A train driver also gave me a whistle. He met with me on the Ankara platform. He had actually reached out to me on social media two years ago, saying, “If you ever come here, you literally have brother A in Turkey.” It was really sweet. He kept his promise and took a whole day off from work. He met me in Ankara. He showed us around. He took us downstairs to see the high-speed train parking.
He was baffled that I loved sleeper trains, because the high-speed trains were so fast, sleek, high-tech and beautiful. And he said, “Just take the high speed trains.” Stop taking those horrible old trains. “No, I don’t like them,” I replied. They are the best.”
He brought out a whistle. He gave me an actual train whistle, saying, “It is yours. Keep it.” He told me to blow through the rafters. And the sound was simply amazing. It was a brilliant, childish moment. It was a brilliant, childish moment.
He showed us around Istanbul. And then he gave me this beautiful pocketwatch that had belonged to, I believe, a chef. He told me, “Here’s your official membership card for Turkish Railways.” I was touched to not only receive these things but to also be welcomed and escorted around by complete strangers, who felt a connection with me due to our love for trains. To me, this really demonstrated how trains can bring people closer together. There is something about trains that binds people together in a way I couldn’t imagine with any other mode of transport.
LA: You are amazing! Thank you for sharing your stories. You seem to be a fountain of stories. What is the best place on the web for people to follow your travels and pre-order your book?
MR: My Instagram handle is monisha_rajesh. I will be blogging about my adventures and the book’s release.
LA: Bookshop.org, for example, is my favorite place to buy books in the US.
MR: Okay, perfect.
LA: You should be able pre-order the game there.
MR: You can pre-order from any great independent bookshop. That would be great.
LA: Thanks for listening Women Who Travel. You can find me at Instagram. lalehannah. Our engineer is Pran Bandi. Special thanks to Jake Lummus, who provided engineering support. Ammar Lal, at Macrosound, mixes our show. Jude Kampfner is our producer, Stephanie Kariuki, our executive producer, and Chris Bannon is head of Condé Nast Global Audio.
