Tom Anderson wrote:

I strongly agree - in any metropolis, the transport network (which means
trains and trams in all but pathological or utopian cases) is the veins
and arteries of the city, and tells you more about how it lives and
breathes than anything you'll see in a coach.

In many cities, it's the buses as well. Bangkok, for example, doesn't
really have an integrated transport system, but rather it has the
Skytrain and underground for the rich, and the buses for the poor. KL
can be similar at times, though it's quite a bit more developed. In
both cases, if you can work out where they're going, you'll meet the
*real* people on the buses.

I'd say the same thing about travelling by train in these countries.
First class is nice and cheap, but only in third class will you get a
*real* feel for the place.

Neil