I’ve done a fair whack of overland travel since I arrived on the South East Asian mainland a few weeks ago.\u00a0 Initially I thought I’d fly up from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Udon Thani (north-central Thailand), taking advantage of the cheap airfares from Air Asia, but I had the idea to take the train or bus instead to save costs.<\/p>\n
To get to Udon Thani overland from Kuala Lumpur took three<\/strong> overnight trains and buses but cost far less than the two flights it would have taken otherwise. I could have pick ‘n’ mixed it, and taken a flight to BKK and then take the bus up to Udon, but then where’s the fun in that?\u00a0 If anything, that’s a royal pain in the proverbial.<\/p>\n And that’s the point of this article – to convey the feeling I have that if you’re travelling, try to take as few flights as possible and resort to buses and trains – they’re cheaper than airfares, comfortable, convenient. But best of all for me is, travel by bus and train forces you to think on your feet, and therein lies a golden nugget of travel.<\/p>\n Word count: ~1000.\u00a0 Approx. reading time: 5~10 minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Answering the ‘Why travel’ question is prudent before you quit your day job and pack your suitcase. One such reason is to escape the banality of our everyday lives<\/a> – at least that is what we tell ourselves.<\/p>\n I’m constantly being presented with opportunities to engage local people as I travel – sometimes this exchange is with work colleagues, but more often I’m talking with simply local people in the community going about their everyday lives, as I go about mine.<\/p>\n It can be fun, stressful, irritating, educational, relaxing, loving, and whatever else, but it’s rarely ever bad<\/strong>.<\/p>\n So given that I want to meet the locals wherever I travel, how better to do it than from the comfort of a lovely reclining, air-con-frozen, cattle-class cabin seat on an aeroplane?<\/p>\n Hardly.<\/p>\n Sometimes you just need to fly because of your timetable and whatever other demands force your hand, but when your destination is on the same land mass and continent, the cheapest way to travel (in southeast Asia) is by bus and train.\u00a0 This approach to travel forces you to go native – you have to go to the stations, read timetables, talk to people, ask questions, get lost and confused.<\/p>\n When you arrive at your destination you must orient yourself and then work towards where you actually want to go.\u00a0 For me, this is the hardest part – arranging the travel is usually straight forward, but arriving is typically a challenge.<\/p>\n Meeting the locals is half the reason for me, but there are other benefits:<\/p>\n A quick anecdotal example – today I had to find a way to the bus station from my hotel.\u00a0 I walked in the baking heat for a short while to find a tuk-tuk that would take me there.\u00a0 I approached one and he quoted me \u0e3f60 (=US$1.80).\u00a0 Not a chance, I thought!\u00a0 I asked him would he take \u0e3f40?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 \u0e3f50? (I offered \u0e3f50 just to test how stubborn he was because I knew<\/em> he wouldn’t take anything less from such a handsome, walking ATM machine – i.e. me).<\/p>\n Nope, only \u0e3f60 will do.\u00a0 I thought about it and decided that I wanted an alternative to a rip-off tuk-tuk, so I thanked him and walked on hoping that some other way will present itself.<\/p>\n I had hardly walked 5m when a Thai guy sitting behind a table on the footpath said: “Bus station? Bus 1.\u00a0 There.\u00a0 Now<\/strong>!”\u00a0 I looked up in the direction he pointed was an old gray raggedy-ass bus looking like it was about to take off any second.\u00a0 I waddled up and got aboard.<\/p>\n A friendly woman with a big smile asked me where I was going, I told her, and she said “Gao baht.” (\u0e3f9) I didn’t hear her the first time and asked her to repeat.<\/p>\n As she did so, the monk beside me held up 9 fingers, I glanced, smiled and paid her.\u00a0 \u0e3f9 here, versus \u0e3f60 from a greedy tuk-tuk driver?\u00a0 No contest.\u00a0 The next 20minutes was a free tour of the city through parts I hadn’t managed to see in the 20hrs since I’d arrived.\u00a0 Bargain!<\/p>\n Tuk-tuk and taxis are now in the same class as air flights in my opinion.<\/p>\n The choice you make on mode of transport is yours alone to take, but I highly recommend opting for what you may currently perceive as the less comfortable\/convenient path.<\/p>\n You might well discover something interesting about the place you’re visiting and come out the other side slightly chuffed with yourself and your new-found spirit of adventure.<\/p>\n What is your experience with public transport as your travel in foreign lands?\u00a0 Do you have any good resource of information on this, or any stories you’d like to share?\u00a0 Any information, feedback or suggestion, is very welcome – please feel free to contribute them below.\u00a0 Of course, if you found this amusing, interesting, or informative, and you\u2019d like to share it, please do so also using the \u201cShare this Post\u201d button – you can share on Facebook with a click.\u00a0 Thank you for visiting!<\/em><\/p>\nWhy do any of us travel in the first place?<\/h2>\n
So what’s the advantage of travelling by bus, train and boat?<\/h2>\n
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An simple story to highlight<\/h2>\n
Travel Resources<\/h2>\n