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