The wonder railway network

A country that runs on its mammoth railway network can surely pride itself for being the near-perfect technological wonder.  In Japan  a  few  millions  commute  by  train  every day. Entire cities seem to spread underground with their tentacles as the urban network operates mostly through subway stations. Trains of almost every description are aplenty—passenger trains, express trains, long-distance trains, the iconic ‘shinkansen’ or ‘bullet’ trains  the ‘maglev’ or magnetic levitation trains, the Romance cars! The network is operated by different companies, both government-owned and private. A tourist, on his first visit to a metropolitan subway station is sure to get baffled at the mind-boggling network! These stations, both underground and over ground, are lined on both sides by shops selling everyday necessities, food items and condiments, vending machines , eateries and restaurants of different categories. Even the most insignificant station will have some grub to offer even at an unearthly hour. The stations are agog with passengers from early morning—even in the bitter cold months the compartments are jam-packed. But what is amazing is the fact that there is no mad rush, no jostling, no pushing, no yelling. As the train stops at a station, the right of way is first given to passengers alighting, in a queue. Those waiting to board the train stand patiently, again in a queue, for their turn to get in. Wheelchair-bound passengers and senior citizens, babies  in  perambulators  and differently abled passengers have a smooth entry to the compartments and are stationed safely and comfortably in their designated areas. The rough yellow patch all along the platform in each and every station safely guides the visually challenged to the door of the compartment.  Little children going to schools all by themselves without any adult escort, is a very common sight both at stations and on the roads. This tells a lot about the public transport system in the country. 

                The scene inside the compartments is more surprising. Passengers of every conceivable type—young, old ,middle-aged, men women, students, professionals, businessmen---all sitting in a row and surfing mobile phones, texting, earphones plugged in their ears. Even if they talk, it is barely audible.And all this technological wonder comes with an icing on the cake....  The annual average of the delay in the running of the trains is just seven seconds!                

 The iconic Shinkansen

  

The Shinkansen

            

The interiors of a passenger train

Inside a subway station

Another station

The elevated track for the maglev train run without a driver

Prints of masters inside Namba station,Osaka

A Van Gogh print  inside Namba station

A Romance Car

A station

Ladyboy show at Pub Street, Siem Reap

     Seam Reap in Cambodia is an international tourist destination. This city draws a mind-boggling number of tourists from across the globe every   year. In spite of being a  southeast Asian country, it is a neat and prim city built around numerous temples and monuments.   Though there are unmistakable signs of a third world country just beyond the tourist circuit, yet it has been conceived and developed as a tourist-friendly city. There are numerous hotels, restaurants and shops catering to an immense international tourist market. Much has been written about the famous Angkor Wat and other sites of historical importance which have been included in the World Heritage list. What made my Cambodia trip memorable were experiences much more in addition to the normal touristy visits to the temples and monuments. One such is the fantastic experience at Pub Street on Halloween night. We were told by our guide that there are 'Ladyboy' shows held at Pub Street every evening where boys dressed as girls would sing, dance and perform dramatic skits. It was adult entertainment, we guessed, but the guide was forthcoming in his assurance that it was perfectly okay for a lady to visit the place.
   

      So we ventured out to Pub Street in a tuktuk at 8 in the night. It was a broad road lined with pubs and restaurants, all brightly lit .Loud music and dance greeted us everywhere. The pavements were over crowded with people from different countries mingling with the locals. It was a picture of wild abandon and revelry. There were rows of chairs and tables in front of the restaurants in the narrow alleys. Most of the people were dressed in their weirdest and ghastliest makeup. It felt like a grand carnival where everyone participated in his or her own way. We asked about the Ladyboy show at a pub and were ushered in very graciously. It was a small space, very dimly lit and sparsely furnished. There were a few people inside, talking in hushed tones over a drink. The young waiters, mostly transgender, were extremely cordial and jovial. They made us feel extremely comfortable. After some time the show began. It was a solo performance by a transgender who was playing the role of a woman. Music, dance, song and emotive acting...all rolled into one -- it was the enactment of a well defined supernatural story. We were simply speechless by the impact of the whole spectacle. It was something we had never experienced before. 

              While returning to the hotel quite late at night I did not, for once, felt myself in an alien land. The crowd was huge but there was no pushing or jostling, no untoward incident. No one actually looked at us, total strangers, leave alone leered. I was trying to figure out what it would be like in my own country with over- curious people staring at you and the depraved ones trying to grab an opportunity to touch and grope a woman at such an unearthly hour! Though there was nothing obscene or objectionable in the show, it was quite difficult to visualize such a show being held publicly in my country of moral policing. I returned to the hotel, safe, happy and content. The pleasant memory of the Halloween night and the Ladyboy show will remain with me a for a very long time.

Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia

           The moment I crossed the Poipet  Border  from Thailand and entered Cambodia by  road, I found myself in very familiar territories. The landscape was very Indian, rather Bengali, to be precise. Miles and miles of metalled  roads lined by shallow marshes, paddy fields ,coconut trees, fishermen fishing in the ponds and the greenery all around.....seemed to be just out of my good, old Bengal. What caught my attention were the houses on both sides of the road. Even in small hamlets the houses displayed a particular and distinctive style of architecture, very much in the line of heritage structures.  

                      After visiting the World Heritage temple at Angkor Wat and other temples we were scheduled to visit the famous Tonle Sap Lake. It is the largest fresh water lake in south-east Asia which is unique for its unusual flow pattern in different seasons. It is a combined lake and river system of Cambodia and finds a place in UNESCO world biosphere list .In summer the lake shrinks and drains into the Mekong at Phnom Penh and in the rainy season it flows back to form a lake. The huge lake, whose normal area is 2700 sq.km in summer, increasing to a phenomenal 16000 sq.km in the rainy season, is home to  a large variety of fish and the only source of  sustenance for thousands of people living on the banks, engaged in fishing and related activities. It is, in fact, a huge floating village. But what we encountered at the lake was something we were not prepared for and way different from the common touristic experiences.

                   We boarded a motor boat from the jetty and embarked on our cruise. It was a huge lake, almost like a sea, whose banks were blurred. There was vegetation in and around the water but no trace of human habitation in the beginning. After a few minutes we found our boat being trailed by a smaller boat which was furiously trying to overtake ours .In no time it simply logged into our boat and two very young teenagers jumped in, goading us to buy soft drink bottles they were selling. On our refusal, they asked for money. We felt uneasy as we had not expected this. After a few minutes they left our boat with the same agility as they had jumped in and rowed away fast. It was a jarring note. Not that I had harboured any illusion about Cambodia, a third-world country, very akin to my own in so many respects.

                          As our boat travelled farther towards the middle of the lake, we could see some specs on the water. Gradually they turned out to be a sprawling settlement ....human habitation on the water. Moving farther we noticed small shanties, most of them makeshift, barely serving as a shelter. There were shops, markets, eateries, a church and even a school! Hundreds of people were busy with their daily chores .Hundreds of boats of all sizes and shapes were floating on the water. It was a floating village! But everywhere it was a picture of abject poverty and squalor. Suddenly we saw two little children floating in a large metal tub drawing up near. We were shocked to find a live snake wound around one child's neck. They were displaying it to the foreign tourists and begging for money .Instantaneously my trip became soured. On asking our guide we came to know that these   people   were  mostly Vietnamese refugees forced to take shelter on the lake and live a life of sheer  wretchedness  in  poverty. We noticed dirt and filth all around, half-clad children and men and women in tattered clothes. This spectacle perhaps generated the curiosity of the western tourists for the 'other', the exotic in a poor, third-world country but we, from a similar socio-economic background, couldn't find anything such. It felt so sad that these people had been forced to sell their poverty at the expense of their children. At the end of the day we returned with a heavy heart and regretted our visit to the lake. The grandeur of Angkor Wat or Bantey Srey or the natural beauty of Phnom Kulen was a gross mismatch for the sordid reality of Tonle Sap Lake.