The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia

The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia, by Paul Theroux
 
When I saw this downloadable book in the selection stream, I just knew I had to read it! So I downloaded Paul Theroux's "The Great Railway Bazaar: By Train Through Asia" to my iPad 2 and I'm glad I did. Theroux decided to travel from London across Eurasia to Japan by train. His health was declining and he wanted to travel to a dry climate. He bid his wife goodbye at Victoria Station, and thus begins his adventure aboard many different railway lines: The Orient Express, the Khyber Pass Local, the Frontier Mail, the Arrow Mandalay Express and the Trans-Siberian. His descriptions of the landscape as it changes from country to country are brilliant. Most entertaining are his descriptions of the various characters he meets along the way. Some are comedic, some are dark and mysterious. He soon learns that he can get an upgrade in accommodations if he bribes the conductor! Many trains don't have a dining car, so he finds himself jumping off the train at some stops to buy food from vendors. This has to be done quickly so he doesn't miss getting back on the train before it leaves. In other cases, Theroux discovers that time is not important in terms of when his train leaves. He describes the many ethnic groups he sees. Poverty is wide- spread and conditions are anything but sanitary. (Theroux describes how the women are washing clothes in the green water in Temple fountains.) He feels adventurous as he tries to travel to a town which is supposed to be off-limits. Much to his surprise, he is forced to get off and take a train back to the originating station by someone much like a CIA agent. Although this book was written in the 1970s, it's a classic memoir which deserves your consideration. You won't regret it!
-Carl