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

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I couldn’t stand the negative, narrow-minded commentary and lack of descriptive depth of some of the world’s most wonderful train journeys any longer and gave up soon after New York. Rajesh is determined to like the older, rougher trains the best and she does romanticise the lack of facilities, the delays and the smells.

Rajesh spends a lot of ink on the segments of the trip that pass through Russia, China, and North Korea. However, around much of the journey – certainly in most of Asia, which is by far the majority of their route – they experience their skin colour as a small advantage. She does reluctantly admit that they have their own character, and are not as sterile as she had expected, but she keeps her descriptions here very short. 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.But it wasn’t long before she was carefully plotting a route that would cover 45,000 miles – almost twice the circumference of the Earth – coasting along the world’s most remarkable railways; from the cloud-skimming heights of Tibet’s Qinghai railway to silk-sheeted splendour on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Packing up her rucksack – and her fiancé, Jem – Monisha Rajesh embarks on an unforgettable adventure that takes her from London’s St Pancras station to the vast expanses of Russia and Mongolia, North Korea, Canada, Kazakhstan, and beyond. Propped up with pillows, holding a morning cup of tea, I could lean against the window and watch as villages, towns, cities, states and countries swept past, safe in the knowledge that I was going places, while also going nowhere. Overall, I enjoyed Rajesh’s candid assessment of each train and her sense of humour, as well as the friendships she and Jem made along the way.

It just lacked a warmth of personality to it, I know it's a non-fiction book but I was still hoping for a story, not just an advanced version of that school assignment "What I did on my holidays.No other mode of transport combined my two favorite pastimes: travelling the world and lying in bed. Secondly, I wouldn’t trust recommendations from a person who openly says she went to Tibet, through 0 elevation to 5k elevation on the train to 3.

From the author of Around India in 80 Trains comes another witty and irreverent look at the world and a celebration of the glory of train travel. It took us a couple of hours in the National Museum of Mongolian History, looking at armor, costumes and jewelry, to gain any sense of the city's old culture. I started looking up her references for a musical background to my reading and also some of the places that struck my fancy. We always read up about the history and learnt a lot about the particular country ourselves before going.The book club at work picked Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh for our December meeting and I’m so glad I was encouraged to read it.

Odd thing for a travel book - there is no itinerary or route map, a strange omission that leaves you grasping a little to determine just where they are heading sometimes. An ode to the locomotive quite unlike any other; a journey of gargantuan proportions equal parts incredible, audacious and enthralling; descriptions crafted so exquisitely that Monisha's memories of her travels could well be your own.

With just twelve minutes until departure, the Sakura Shinkansen slid up with the stealth of a creep at a bar, and a woman stepped out carrying a bin bag. Monisha records her journey through this book as she explains in detail about the various trains that she took, the food that each place had to offer, the sleeping arrangements, the people and struggles of adjusting to new culture though it was for few days.