[Crossing gates at Pasir Mas]
 

You can take a walk, wash, pee, smoke, buy cold drinks, eat hot meals and sleep horizontally. Sure, buses are by far faster, quieter and cheaper. But the North-South highway looks the same whether you're in Johor or Perlis. On the train you're within spitting distance of somebody's backyard. People actually stop to look at trains. The railway slices through jungles, padi fields and dinky pekans while kids climb crossing gates to wave at trains - have bus passengers ever been so greeted?  

 
     

Photography by Danny Lim © 2003