Fast track to history

It was a drizzling late summer morning in London. We dressed and got ready to hop on the famed Orient-Express. Smartly, we stayed the night before at a hotel right next to London Victoria Station, allowing us to walk directly to the station through the hotel back door without getting caught in the rain.

After checking in, we joined a group of anxious travelers on Platform 2 waiting to board the British Pullman train, which would take us from London to Folkestone, on the southern coast.

Our son Anthony was counting, and said: "There are only three Asian faces in our group, and that's us."

The journey we were taking was the famous Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE), an icon of luxury rail travel in Europe.

An Orient-Express trip has long been my father's dream ever since he read about it in Europe and saw Alfred Hitchcock's film The Lady Vanishes.

The VSOE is a luxurious trip in which almost everyone on board has something special to celebrate. For us, it was our most precious family vacation in the past 10 years.

Our first lunch onboard was served in a private dining compartment. Cozy family talk and thoughtful dining service made us feel like royalty, and the views of the English countryside seemed more picturesque than ever.

Arriving in Folkestone, we were transferred to coach and boarded the "Le Shuttle" train for a 40-minute ride crossing the English Channel to Calais Ville in France.

At Calais Ville, the historic Wagons-Lit were waiting. We boarded Sleeping Car 3309, the oldest VSOE sleeping carriage, which was built in 1926.

Back in 1929, Car 3309 was going to Istanbul when it got stuck in snow for 10 days. It was only with the help of nearby Turkish villagers that the passengers were finally rescued.

Entering our little compartment was like stepping back in time. The walls were decorated with marquetry panels of burr and wood. In the room, the features included a window lever, table lamp and a washbasin cabinet (our steward called it a "hidden bath"), which were typical in luxury train travel in the 1920s.

Fine quality linen, bathrobes and sleepers were thoughtfully included, but no extravagant skincare sets were to be found. Instead, there was a bar of soap, which according to Train Manager Bruno Janseens, was an extravagant item nearly a century ago.

Despite the growth in popularity of overseas travel from China, Chinese travelers are few and far between on the European trail of the Orient-Express. Janseens told us that they had only hosted five Chinese on the VSOE last year.

That night, my father said I was "talkative" at the bar. Indeed, as the Western world becomes more interested in post-1997 Hong Kong and the latest developments in China, I found myself busy answering questions from curious travel companions.

In Sleeping Car 3309, there was an elderly Japanese couple that I couldn't help but admire. Although they spoke little English, they strolled from car to car, exploring every detail of the vintage train.

The train company is connected with luxurious hotels in Venice. This means that travelers with a handsome budget can really live it up. We chose the Best Western hotel for comfort and budget reasons. And it turned out to be a good choice.

The Best Western Olimpia is conveniently located in Piazza Roma, which is 15-minute walk from Venice Santa Lucia Train Station. The hotel is by the canal and offers clean, comfortable rooms at reasonable prices.

Piazza Roma is one of the less touristy areas in Venice, where we found friendly and inexpensive eateries by the canal. The best thing is, our hotel was very close to the bus terminal.

There are ATVO blue buses connecting Piazza Roma with Venice Marco Polo International Airport and Treviso San Giuseppe Airports for the price of 3 euros ($4.3) per trip, which is the cheapest fare for airport transfer in Venice.

On our return to Hong Kong, we shared travel photos and were repeatedly asked the same question: "Is the Orient-Express trip expensive?"

"Yes, very expensive." We told our friends. It costs $2,605 per person for a one-way trip on the VSOE and $400 is added for single-cabin occupancy.

But as our travel companions said, for those looking for a journey that's both historical and luxurious, the Orient-Express is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

(China Daily 10/25/2007 page19)