Following the River Kwai, through rice paddies and lush forests, the Eastern & Oriental Express runs like a senator's train from Singapore to Bangkok, giving you time to appreciate the captivating beauty of South-East Asia.
"Train journeys are like a parenthesis in a world where speed reigns, says Yann Guezennec, worldwide marketing and sales director for trains and cruises at the Belmond Group. Internet networks often don't work, so passengers disconnect from the virtual world. They relax, watch the scenery go by, chat and take advantage of stops to meet the locals."The feeling of fulfilment that comes from rail travel is heightened tenfold when passengers board one of these legendary trains, those whose very name conjures up images of the Golden Age of Rail. When every journey becomes a real adventure...
It all began in the United States in 1864, when the American George Mortimer Pullman invented the Pioneer carriage to make night-time travel more pleasant. It was decorated in a refined style and passengers enjoyed a high level of comfort, with a toilet, hot and cold running water, a linen cupboard, etc. The concept of luxury rail travel was born. It would later develop in Europe, under the Pullman brand in the UK and with the founding in France of the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits by Georges Nagelmackers. This Belgian industrialist wanted to offer a wealthy clientele cars that were certainly comfortable, but above all very luxurious. And so, in June 1883, the Orient-Express legend was born at the Gare de Strasbourg in Paris (now the Gare de l'Est). The "king of trains, the train of kings", as it was nicknamed, first linked Paris to Romania, then in 1889 to Constantinople. It was the first direct link between the West and the East. The railway turned all concepts of travel on their head and opened up new frontiers. In 67 hours and 46 minutes, the Orient-Express covered the 3,186 kilometres between the Seine and the Bosphorus, stopping off in all the major European capitals.
In the 1920s, the rolling palace went Art Deco with a décor designed by René Prou and René Lalique. The 20 cabins, which were transformed into lounges during the day, were extremely refined: sumptuous tapestries, velvet curtains, beds dressed in silk sheets, silver cutlery, crystal goblets, marble bathrooms, central heating, hot water, gas lighting and bathrobes bearing the company's seal. Crowned heads and fallen princes, spies and diplomats, arms dealers and merchants, writers, artists, politicians and adventurers... They all meet in the corridors of this place with its unique atmosphere, a world of romance that was a source of inspiration for Agatha Christie and her Crime on the Orient Express, published in 1934. Thirty years later, James Bond, alias Sean Connery, would battle the henchmen of the Spectre in A Russian Kiss.
Stars on board
Today, for a journey of one to four nights, privileged travellers can relive the old-fashioned charm of the Roaring Twenties on board the Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express. "It can be chartered in whole or in part. Trips can also be made on request. But in this case, you need to book well in advance."warns Yann Guezennec. Owned by the Belmond Group, the train is made up of authentic period carriages and runs regular services between Calais, Paris and Venice, as well as serving European capitals such as Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Brussels and Istanbul, as it did in its early days.
On the other side of the Channel, another railway icon from the 1920s offers a timeless journey for its 36 passengers. This is the Royal Scotsman, often described as the most luxurious train in the world. Its carriages offer comfort worthy of the finest hotels. The Edwardian style of decoration gives it a very British private club atmosphere. From April to October, the Royal Scotsman leaves Waverley station in Edinburgh to the sound of bagpipes for a two- to seven-night tour of the Scottish countryside that is inaccessible by car. It crosses the Forth suspension bridge, a Victorian architectural jewel, before heading for the Highlands, via Aberdeen and Inverness. A panoramic car allows you to admire enchanting sites: lochs, castles, manor houses, medieval ruins, etc. The route is enhanced by excursions and activities such as clay pigeon shooting, fishing and golf. On board, while musicians provide the evening entertainment, the chef proposes menus based on local produce - salmon, of course, but also seafood, game, etc. - all paired with fine wines. As for the dress code, men are invited to wear dark suits, dinner jackets or... kilts to dinner. Ladies, on the other hand, prefer evening dresses and stoles. The meal is then transformed into a social event, and continues in the drawing room with tastings of excellent pure malt whiskies, while a bard recounts Scottish legends.
Different continents, different rails, but the same scent of exclusivity. Departing from Singapore, the Eastern & Oriental Express travels through Malaysia and Thailand to Bangkok, passing through remarkable cities and sites such as Malacca and Penang. In three days/two nights or four days/three nights, it penetrates tropical forests, crosses rice paddies and tea fields, skirts the China Sea and the Andaman Sea. Its carriages, which come from an old New Zealand train, have been completely refurbished in colonial style: marquetry, lacquered wood, Asian tapestries, hand-cut crystal glassware, etc. Four categories of private cabins are available, including two 11.6 m² presidential suites. Eastern & Oriental also has three dining cars, a piano-bar car, a veranda and a library lounge. Luxury and nostalgia can also be found on board the Rovos Rail which, in South Africa, runs from Cape Town to Johannesburg and then on to Victoria Falls. Created in 1989, it is hauled by authentic steam locomotives and is made up of Pullman sleeping cars from the 20s and 30s. But Rovos Rail also offers another jewel, the "Pride of Africa", which offers various tours ranging from 48 hours to 15 days, departing from Cape Town and going as far as Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Against a backdrop of exceptional landscapes such as the semi-desert region of the Karoo, the high plateaux of the Highveld, the natural parks of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls...
Butler and private bathroom
On request, the itineraries can include a photo safari in a game reserve, tasting stops in South African vineyards, a cruise on the Zambezi or a crossing of the Kalahari desert. The fully renovated carriages can carry 72 passengers in 36 suites of 11 m². The restaurant car offers gourmet South African cuisine, while a panoramic car lets you enjoy the scenery to the full. Providing regular services between Cape Town and Pretoria, the Blue Train, its competitor inaugurated in 1998 and already almost a myth, plays on the same sensations as the Rovos Rail. It offers two trains, one with a capacity of 82 passengers in 41 flats and the other with a capacity of 74 passengers in 37 cabins and a car for conferences or landscape observation.
All these legendary trains are favourites with the gotha and celebrities, not least because each compartment has its own private bathroom, telephone and television. Air conditioning, suites with baths, lounges, club cars, restaurants, butlers: there's no shortage of on-board services worthy of a five-star hotel! As a result, the luxury version of the train is enjoying a second lease of life. In India, after the Deccan Odyssey in Maharashtra, the Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan and the Golden Chariot in Karnataka, the Maharajas'Express was launched in 2010. On board, you'll find state-of-the-art facilities: plasma screens, permanent Internet connection, DVD players, air conditioning with variable temperature control, electronic safe, gourmet restaurant serving Indian and Western cuisine, lounge, bar, panoramic lounge, etc. This is the first Indian train to offer tours throughout the country, linking Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Ranthambore, for example. The decor is inspired by the old carriages of the maharajas and colonial rulers: carpets galore, precious wooden furniture, chandeliers, etc. The train has 43 carriages with a capacity of 88 passengers. These include a presidential suite that takes up an entire carriage!
Seven-star train
Japan offers another example of this new wave of top-of-the-range trains with the Nanatsuboshi, which travels around the island of Kyushu. In addition to a gourmet restaurant and a piano-bar carriage, its seven carriages house only suites - 14 in all - all with king-size beds, a desk, a separate bathroom and toilets... with heated glasses! The Nanatsuboshi - literally 'seven stars', in reference to the seven provinces of Kyushu Island, the seven carriages, but more certainly to the ultra-exclusive service of this extraordinary train - offers four-day/three-night tours to be booked well in advance.
In the light of this success, the Japanese company JR East, which operates from Tokyo to the east of the island of Honshu, is also preparing an ultra-premium train, due to be launched in spring 2017. This little jewel has been designed by Ken Okuyama, well known in the automotive world for having headed the creative team at Pininfarina and for having designed, among others, the Ferrari Enzo, the Maserati Birdcage and the new generation Porsche 911. This travelling palace will comprise ten cars that can accommodate just 34 passengers, and will be appropriately enhanced by a gourmet restaurant and a panoramic car. The most luxurious of these will offer a duplex suite, with the upper floor featuring a tatami room for traditional dinners with a view of infinity.
Because, as well as being a luxurious means of travel, the train is also a great place to discover new things. As Joseph Kessel wrote, "The marvellous thing about great journeys is that their enchantment begins even before you set off. You open the atlases, you dream about the maps. You repeat the magnificent names of unknown cities..."In its time, the Orient-Express in Europe signalled the start of new railway lines all over the world, and with them the stories of adventurers who would contribute to the myth of certain journeys. Such is the case of the world's longest railway line, the Trans-Siberian, which crosses the whole of Russia from Moscow to Vladivostok - an epic journey of 9,200 kilometres - at an average speed of 100 kph. Laid out at the instigation of Tsar Alexander III, this line to the end of the world bears the mythical name of Trans-Siberian when it links Europe to the Pacific and Trans-Mongolian when it connects to Asia. An extraordinary adventure through panoramas of taiga and steppes worthy of Michel Strogoff! The "broun-roun-roun" of its wheels has inspired more than one writer, even poets as "bad" as Blaise Cendrars, as he describes himself in Prose du Transsibérien.
Steam poetry
"Here the exception is not in the comfort, even if the cars are very comfortable, but in the journey itself. With the added bonus for companies of private excursions and tailor-made supervision.It's a real treat," explains Chrystel Tiengou-Beaupré from the Tapis Rouge agency, which specialises in rail travel. A private train, the "Gold of the Tsars", runs from May to September between Moscow and Beijing, crossing fabulous landscapes with unique stops: Kazan, Irkutsk, Lake Baikal, the Gobi Desert, Ulan Bator, etc. The journey lasts 14 days, but companies can book only part of the route.
And there are many such trains which, like the Trans-Siberian Railway, are famous not for their debauchery of refinement, but for the poetry that runs along their tracks. In Peru, the Belmond Hiram Bingham connects Cuzco with Machu Picchu at a speed of 30 km per hour, taking four hours to cover the 120 kilometres between the ancient Inca capital and the archaeological site. The luxury here is the slowness, as much as the beauty of the lush forests backing onto the mountains. This blue train with gold lettering runs alongside the rushing Urubamba river, through the sacred valley of the Incas before arriving at Machu Picchu, one of the new wonders of the world. Comfortable but in no way ostentatious, it can accommodate 84 passengers and can be privatised on request.
"El tren de la Sierra", the famous train of the Andes, is even richer in emotion. The comfort may be relatively basic, but the scenery is breathtaking. Linking Lima to Huancayo, the railway is the highest in the world, passing over 4,800 m at its highest point. The panorama is of course unique, but you need to have your heart set on it! Further out at sea level, in Australia, a trip aboard the Ghan is well worth the adventure. It crosses the Australian bush over 3,000 kilometres, passing through Darwin, Alice Springs and Adelaide. In the same vein, there's El Chepe in Mexico, which links Chihuahua to Los Mochis, the Rocky Moutaineer in Canada, which winds its way between Vancouver and Calgary, and the California Zephyr in the United States, which links Chicago to San Francisco, crossing seven states in the American West. So, there are the die-hards, the fanatics, the rail addicts... But for everyone, including the corporate world, these rolling palaces offer an opportunity to rediscover childlike emotions and praise the slow pace of life.
Orient-Express: soon to be reborn?
A symbol of the art of travel, the Orient-Express never ceases to inspire! Since April, the travelling exhibition "Once upon a time on the Orient-Express" has been a success all over Europe. It was launched at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, in collaboration with the SNCF, owner of the Orient-Express brand. Between April and August, 251,000 visitors came to see the seven historic cars on display! This success confirms the public's attraction to this legend on rails. Buoyed by this success, the SNCF intends to revive the concept of French-style travel around this legendary brand. In its project box, the railway company is planning to open a new regular service between Paris, Vienna and Istanbul and to put a brand new Orient-Express into service. Using renowned craftsmen, the new train would take on the luxury codes of its predecessor, while featuring radically modern equipment, including large picture windows to make the most of the scenery. With mystery still hovering over this rebirth, the SNCF is revealing certain details sparingly... "The cabins will be enclosed, the dining car will have a sort of terrace, the decor will be inspired by Art Deco codes, the bench seats will face large windows, the roof will be partially glazed..."Partnerships are also being set up with prestigious names such as trunk-maker Moynat, Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alleno, perfumer Guerlain and Dammann Frères teas.
