We arrived at the turning back point of Papar, where we were allowed to go out of the station for a walk. Coming back to the train, we saw the locomotive being turned around on the turntable, and then it was refilled with water. Their work was really slow and nostalgic, which made me evoke the good old days. The train trip, whose schedule was really loose, would be great. I met a young man who was crazy about trains. He was always near the locomotive and shooting every scene of the movement of the locomotive. I took a picture of him taking a picture.
When we went back, the preparation of lunch was going on. The first dish was "hinava", Kota Kinabalu's local dish, which was in my travel guidebook. It was really great fun to have lunch while viewing the slowly passing scenery.
One thing, which was disappointing was that the train didn't travel deep in the rain forest and ran just on the open ground. The passengers were able to enjoy the wide view of Borneo Island, but I wanted to see the dark forest in Borneo.
(Vocabulary)
turntable (機関車を方向転換させる) 転車台
マレーシア旅行記： 北ボルネオ鉄道乗車、パパールという町で折り返し
折り返し点のパパールに到着。町を散策して駅へ戻ると機関車の向きを変えていた。水を補給し、加熱にも時間がかかっているようだった。入れ替え作業は実にのんびりしていた。スケジュールがあるようなないようなのんびりした列車旅もまた良いものだ。おかしかったのが、一人の鉄ちゃんの存在。どこの国にもこういう人種がいるのだなあと自分の周りにいる鉄ちゃんを思い出した。
列車に戻るとランチの準備が始まっていた。ガイドブックに料理の説明があり、同じ料理が出てきたので写真をｕｐする。地元の料理をいただきながらのんびりとした列車旅、とても気に入った。ひとつ残念だったのが、列車が熱帯雨林を貫通して走ると期待していたのだが、開けた土地だけだったこと。
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