The Eastern & Oriental Express

The passengers are as much fun to watch as the scenery on this legendary train journey

"Manners will take you places money can't", a wise friend once told me.

And it seems manners and money are in equal abundance onboard the Eastern & Oriental Express, one of the most elegant trains in the world.

We set out on the legendary rail voyage from orderly Singapore to busy Bangkok on a steamy Sunday morning. The two-night journey was to take in the major sights between the two cities: a taste of dazzling Kuala Lumpur, a two-hour tour of colonial Penang and a memorable photo opportunity along the famed River Kwai as we travel deep into the lush interior of Thailand's south.

This was travel from another era, a harkback to a golden age when it really was about taking the time to enjoy the journey.

What soon became apparent as we tootled along was that the provenance of the scenery flashing by was almost unimportant. The real action happens on-board.

Delicious meals — roast duck, smoked salmon and roe, the perfect raspberry macaroon — prepared by talented chef Yannis Martineau and his team are served in the rosewood-panelled dining car on crisp, white-tableclothed banquettes.

While we lingered over after-dinner cocktails and a piano-side sing-along in the bar car, our signature green and cream carriages transform into comfortable bedrooms for the evening. Swayed to sleep by the clickety-clack of the rails, we were woken in the morning by Chad, our ever-smiling Thai room attendant, who proffers up a tray of fresh tropical fruit, warm pastries and a pot of Boh tea sourced from the Cameron Highlands.

Sixty passengers were on board and we eye each other up and down with the curiosity of visitors at the zoo. I had expected to be the youngest on board by at least a half-century. Au contraire! Couples of all ages, groups of middle-aged chums from Old Blighty, two lady friends in their 30s and several family groups with young kids are my co-travellers.

Most of the time I feel as though I'm travelling with my parents (that is if my parents had been wealthy Euro-chic types who thought nothing of dropping $3000 per person on a weekend rail journey, rather than suburban Aussie olds who holidayed at The Entrance).

In general I try to avoid cultural stereotypes, especially when writing about travel. I don't need to lend weight to the stereotypes of particular national groups known for spitting in public. We all know which nationality of traveller tries to cram 10 backpackers into a single room in Bali and then haggles over the $8 a night room rate.

But the thing is, cultural stereotypes don't just materialise out of thin air — they exist for a reason. Over the 48 hours we spend together I observe my fellow passengers as one-by-one they reveal themselves like characters from an illustrated "Mini United Nations of Luxury Travel" storybook.

There's the Irishman who cracks jokes constantly, winks at me with a twinkling eye and wears a tacky Guinness shirt on our outing to the sedate Chinese temple in Penang.

The Brits admire the "splendid scenery" in clipped vowels and the Germans — I swear to you — the Germans wear knee-high socks with sandals.

The wealthy American family from South Carolina recounts tales of hot August nights at antebellum mansions in Charleston, while clueing me in on the secrets of their property investment success (OPM, they whisper: Other People's Money).

The French couples, so chic and casually aloof, could be Chanel models. The men know how to work a pair of leather boat shoes and the women carry the sort of perfect travel tote I'm always looking for in shops and can never find.

The wealthy septuagenarian from Mexico City trots out a daily dazzling display of designer accessories with more pizzazz than you can poke a bedazzler at. She sighs "it's sooo haaarrtt" at regular intervals while flapping away with an antique lace fan.

The elegant Scandinavian widow talks to me of Princess Mary, Gustavian furniture and the importance of dumbing down one's intelligence occasionally so men don't feel intimidated. "I speak from experience," she says wryly in her accented English that reminds me of the Baroness in The Sound of Music.

Goodness knows what they all think of me. I left my Aussie flag shirt at home and resisted the urge to scull Fosters while screaming Jimmy Barnes tunes so perhaps that's why I'm several times mistaken for a Brit or an American. Go figure.

When I drag myself away from people-watching, other on-board amusements beckon. Hughes Goh Chin Siew, one of Singapore's pre-eminent I-Ching experts, offers personalised future predictions. Heated games of gin rummy are fought in the parlour, and forays into the gift carriage reveal silk scarves and E&O monogrammed teddy bears are this season's must-haves.

It was all so terribly, terribly elegant dahhhling.

Fact file

Three more great train journeys

• Take in the wonder of Australia's wide brown land on The Ghan or The Indian Pacific as they travel the tracks from Darwin to Adelaide, Perth to Sydney and beyond. Sleeper cabins or the more luxe private carriages make the journey an affair to remember with Great Southern Rail.
• Linking some of the best cities of Europe including London, Venice, Rome, Budapest and Prague, the Venice Simplon-Orient Express is one for the bucket list. It's been the inspiration for scores of romantic movies and novels, with its old-world glamour and style.
• Nature lovers will discover the Dark Continent as few before them have ever done on the Pride of Africa 14-day epic train journey. Take in the spectacular sights of Cape Town, Dar Es Salaam, Kimberley, Pretoria, the Kruger National Park, Beitbridge, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Lusaka and Tanzania on this leisurely ramble, offered once a year. Onboard: luxurious comfort. Out there: the wild things roam.