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| At this train station you get a good view of the lady on the right judging me for not putting socks on my baby even when it's 98 degrees outside. The guy on the roof is also clucking his tongue (in Turkish). |
Once we figured out how to get food, the Orient Express became much more exciting. It’s unknown to pretty much all Westerners that eastern Turkey is breathtakingly beautiful. Our train ride let us in on the secret, winding through small villages and towns, high mountain passes, and mile after mile of bucolic farmland. Fig trees leaned over the track as the train rushed past.
It was only after changing a few diapers that I realized how remarkable it was that any vegetation was growing alongside the railroad tracks. You kind of assume that when you throw things in the waste bin, they eventually get taken to a nice, sanitary landfill somewhere. That would be a Western assumption, however. Waste bins on this stretch of the Orient Express actually get emptied out the window. But it gets better—the toilets also empty right onto the track. So you’re essentially traveling through a sewage landfill on this exotic adventure.