In these times of lockdown, I have been travelling across Latin America with Paul Theroux, a snob yet an observant author. He starts his journey in the United States, in a suburban 
train and after taking the multiple trains in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, (skipping Nicaragua) Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, he reaches the last functional railway station in Patagonia, Argentina, at the end of Americas.
During the last decade, I have read many travelogues by Paul Theroux, travelled in the trains with him, in Europe, in West Asia, South and Southeast East and then in the Trans Siberian Express. Travelling in train helps you check the nerve of the host nation, it gives you a closer glance of life there. My love for the Railways has been inspired by the works of Theroux. I travelled in trains in India, Myanmar, Europe, Sri Lanka and a little bit in Vietnam, thanks to the insights given by the legendary travel writer.
Throughout his travelogues, Theroux keeps emphasizing that it is the journey which matters the most than the destination, the emotions you go through when you are on the move, the observations you make when you get a moving picture of your surroundings. They all are aspects which make your travel adventure worth undertaking.
When anyone asks him, what do you do? He declares himself a Geography teacher, who can be anywhere in the world, learning about the ways of the world. If I ever taught geography (being a geographer myself) in the school, I will recommend travelogues and especially those of Theroux as must-reads, as they are far richer than the average textbook of geography.
In this given travelogue, ‘The Old Patagonian Expression,’ while on the move, he makes pertinent observations about the dictatorial political culture in South American countries, role of United States in the politics of its own backyard, relationship between the indigenous communities and those of the European descent, the economies and the topography and the wild football matches. The podcast of the travelogue is available on Storytel. You can close your eyes, and switch on the narration and let your imagination have wings, taking you across the world to South America and there you travel in trains with Theroux.
Someday I would like to follow his path and travel across South America in the Railways.
Maleccha 