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Somewhere on the Karakorum Highway…

On February 11, 2011 · In places, rails, roads and rivers

The Karakorum highway crosses the backbone of Asia, connecting Chinese Turkestan and Pakistan.  The Kunjerab Pass, at 15397ft, is probably the highest border crossing in the world.  This shows the highway as it leaves Kashgar headed for the Pamir Plateau.

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Somewhere on the Silk Road…

On February 11, 2011 · In places, rails, roads and rivers

This picture was taken at about the half-way point on a train trip from Singapore to Norway, at a place called Jiayuguan  （嘉峪关） in western China…

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Train line, Wadi Rum

Signs

On February 7, 2011 · In places, visual

I love this sign. Found it in the middle of the Wadi Rum desert in southern Jordan near the border with Saudi Arabia. Originally the train line was built to carry pilgrims to Jeddah, but it has long been abandoned.

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Tokyo Trains

On August 6, 2010 · In places, things

Everybody travels by train.  Everybody. In a country with an inhabitable size of New Jersey but with a population half that of the entire U.S., trains are pretty much the only option.  But they are efficient.

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Muine

On August 1, 2010 · In places

On the weekend I took a train to the nearby seaside resort of Muine (pronounced “Moo-ee-neh”).  The main beach was full of wind surfers, mostly instructors looking for prospective clients.  The entire 3 mile stretch of beach was littered with, well, litter of course, but also resorts of varying quality. There was a very large [...]

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Runaway Train

On July 17, 2010 · In places

The Van Golu Espressi, from Kars to Istanbul.  Notable because it is about 2/3 of the way between Singapore and Narvik, which is the longest train journey on earth.  Actually, 30 trains.  One pair of tracks.

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