I hauled myself up the ladder with a bit of extra momentum, and landed on a pile of scratchy black powder. Oyv climbed up too and we stood on top of the heap of iron ore in wagon six. The train rumbled to life underneath us and slowly pulled away. Gradually it picked up speed, and we chugged towards the coast. Sixteen hours overnight through the Sahara, all alone under the stars, on top of a train.
A couple of locals we talked to in Cairo and Alexandria hinted at there being ferries to Saudi Arabia from Hurghada or other places in Egypt, but no one knew much about it. Any sort of ticketing or travel agent we asked said no such thing existed and tried to sell us flights to Riyadh. That only strengthened our resolve and we were determined, Insh’Allah, to arrive in Saudi Arabia by ferry.
I highly recommend the overnight ferry, if you’re travelling from South Korea to Japan (or vice-versa). A smooth trip, a comfortable night’s sleep, and a bathhouse onboard. And if you aren’t that tired, there’s always karaoke.
This post is about our experience aboard the Tazara train, traveling from Zambia (New Kapiri Mposhi) to Tanzania (Dar es Salaam). It’s a guide to whatever you need to know to take the same journey, and what awaits you along the way. And – if you’re in the neighbourhood, then you should definitely take this journey.
You can of course fly from Kuala Lumpur to Sumatra’s capital city Medan in less than two hours. But if, like us, you’d vastly prefer a lengthy overland excursion instead, you can travel from one country to the other on a combination of public transport offerings by land and sea. Crossing by ferry between Malaysia and Indonesia is easy, it’s just time consuming: it took us a bit under three days to get from KL to Medan. Here’s how.
Dangerous driving on bad roads is a given in Bangladesh. But you don’t have to get around only by bus: train travel is a great way to go. Especially if you follow my advice below.
Travelling in Bangladesh will inevitably involve a river-journey or two. An iconic trip: cruising on the Rocket, an early 20th century paddlewheel steamer.
In case you’re curious about taking the cargo ferry across the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan – it takes a lot of patience and some vodka doesn’t hurt either.
I hauled myself up the ladder with a bit of extra momentum, and landed on a pile of scratchy black powder. Oyv climbed up too and we stood on top of the heap of iron ore in wagon six. The train rumbled to life underneath us and slowly pulled away. Gradually it picked up speed, and we chugged towards the coast. Sixteen hours overnight through the Sahara, all alone under the stars, on top of a train.
A couple of locals we talked to in Cairo and Alexandria hinted at there being ferries to Saudi Arabia from Hurghada or other places in Egypt, but no one knew much about it. Any sort of ticketing or travel agent we asked said no such thing existed and tried to sell us flights to Riyadh. That only strengthened our resolve and we were determined, Insh’Allah, to arrive in Saudi Arabia by ferry.
I highly recommend the overnight ferry, if you’re travelling from South Korea to Japan (or vice-versa). A smooth trip, a comfortable night’s sleep, and a bathhouse onboard. And if you aren’t that tired, there’s always karaoke.
This post is about our experience aboard the Tazara train, traveling from Zambia (New Kapiri Mposhi) to Tanzania (Dar es Salaam). It’s a guide to whatever you need to know to take the same journey, and what awaits you along the way. And – if you’re in the neighbourhood, then you should definitely take this journey.
You can of course fly from Kuala Lumpur to Sumatra’s capital city Medan in less than two hours. But if, like us, you’d vastly prefer a lengthy overland excursion instead, you can travel from one country to the other on a combination of public transport offerings by land and sea. Crossing by ferry between Malaysia and Indonesia is easy, it’s just time consuming: it took us a bit under three days to get from KL to Medan. Here’s how.
Dangerous driving on bad roads is a given in Bangladesh. But you don’t have to get around only by bus: train travel is a great way to go. Especially if you follow my advice below.
Travelling in Bangladesh will inevitably involve a river-journey or two. An iconic trip: cruising on the Rocket, an early 20th century paddlewheel steamer.
In case you’re curious about taking the cargo ferry across the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan – it takes a lot of patience and some vodka doesn’t hurt either.