As I write this, we are nearing the end of our journey on the Tazara train from Kapiri Mposhi (K.M.), Zambia to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Our train departed two days ago at 3:10pm. The total journey is 1860km (a little more than 1100 miles).
As I write this, our train has stopped in the Bhopal ‘B’ train station. We are traveling on an overnight train from Mumbai (Bombay) to Agra. It is 9:30 in the morning on the second day of our 22-hour journey.
After arriving in Japan, we spent the first three days in Tokyo. We visited several of the city sights, including the zoo, Ginza and Shinjuku. We also took a day trip to Nikko, which was a two hour train ride each way.
We began our second week in Japan by visiting Kyoto and the wonderful temples in the city. Also included in our time there was a day trip to Nara.
We left Beijing’s West Train Station at 12:45pm on Wednesday to begin our ten hour journey to Luoyang. We were able to get hard seats (for about $12 each) on a ‘K’ train, which is an express that makes very few stops.
After leaving the relaxation of Dali, we visited Kunming, another large Chinese city. The major highlight of this visit was a day trip to the Stone Forest.
Our last stop in China proper was in Yangshao, a short distance from Guilin. Here we enjoyed a variety of activities, including biking and hiking.
We were on a 30 hour train ride from Kunming to Guilin. The ride was very pleasant since we rode in the “soft sleeper” of the train, consisting of four berths in a compartment. However, because of the noise and bumps, sleep was difficult.
It is Friday and we have been in Yangshao the last few days. It is a small town (for China) about 40 miles south of Guilin in Southern China.
