We are in Malaysia for 5 amazing days! We are so excited to be here. We have to renew our Thai visas for a few more weeks, so we decided to check out Kuala Lumpur at the same time.

We learned very fast while traveling, and with Trek to enjoy every place, every conversation, and every experience because you never know if you will ever get the chance again. So we have plans to see a lot of Kuala Lumpur since we will be leaving Thailand very soon!

It took us 24 hours by train to get from Surat thani Thailand, over the Thai/Malay border, and all the way to the capital of Malaysia.

It sounds miserable as I am writing this, but it was amazing! Train travel is such a perfect, relaxing way to travel with children. We each had our own bed the entire time, so we could lay out and relax, play games, sleep, or read.

We talked about Trek a lot on the train. He usually comes up multiple times a day, but when we travel to a new place, he comes up a lot more. What would we do differently if Trek were here? I bet Trek would love this! Oh if Trek was here, we would totally buy this for him.Trek loved the trains, especially the movement of them, in Japan

We talked on the train how it would be the perfect way to travel with a baby or toddler. Trek could have walked around the entire time, got milkies and nursed in the comfort of a bed and privacy, and when he was ready for a nap, he could have stretch out and we could close the curtain to make it dark. Man, we miss that guy.

The boys were so happy on the train, that when we were an hour out from Kuala Lumpur, Conner was sad because he wanted to stay on the train!

So here is our 24 hour, across 2 countries, train journey-

you know that guys that sleeps at the train station?

Our train left at 1:30 am, so we were all tired and a little loopy while we waited for it. It ended up being delayed 1 hour. So we got to spend 2 hours hanging out with the local bums, letting Conner sleep on the bench, and Jarrett and Peyton watched the rats scurry about on the tracks-much to my horror.

did I mention we were loopy?

Peyton was cracking up at my rat horror

The train finally came! I tried to book us a 1st class car with our own room, but they were sold out. It ended up being okay. The beds were lined up and down the car with bunk beds.

My little bed after our short night’s sleep. The Thai ladies in the beds beside us got up at 4 am, and started chattering really loudly-ha! I was happy though, the sheets were clean, and the blanket was in a sealed bag when we got on and really soft.

Conner totally konked out

Our train stopped the next morning when we got to the Malaysian border. We all got out and had to get our exit stamp from Thailand.

Jarrett working out our visa situation. I was late on mine, so we had to pay $30. Jarrett has a different visa he got from the school, so his was fine.

the boys were so tired, we had to wake them to get out at the border crossing

Conner getting his photo taken for his Malaysian visa. The boys are so cute and have got really used to standing in lines and getting their passports stamped. They love getting their photo taken, even though it always creeps me out a little how we are being “tracked” in our travels-ha! This is their second Malaysian passport stamp. Cool thing about Malaysia-visas are free!

I had to take a photo of this guy’s bag, “never stop exploring”, I think we need that bag

We got back on the same train. The steward for our car had made up 2 of our beds, even though I had explained that the boys wanted to go back to sleep. And more than that, him and the steward from the other car were sitting in our seats and having lunch! Haha, we can’t exactly do anything about it, this is not America where there is a “call if you have a problem” number. So the boys played their video games in the top bunk, and Jarrett and I snuggled in the bottom one. I ended up falling asleep, and when I woke up a couple hours later, Jarrett was still in my bed. He said that as soon as the steward got up from our seat, 3 more Thai guys came and sat there. I look over, out of my curtain, and they were fast asleep in our seats! Oh my, Jarrett and I were laughing at the silliness of it all.

the man woke up and left, and the boys went over to sit in the sunshine

It was so relaxing, I got to work on a sewing project I have been saving for the train. I got to finish it on the next train, I will take some photos of it soon to share:)

Conner playing and being silly

the highlight of the trip for the boys was climbing up and down the bunk beds

We stopped at Penang, Malaysia (where we visited last time we were in Malaysia) to change trains. Peyton got a photo with the conductor.

we changed some of our Thai money over to Malaysian Ringit, so we could buy some lunch

Thankfully the train station had a market, so we could get lunch. We only had 30 minutes before our next train left and we were very hungry. When we rode a train, a few months ago, from Bangkok-Surat thani, Thailand there was a restaurant car. But this time there was no food on the train. Thankfully we had brought a bunch of snacks, but we were ready for a hot meal.

thankfully they had some fried chicken already made, so that was a perfect lunch for the boys

Jarrett and I ordered the main meal on the Malaysian menu, and we were pleasantly surprised to find out it was fried rice, with chicken, and a bowl of soup.

switching over to our Malaysian train to Kuala Lumpur-7 hours away

it had the same set up as the Thai train, but way less people, which made it very quiet and peaceful

the boys freaking loved their little rooms, they closed up the curtains and we didn’t hear them for hours.

thankfully there was a squat toilet on the train, my favorite. (not!)

I have been working on a cross stitch pattern for a few weeks for Trek, and the boys have been mesmerized watching it come to life. They wanted their own, so I bought them one to try on the train.

Peyton picked it up really fast and worked on his for most of the train ride

Conner and me playing Battleship cards, we all love this game, it is almost as fun as regular Battleship

view from the train

Our super sweet train neighbors. People in Malaysia speak English as a second language, so it is so nice for us to be able to communicate easily. Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, so many women wear head covers. There are many Thai-Muslims where we live, so the boys are pretty used to it.

I wanted to get out of the train and explore!

Conner wanted to try sewing too, but i quickly realized, that at 5 years old, he was not quite ready for cross-stitching. So I drew an outline of a seal, from his pattern, and told him to sew within the lines until it was all blue. That worked really well for him and he really liked it.

Jarrett working on his next book

This train had some food. It was pretty sad, but that didn’t stop us! We were starving, so we broke down and bought some fried rice. I have lived to write about it, so it must have been ok.

Conner loved it

I did not share the boy’s enthusiasm for the train ride by the end, and I was getting very bored

We got into the amazing city of Kuala Lumpur late at night, and found our hotel quickly which was nice. We are so excited to be here and see all of the fun sights of the city the next few days!