travels by jungle critters which would venture out of their cracks every time the train stops and scurry back in when it started again! It was well worth the trip just to watch rural life roll by your eyes and see the locals commuting to other villages....definitely one of the best train journeys we've been on so far!
We alighted the train earlier than its final destination- at Whakaf Bharu to try and make our way to the Perhentian Islands on the coast...
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dad
non-member comment
Hi from dad
Hi guys glad you got your tooth fixed ok. The pics look interesting. Could I see Dan that you are actually loosing weight. Good job too. The house in Bali is almost ready to receive you so hold out till next month. luv dad