One of the great things about traveling by train is the people you meet. In Europe one meets a lot of other Western travelers, particularly those taking advantage of their Interrail passes. As one goes further east, it is more common to share a compartment with the people of that country, or at most, a neighbouring country. I wasn’t the only Westerner taking the Trans-Asia Express, but there weren’t many of us. On this three-day train journey from Istanbul to Tehran, I shared the compartment with Hussein, above, and two of his fellow country-men; all Iranians visiting Turkey. There was a language barrier, but we all managed to conquer that over the three days we shared in a 2 x 3 metre compartment.

One of the great things about traveling by train is the people you meet.

In Europe one meets a lot of other Western travelers, particularly those taking advantage of their Interrail passes.

As one goes further east, it is more common to share a compartment with the people of that country, or at most, a neighbouring country.

I wasn’t the only Westerner taking the Trans-Asia Express, but there weren’t many of us. On this three-day train journey from Istanbul to Tehran, I shared the compartment with Hussein, above, and two of his fellow country-men; all Iranians visiting Turkey.

There was a language barrier, but we all managed to conquer that over the three days we shared in a 2 x 3 metre compartment.

Source: Flickr / fil