It’s Sunday afternoon, I actually accomplished something midday, then turned on the telly for a break, just in time for Globe Trekker on PBS. Sometimes I’m interested, occasionally not, but I hit the jackpot today. Tough Trains! A series of “the most epic and hard-core train journeys on the planet.” And on today’s episode, 2 sections I’ve experienced myself, Vietnam’s Reunification Express and the cross-border train from China. As they say, check your local listings! You can also buy them on DVD.
More here.
Having grown up completely train deprived, I confess to a love of train travel, as well as remote places. It was fun to relive a bit of a trip of my own, 2 years ago. And I’ve recently found myself wondering where I might find another train to ride where I’ll be the only foreigner in sight, as I was on the overnight ride from Nanning to Hanoi. Please tell me if you know of any such possibilities.
You might find yourself the only pale-skinned person in one of the trains to remote towns in Sri Lanka or India. Trains between Colombo and Kandy will be well-touristed. But trains running into the hills much less so so far as Sri Lanka goes.
While you would blend in with the locals, I would imagine the same is true of the UK. Train travel between smaller towns, especially in the north, would have few tourists.
I’ve only been on one of those they list, but as we so often do, I disagree with some of their choices. For instance in India, some of the best rides are the mountain trains to Hill Stations, like the famous toy trains to Shimla and to Darjeeling, both of which I’ve ridden, the Shimla route twice. I’d also include Delhi to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, rather than to Mumbai. Ah well, in any case, so many trains, so little time.
In contrast to “Tough Trains”, Fodors just put out a slide-show of some of the greatest train rides in the world. How many have you been on? Here’s that link.