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Wongwian Yai Station
The idea was to try and get to Maeklong railway market, about 80 odd km southwest of Bangkok. While I’m sure everyone knows what it’s famous for, what nobody tells you is that there’s just one train from Wongwian Yai station that takes you directly to this station – the Maeklong Railway Line at an unearthly hour of 6:45 am. Of course, we never made it on time. This is Bangkok, after all. The local train to Mah Chai station. Instead, like good travelers who expected things to fall into place, we reached the station late that morning, and on enquiring, figured some trains take us to Maha Chai station.…
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A bridge that was nearly far
There are bridges, and then there are some more. There are bridges that have been immortalised in countless classic movies; The Bridge on the River Kwai instantly comes to mind. There are bridges that connect countries and people, like the Oresund Bridge that links Sweden with Denmark. And then there are bridges, that, in this age of social media, have shot into the limelight. One such bridge is the Nine Arch Bridge. A train passes along on the bridge Also called the Bridge in the Sky, the Nine Arch Bridge lies between the small-town stations of Ella and Demodara in Sri Lanka. For those who continue their train journey on…
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Chasing the sunset
A train in the middle of the desert, proof that Lawrence of Arabia was not the myth you thought he was and seeing one of mother nature’s most spectacular light shows. It’s all part of the experience when visiting Jordan’s Wadi Rum. A view of Wadi Rum (Photo credit: Neel Mitra) You might think, exploring a desert is something only adventurers or people soft in the head do. Well, you can confidently erase that thought if you are in Jordan and choose to explore the Valley of the Moon, or what is more popularly known as Wadi Rum. Valley of the moon or planet Mars (Photo credit: Neel Mitra) Wadi…
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The Reunification Express
First things first. There is no Reunification Express. At least not officially. It is called the North–South Railway. Covering 1,726 kms, it is the main railway line that connects the political capital of Hanoi with the commercial capital of Saigon. View of the South China sea A bit of history first Construction of the line linking these two cities began during the French rule in 1899. It took nearly 40 years for its completion, finally connecting the cities in 1936. However, the line was continuously sabotaged and bombarded during the Vietnamese fight with the French, and later during the Vietnam War. It wasn’t after the war finally ended, in 1975,…
