Take it easy in South East Asia by traveling by train

There was a time that flights were significantly more expensive than bus or train travel. Then something magical happened over the years and in many instances flights started becoming less expensive than bus travel did, which was very surprising to me.

Various low cost airlines infiltrated the market in SEA such as Air Aisa, Nok Airlines, VietJet, Jet Star, and many others. Now it was possible to fly from one side of whatever country you are in to the other, or even across multiple countries - travel in an hour or two, all for the same price as a generally quite uncomfortable 12 hour bus ride. The answer was clear for most people including backpackers. However, there is one time-tested method of travel that I think we need to keep in mind because it really is a lot better than the other two. I am referring to traveling by train / rail and most of the countries over here have it as an option.

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When you travel by train it is going to take a lot longer than a flight, this is for certain. But honestly, is there anything at all memorable about being on a flight? Perhaps you enjoy the security measures and the fact that you can't bring a bottle of water with you because it might be a bomb or something (totally not a scam to force you to buy water at 5x the price on the other side of security.) I hate the airport experience - the "hurry up! now wait" process is just so taxing. There is literally nothing enjoyable about it. Train travel, on the other hand, can sometimes be just as wonderful as the eventual destination.

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This is one of the cheap seats on a train in Thailand and once the train gets moving the airflow keeps it nice and cool, particularly in the norther reaches of the country where it is considerably cooler as a rule. Most of these trains also have restaurant lounges and while i wouldn't expect any sort of gourmet experience, it is nice to have it as an option and they do NOT have a captive audience policy like they do on jets where they charge much more than a Coke is actually worth.

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There has been some chatter about alcohol not being sold on trains anymore in Thailand because of a terrible incident. I am not sure whether or not that is true or not but you can get ice on the train, so if you feel as though you are going to want a beer or two better bring them with you in your bag. In Malaysia, alcohol has always been banned on board as far as a know (it was that way on the 4 times i visited the country.)

There are many overnight options on these trains where you will actually receive a full size bed to sleep on which is surprisingly comfortable and the "clickety-clack" of the tracks below is soothing to a lot of people. It is to me.

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If you want to splurge you can get your own cabin that has its own small bathroom attached. It has been my experience that these generally aren't worth the extra cost and I only booked one of them once when I was traveling with a pet and wasn't sure whether or not that was allowed. I got a strange look from the ticket collector but at that point the train was already moving so nothing was done about it.

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Basically, backpacking should be done with a large block of time and if that is the case with you I can't really understand the hurry and / or need to involved airplanes in your journey. You might actually meet some really cool people on the train as well, particularly in the restaurant car. In most of the South East Asian countries it is possible to buy tickets online as well. For example, tickets in Thailand can be booked here

All in all, backpacking is supposed to be about the journey, not necessarily the destination and what better way to explore the countryside than by a slow-moving but almost always on-time train system that covers all the major zones of the countries over here. It is my preferred method of travel and you really aught to check it out!