Thirty-three years went by. I was then twice as old as the person who had ridden those trains, most of them pulled by steam locomotives, boiling across the hinterland of Turkey and India. I loved the symmetry in the time difference... Had my long-ago itinerary changed as much as me?
Long after the trip I wrote about in The Great Railway Bazaar I went on thinking about how I'd gone overland, changing trains across Asia, improvising my trip,rubbing against the world. And reflecting on what I'd seen - the way the unrevisited past is always looping in your dreams.Thirty-three years went by. I was then twice as old as the person who had ridden those trains, most of them pulled by steam locomotives, boiling across the hinterland of Turkey and India. I loved the symmetry in the time difference... Had my long-ago itinerary changed as much as me? I had the idea of taking the same trip again,travelling in my own footsteps...
From the Eurostar in London, Paul Theroux once again sets out on a journey through the East, travelling overland through Eastern Europe, India and Asia. Infused with the changes that have shaped the exterior landscape and enriched with developments to his own perceptions and psychology, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is an absorbing and beautifully written follow-up to The Great Railway Bazaar.
Map
1 The Eurostar
2 The Other Orient Express
3 The Ferry to Besiktas
4 Night Train to Ankara
5 Night Train to Tbilisi
6 Night Train to Baku: the Trans-Caucasian
7 Night Train from Ashgabat to Mary
8 Night Train to Tashkent
9 The Shan-e-Punjab Express to Delhi
10 Night Train to Jodhpur: the Mandore Express
11 Night Train to Jaipur
12 Night Train to Mumbai: the 'Superfast' Express
13 Night Train to Bangalore: the Udyan Express
14 The Shatabdi Express to Chennai
15 The Coastal Line to Galle and Hambantota
16 The Slow Train to Kandy
17 Ghost Train to Mandalay
18 The Train to Pyin-Oo-Lwin
19 Night Train to Nong Khai
20 Night Train to Hat YaiJunction: Special Express
21 Night Train to Singapore: the Lankawi Express
22 The Slow Train to the Eastern Star
23 The Boat Sontepkeap to Phnom Penh
24 The Mekong Express
25 Night Train to Hue
26 The Day Train to Hanoi
27 Tokyo Andaguraundo
28 Night Train to Hokkaido: Hayate Super Express
29 The Limited Express: Sarobetsu to Wakkanai
30 Night Train to Kyoto: the Twilight Express
31 The Trans-Siberian Express
32 Night Train to Berlin and Beyond