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| After changing to a narrow-gauge rail in Kalka, the little engine that could, did. It uncoupled from the cars and went on its merry way. Luckily, there were brakes on the passenger cars, so we did not roll back from whence we came—probably a 30-degree incline. The engine came back to fetch us, and we were on our way again. Luxuriating in the view of the mountains, I could doze off and wake up to different kinds of beauty, as the landscape changed from peopled hillside towns to cloud-shrouded mountains. The train stopped perhaps 10 times on the 7,000-foot climb. You could dash out and buy food and tea from vendors, then dash back on board. Doors stayed open. People hung out open windows. |
