I mean, maybe it’s not that bad haha
To be honest, I’d never traveled alone before entering my 20s. Then, when I got a job in Malang, I had to commute back and forth. Malang is about 90km away from my city Surabaya. So when I first moved to Malang, I decided to not bring a motorcycle. I don’t actually remember the exact reasons, but some of them might be because I still didn’t have any friends, so where would I take my motorcycle?😂 something like that.
Another reason was because I wanted to walk more. In my hometown, I rarely walked. Even to go to a tradional market which was only a few km away, I rode my motorcycle. So I thought living out of town without bringing a motorcycle would improve my physical mobility. That’s how my journey with this $1 train started hehe. Actually, the ticket is about $0.8😂
First of all, those are how the seats look like, as you can see in the previous photo. The seats are very straight, so you may can't recline comfortably. And the chair is also not so soft, making it more uncomfortable. When I got on this train, I try to secure a seat right by the window haha. That way, I still be able to see the scenery outside. Malang still has a lot of natural scenery, so the journey to get there is also surrounding by views of rice fields and such.
This train, of course, has common public facilities like restrooms and also a cafetaria. And if we bring a lot of luggage, we can put them in these spaces which are above each seat, so our seats don't need to be cramped with stuff. There are also air conditioning in every wagon, but it doesn’t feel cold at all. For me personally, I didn’t feel hot or sweaty inside, so I think the air conditioning is just fine.
I wanted to show you the cafetaria, but when I visited, the seats were already packed. The cafetaria is much simpler if I compare it to the economi-class I took to Jakarta. And perhaps also smaller, as there were also fewer seats. The ticket price difference between this train and a better one for the same destination is about four times. I once took the express train from Surabaya to Malang, and it cost IDR 55-65k, which is about $3-4.
One of the less satifying things about this train is that all the seats are face each other. That’s really uncomfortable situation if you think about it, no? At least for me, it is. And each seat doesn’t have like devider, which adds to the discomfort. I once accidentally had someone leaning fall asleep next to me. It wasn't for the entire trip, but it was long enough to make me feel very uncomfortable. Thinking back, I kinda felt a bit traumatic got in this train lol
I think the reason why I often choose this $1 train back then was to safe some money, of course. Because it actually not that bad once you get used to the atmosphere. The journey often lasts 1.5 to 2 hours, which isn't that long, especially if strangers around you were just focused on their phones and such. It's obviously different story if the passengers are a group of noisy mom or like what I experienced; a sleeping stranger leaning on you🤣 but other than that, as I said, it’s actually not that bad once you get used to it if you want to save money.
So for me, if I had to conclude, I think the social aspect of this train is more uncomfortable than the physical aspect due to the seating layout😆 That type of seating is much more fun if you’re traveling with a group of friends, so you can spend time in the same spot, right? What do you think about this $1 train? Or do you have any experience using public transportation?