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

Product Information

She has written for the London Evening Standard, The Guardian, TIME magazine and The New York Times. as well as wonderful descriptions of cities, mountains, rivers, sunsets as she passes through the landscape on the seemingly endless journey. Then it’s on through China, Vietnam (where trains resemble “mobile skips”), Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore (“a starchy, characterless city”) and Japan, a nation that has truly “mastered utopian travel”. I rated this book 4 stars because it captures some of the downsides to overtourism that I have come to loathe. Worst of all, I have no doubt that she was sincere but it came across as a series of journal articles shared with the express view to inform but not alienate, to critique but not completely criticise.

Her lackluster descriptions and cheesily superficial reflections at the end of every experience had me flying through the pages not out of excitement to read her next word, but to finish the book as fast as possible and get it over with. 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.

A couple of hawkers started to work their way up the carriage, one selling fish cakes and noodles, the other dragging an ice bucket stacked with cans of Nescafe…A Dutch family swapped a few of their bananas for a couple of my Snickers bars and between us we were managing to forge a pretty decent meal. I too found the author to be quite judgemental about how people travel (and it is because if this, that I didn’t warm to the author). As other reviewers have said, it was not a trip round the World as Africa is not covered and neither is South America.

The temperature was pushing forty degrees…Few exercises were as excruciating as sitting in silence, watching a rejected ice cream melting. A wonderful account of the diversity of life and the inhumanity that is part and parcel of our world told with such grace, courage and humour. It wasn't easy to get into at first, as she tended to skip around a bit, it wasn't exactly sequential, but once you get used to her style, it is really interesting and becomes a page-turner. Such rookie mistakes could have been amusing anecdotes, had they not been formulated as faults in the system itself, with Rajesh taking no responsibility for her own failures.Perhaps because these were the problems she anticipated, having experienced them before, she is prepared for stuff like not being able to wash several days in a row. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. A refreshing take on the world that isn’t from someone who isn’t from a conventional background and who is prepared to engage and interact with the people who she meets, rather than merely observe. 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. For a book about traveling around the world in 80 days there was very little information included that showed they had actually travelled in 80 trains.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. She stood next to the door holding it open as passengers exited the train, and bowed as each one deposited their litter. The journey is one of constant movement and mayhem, as the pair strike up friendships and swap stories with the hilarious, irksome and ultimately endearing travellers they meet on board, all while taking in some of the earth’s most breathtaking views.

But our experience on Amtrak was very enjoyable - because we booked the level of service that we desired for a relaxing vacation.