No Problem Thailand, 1990 After the all night train ride, I arrive in Bangkok at oh-dark-thirty. I rub my eyes, yawn, and immediately light a cigarette, along with most of the train car of travelers. A few minutes later, a train attendant comes with a […]
Brewed with boiling water from the silver samovar, the tea was brought at any time of day by the provodnitsa assigned to our carriage. We called her the tea lady and admired her brightly colored Russian scarf. Everyone drank the tea, including my three-year-old sister and […]
The experience of riding the Orange Line—the branch of Washington’s metro between its western suburbs and downtown—depends largely on your attitude. One can begrudge it, or embrace it; what you cannot do is change the way it is. In my case, I ride between home […]
My new house was close to the railroad tracks that cut through the city’s lower south side. When my insomnia kept me awake, I heard the trains’ hooting calls, each one a warning to cars and late-night ramblers that they were passing by, crossing through, […]
My First Train Journey in India “The Director General of Urban Development for the State of Orissa has heard of our work in Jharkhand and would like you to come to Bhubanesar. He has set up a meeting for the day after tomorrow to discuss […]
At the Russian Border Marcia Krause Bilyk At some god-awful hour of the night a clang of metal and backwards thrust of our sleeper car startled me awake. The train’s vibration stopped. All was quiet. Too tired to sit up and peek behind the […]
