Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure

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I was surprised by Japan, I didn’t expect there to not be any overnight journeys. There is only one overnight journey left in Japan. Another thing I did, there were several events that I wanted to cover. It was the 70th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean “Worker’s Party of Korea” (the ruling party of North Korea). So for certain dates, I had to be in certain countries. For the North Korean stint, I had to be there at a certain time because they do the train tour once a year. Apart from being a book about travel and experiences, it was also highly informative. She took out time to reach out to the surviving family members of The Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts and has listed in detail about the Japanese technology and traditions including the one with the Geisha. It's fascinating to see so many different cultures that the world has embraced and this book is proof enough that there are wonders in every place that we visit. My only concern was about how daunting this book feels in the initial few chapters. It's only after you get across them, that you'll truly be able to enjoy it. It gives a serious case of wanderlust and what more can you ask for from a book that paints a beautiful picture about traveling?

Around the World in 80 Trains - Bloomsbury Publishing

it now dawned on me why long distance train travel held such appeal. No other mode of travel combined my two favourite pastimes: travelling the world and lying in bed. p116 A kindle, I was anti-kindle. However, after returning from my Indian trip, I had so many books, a kindle just made sense! The trains in Japan are so quiet, there’s very little energy on Japanese trains. They’re very mindful of other people, and they’re very clean and too perfect, a little dull to be honest. You talk a lot about the difficulties in travelling in areas that aren’t diverse or as accepting of other cultures, did that affect how you travelled, and how do you feel we can break down the barriers in travel? It was like listening to C-3PO and Stephen Hawking having the most passive-aggressive argument I’d ever witnessed. Tapping at her watch, Vittoria was not about to budge, and her shop was about to close. Offering a further ten-euro discount, she moved our clothes out of reach, at which point I was ready to explode, knowing that Vittoria had exploited the vulnerability of two foreigners unable to speak her language. Sweating from the steam in the shop and the steam in my ears, I dragged Jem out onto the pavement and went in search of the ATM.Much of the trip remains open: I want there to be spontaneity. But the penultimate leg of the trip should take me winding across China and on to the ancient route of the silk traders through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Visas permitting, I will return to Europe through Iran and Turkey, and would like to conclude the trip with the Venice to London route. And I will be sending regular dispatches to the Discover section of The Sunday Telegraph. An epic journey . When I say that I felt almost physically tired at the end of this book, I mean it as a compliment, a testament to its vivid evocations (Country Life) In North Korea] The chance of an uprising was still remote, as the money and power lay with the upper echelons of society, who were quite happy to maintain the status quo so long as it worked in their favor." Rajesh is certainly in possession of a rare writer’s gift comparable to that of a good actor who can read the phone book and still make it sound exciting for the audience. As she rattles along through countries and continents, her attention to detail is astonishing. She is also as smart as a whip and doesn’t take no for an answer. As a travelling expert, do you have any recommendations on what to bring on a long railway journey?

Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh | Waterstones Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh | Waterstones

Book Genre: Adventure, Autobiography, Biography, Biography Memoir, British Literature, European Literature, Memoir, Nonfiction, Railways, Trains, Travel, TravelogueTime and again [in India] I encountered so-called 'godmen' exploiting the poor and vulnerable, priests extracting money for nothing, and blind faith leading to disappointment." Delightful ... Rajesh is not only blessed with an elegant style, but is witty and ever ready for a bit of self-deprecation ( Spectator) There’s three or four I still think about, a Tibetan nun from Xinjiang Province in China. She was very fun, there was three of us at this point, we were working and she just appeared with a big beaming smile and started jabbering at me. I had no idea what she was staying, she was so animated and laughing, it turned out she wanted to know if I was Indian, I’m a British Indian. She wanted to thank me as the Dalai Lama lives in India, and she wanted to thank me as India has looked after him. Monisha Rajesh has a passion for rail travel. In a previous book the author spent three months hopping on and off trains on a 25,000-mile odyssey around India; this time she broadens her horizons and travels round the world. Her aim is to discover whether, in our age of bullet trains and cut-price air travel, the romance of the railways still exists. Rajesh and her fiancé trace Sir Harold’s journey in the book. He comes across as a remarkable character who many years later, invited a remorseful Mikio Kinosh*ta, an engineer with the Japanese Imperial Army to London. Additionally, the encounter with Toshiko Yamasaki, the daughter of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only victim to have survived being at ground zero of both atomic bombs is also thought provoking.

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Planet Rail (01347 811810; planetrail.co.uk) organises first-class railway holidays in Europe (and on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express). Most of its holidays are tailor-made. So, Monisha is no Paul Theroux, that is a high bar, but this is an engaging enough travelogue. There is a little bit of history thrown in at certain places like Japan and Thailand which really do add to the book. I especially liked the chapter on North Korea. I had no idea that the guided tour allowed such travel by train in that country. Rajesh [is] a rare rising star of the genre … She has a simple and easy style, she sees everything and listens to everyone, she's funny when she wants to be and serious when she needs to be, and she keeps the whole thing barrelling along like a wonderful dinner party conversation The book really gets into gear in N. Korea and China, and captures so much of the romance of train travel including the numerous little epiphanies about oneself while touching the edge of inner stillness in a moving train. Blessedly, not too much of that too. What makes the book is [Rajesh's] wit, astute observations and willingness to try everything ... She arrived at St Pancras, on time, tired and triumphant. Her riveting account of the odyssey leaves us feeling the sameI am a big fan of rail travel, especially when everything goes smoothly; the freedom of being able to move about, being able to read, work, chat and people watch. However, I have only ever taken the train in Europe and, although I have travelled further afield, I have never used the rail services. So, I sat outside to read Around the World in 80 Trains in the beautiful spring sunshine, ready to be a sunbed explorer, something thrust on me by the coronavirus pandemic. She glimpses an enthralling swirl of cultures and landscapes on a journey filled with memorable brief encounters: “Trains are rolling libraries of information, and all it takes is to reach out to passengers to bind together their tales.” Ffestiniog Travel (01766 772030; ffestiniogtravel.com) offers up to 30 escorted rail tours a year. Profits help support the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.