Train

Posted on April 22, 2012 by CVS

I love trains, much more than planes, definitely.
The Philippines would be so amazing if we had a modern railway system, for example, that can take us to Baguio within hours. Hopefully it would be a nice train like Hong Kong’s Airport Express, but that’s just asking for the moon.

I love train-themed movies like Silver Streak and Murder on the Orient Express.

I find trains romantic. I wish I could read books in them, but I get so dizzy.
Jeroen and I once took the train from Utrecht, the Netherlands to go to Lourdes, France. It has many stops and train changes, the last leg of which took about nine hours.
This time around, we took the Thalys train that went from Amsterdam to Paris and back.

What I love about riding trains is the beautiful view and the fact that we’re not flying and I’m not scared to die.
What I hate:
1) When the seat faces the opposite direction and some people get dizzy. Or when we have to sit next to a stranger.
2) It’s a hassle to lug your luggage to the train and keep an eye on them.
3) Pickpockets, although I have never experienced them.
4) Expensive, tasteless food. Thank God you can bring baon, but better not eat or drink because of:
5) The worst smelling toilets you can imagine.

If you think the Philippines has bad toilets, you need to experience toilets in European trains. The toilet in our Thalys train makes NAIA toilets look like Peninsula Tokyo.
While I try very hard not to use the toilet until we arrive at our destination, here’s what I have to do if I absolutely have to use the WC—tie a scarf around my face, not breathe, move quickly, and hope I don’t get locked in.

I look like a terrorist.
In spite of that I don’t mind taking the train again, but Jeroen says there are tourist buses that can take us from Utrecht to Paris or London in a few hours. There are stopovers, which means you are not compelled to use the bus toilet. You can go down for a snack or toilet break, and you can take bigger pieces of luggage for shopping purposes.
Unless of course those toilets are also scary.

Jennyg999

I just took a Thalys train yesterday from Brussels to Amsterdam, and i know exactly what you are talking about! I had to use the toilet and searched half of the train and found a bigger wc in the front. It didnt smell at all because it was hardly used! Next time you know there is a cleaner one with a bigger door and you wouldnt have to wear any protective gear!

[Reply]
CVS Reply:
April 26th, 2012 at 12:12 AM
so I have to go all the way to the front?

[Reply]
http://profiles.google.com/millsie35122 Millicent Urgel

~ you are so funny, Ms. C! I couldn’t forget my train experience (albeit short) shuttling to and from neighboring towns near Geneva… yeah, i couldnt agree more about enjoying the view.

well we could pray all the novenas we can, that we may have a good train system here in the Phils… malay natin, diba?

[Reply]
Mayo
Twitter: briandelro
Reply:
April 24th, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Gusto ko yan! Meron bang saint of safe and efficient public transportation? I’m serious. Sana meron.

[Reply]
Meg

i always carry a pocket-size air freshener like this – http://well.ca/products/glade-ultra-clean-linen_49953.html. it saves me and my picky kids from public stinky loo.

[Reply]
CVS Reply:
April 23rd, 2012 at 10:11 PM
cute!

[Reply]
http://chuvaness.com CVS

thank you! hindi totoo yan :{

[Reply]
http://chuvaness.com CVS

how was Bhutan?

[Reply]
faboloz Reply:
April 23rd, 2012 at 3:34 PM
Oh no Ms C, not yet! Haha! But hopefully next year

[Reply]
projectfusebox

sarah balabagan x comme des garcons black. winur pa rin hahaha!

[Reply]
http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Zahl/1670371040 Steven Zahl

There are a lot of things Filipinos can’t do. This is one, Cleanliness is another.

[Reply]
Tessa Cruz

I agree – train rides are romantic, with a touch of adventure. For modern trains, the Japanese Shinkasen is fantastic – smooth, clean and safe.
European trains are efficient for the most part; I’m constantly looking around for couples with Before Sunrise potential. For a scenic ride, vintage American trains plying historic routes like the White Pass and Yukon Rail have lovely, breathtaking scenery. But if we’re sharing train horror stories, the sleeper train we took from Luxor to Cairo was certainly unforgettable: from the crazy 3-hour delay due to railroad repair, to the dubious linen in the cabin, down to the unsanitary (to say the least) toilet conditions, with a rock thrown sometime during the night, breaking a window outside our cabin added for good measure: pang-Indiana Jones! I’m trying to psyche myself up for a ride on the Trans-Siberian Railway, especially after watching the movie.

[Reply]
http://eltorobumingo.blogspot.com el toro bumingo

Astig naman ng trains sa HK! Sana nga may train papuntang Baguio. O kaya maging modern ang PNR. Suntok sa buwan

[Reply]
http://chuvaness.com CVS

i also stuff tissue in my nose here in Manila. In Holland I kept a lighted candle in the loo kasi no circulation.
i wish those train companies would employ people to clean the toilets at every stop. Take ten minutes per stop. I shouldn’t hurt to have clean restrooms. or baka nobody wants to clean?

[Reply]
http://profiles.google.com/badit.cuason Bernadette Cuason

You should try the trains in China. Yun ang hell. (

I once boarded a train from Xiamen to the Wuyi Mountains when I was in 3rd yr highschool. It was part of a 50-day summer study tour. The train ride took 18 hours. Inside were triple-deck bunk beds. The highest ‘deck’ was about a ruler away from the ceiling. So pag babangon ka, kailangan nakayuko else you’d be kissing the ceiling. Plus parang kabaon sa lapad, so di ka dapat gagalaw at kailangan stiff ka lang. haha.

The wall in the picture you took with your scarf? Mukhang malinis naman yung walls. The bathroom in the train I rode was like an asylum. The walls are grimy, brown and looked sticky. ( Tapos pag natyempuhan mo pa na magstop sa train station, nagllock automatically ang bathroom doors. My bestfriend got locked in during one stop, muntik na siya nasiraan ng bait.

Plus, the passengers (mostly mainlanders), spit everywhere. As in EVERYWHERE.

[Reply]
CVS Reply:
April 22nd, 2012 at 7:00 PM
thanks for the warning!

that wall is our apartment. i had to cover my face cause someone used the toilet. 5 people to 1 toilet kami doon.

[Reply]
misschoi Reply:
April 22nd, 2012 at 8:23 PM
I rode a train from Shanghai to Beijing once. Twelve hours, so no choice — eventually I had to use the toilet. The surprise: there is no “toilet bowl”. As in you get the usual seat, but when you look through it’s just a hole. Brrrr. Plus the walls are just freaking scary. I was trying my best not to fall over because the train was so shaky and i didn’t want to have to touch anything.

[Reply]
http://chenmeicai.blogspot.com Chai Chen

Ang saya2x Ms. C! I miss my student trip tuloy before, sa Europe rin hehehe. Backpacking around the world ang eksena.

[Reply]
http://twitter.com/SungEmpress Mayo

Medyo burkha levels na yata yan.

I like the idea of travelling by train. Every Chinese New Year here, they show on the news the great migration (and it really is one) that takes place among the Chinese (mostly mainlanders) who trek back to their hometowns in China – jamming trains, ticketing booths, borders, etc. Some train journeys, I was told, can take up to a week, especially if their hometowns are near the Russian, Mongolian, or Tibet/Nepal borders.

Ang lagi kong naiisip is: what is the state of the toilets by then? And what about the stink in the carriages because hindi makaligo/naliligo ang madla?!

That’s the one major thought that scares me about being on a train for days. But other than that, I think it would be a nice adventure.

[Reply]
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kimi-Manuel/597486738 Kimi Manuel

Hi! I couldn’t agree more about the toilets on trains. I’m on the last leg of our Eurotrip and we took trains from different cities in Italy to Paris and then Switzerland. I move as fast as I can when using the toilet and try not to breathe in the mapanghi smell. Sad though that my impression of Italy was a lot of the public places were mapanghi, not just the restrooms.

I feel bad for my dad who had to travel with his wife and 3 daughters lugging around 7 trolley luggages on trains. We did experience a group of men who “stalked” us upon arrival at Geneva station and followed us inside our next train. We had noticed them make us a target, texting one another and then made a perimeter around us on the train. But they left just before the train left the station unable to snatch anything from us. The way they hovered felt like the bad guys in the movie “Taken”.

On another note, if there’s anything I truly fell in love with on this Eurotrip, it was the train rides especially the cross country routes. Photos of iconic art and architecture are easy to snap but I can never capture the scenery on the train rides. They leave me speechless and I try hard not to sleep

Side note: BBC just gave a breaking news now about a head on train collision in Amsterdam. Yikes =/

[Reply]
CVS Reply:
April 22nd, 2012 at 7:02 PM
heard about the Amsterdam train last night and Jeroen said that is the same train we take.
Jeroen also said the men’s toilet in the Louvre is the worst stinking toilet he has ever smelled, worse than the train. louvre na yan ha!

[Reply]
http://currystrumpet.blogspot.com/ currystrumpet

What I like most about international train travel is that you can show up literally a minute before your train leaves. Not two and a half, three hours before. Also, trains can take you straight into the heart of a city, no need to drive from some far-flung airport.

The Fyra trains to Germany have very clean toilets.

[Reply]
CVS Reply:
April 22nd, 2012 at 7:03 PM
true that. kaya lang I prefer to be there 30 minutes at least because I’m paranoid

[Reply]
currystrumpet Reply:
April 23rd, 2012 at 6:13 AM
To catch an international train, I have literally run in while shoving open the doors that were closing on me. I probably should not try that again.

[Reply]
alvarotvv

Nice post. I’m from Peru and the trains here tend to be more on the “classic” side. It feels like going back in time whenever you board them. Still, I prefer the trains in the U.S. or Canada, they feel a lot safer. Btw, I think the terrorist comment was a bit too much. Almost every women in Syria -and on other countries in the region – dresses like that.

[Reply]
Tessa Cruz Reply:
April 23rd, 2012 at 12:09 AM
I loved the scenic train ride from Cusco to Machu Picchu, and it wasn’t even the Hiram Bingham.

[Reply]

May 2013
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Apr
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31