Amazing Train Journeys

- Season 4

(2013)

Beginning of the journey in Galle (south of SriLanka): a railway station with a timetable display board old of 150 years.Philippe takes the train to Kalutara: in the train Philippe speaks with the passengers about the tsunami of 2004 who threw down the train on this railway line.Then Philippe goes to Ratnapura and in the countryside visits a precious stone mine and sees how the miners are looking for emeralds, rubies or sapphires.Then Philippe takes again the train to Colombo: again a crowded train but the passengers are quiet (it's more pleasant to travel by train ...

Beginning of the travel in Rabat.A modern train to Fès where Philippe will visit the neighborhood of the tanners: we see how the tanners clean the fresh skins with chalk, how they paint the leather and how they dry the leathers in a cemetery.Then return to Rabat and further to Marrakech: the night in a famous place.Then go towards the mountains where women are harvesting by flowers of saffron and preparing this spice.Then Philippe goes towards the desert where he meets a train line : from there a train carries minerals to Oujda.The train goes through the desert and ...

At the beginning Philippe takes the train from Dar-Es-Salam to Tabora and Kigoma.Near Tabora he visits the National Park of Gombe : there he meets a team who observing chimpanzees.For 50 the families of chimpanzees have been observed.Then Philippe arrives at Kigoma: near the train station a man sells him a piece of soap made with natural ingredients.Philippe meets also a fisherman who invites him to go fishing by night on the Tanganyika lake: a traditional fishing technique with oil lamps (the Tanganyika is one of the deepest lakes in the word and the fishermen need ...

Beginning of the journey in Tokio: the main railway station looks like a mall.Philippe takes the Shinkansen to Kyoto (the first one started his travel on 1964 with a speed of 210 kilometers/hour): talk with a passenger about the punctuality of this train.Then Philippe buys a bento, a box with Japanese food inside.At Kyoto Philippe has an appointment with Mr. Iwata: they see the stone garden of the Ryoang-Ji zen temple: Mr. Iwata explains that you have to contemplate the garden for at least 30 minutes and you may feel serenity.Then Philippe goes to Nagoya: there a lot ...

Beginning of the journey in Auckland: Philippe takes the train from Auckland to Wellington (there are only two trains each day on this line).In the dining car Philippe speaks with a charming Maori-Italian woman about the haka (Kamate Kamate) and she explains that Maori women have also their own haka and proposes him to visit a Maori village.Philippe stops at Taumarunui and goes to Rotorua: a village in volcanic region; he see how Roni and Narmoni, two Maoro women cook a chicken soup with the the steam coming from the earth.They invite him to the public baths where all...

Beginning of the journey in Athens: Philippe visits the headquarter of the Presidential Guard, the guards are dressed like the evzones (traditional Greek soldiers); Philippe sees how the guards dress and how they begin their duty as sentinels before the Presidential Mansion and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.Then Philippe takes the train to Thessaloniki.In the railway station a chapel for the passengers who pray before their travels (Saint Filipo is the protector of the travelers).Then Philippe takes the train to Kalambaka: pleasant talks in the train about ...