4Journeys 1Trans-
Longest Train in Asia Speed is one thing, distance another – some of the world’s longest train routes are dotted across Asia, bringing passengers on epic journeys across the region’s vast expanses via railway lines once thought impossible to build
Siberian Railway
The world’s longest railway was built using simple tools like axes, saws, shovels and wheelbarrows by over 90,000 workers, and is now electric
DISTANCE
9,289km 6 days
In India, a tussle over the origins of an underwater sandbar has been going on for years, after a NASA satellite image of the Palk Strait in 2002 clearly showed the 30-kilometre chain of limestone shoals linking India’s Pamban Island and Sri Lanka’s Mannar Island. Historical records show it was a former land connection between the two countries that could be traversed on foot up till the early 15th century, until it was damaged by a cyclone.
While the structure has been referred to as “Adam’s Bridge” by Western cartographers since the early 1800s, in India it is known as Rama’s Bridge, or Rama Setu in Sanskrit. Devout Hindus believe this to be the famous bridge named Sethubandhanam, which, according to the ancient Sanskrit epic poem Ramayana, was built by the Hindu deity Rama and an army of monkeys to rescue his wife Sita from the clutches of the 10-headed demon king Ravana. Some religious devotees even treat the bridge as an object of worship on their pilgrimage to Rameshwaram city.
When new NASA images surfaced in 2006, devotees attempted to use the photos to
“The rocks on top of the sand actually predate the sand, so there is more to this story”
Drones can track the locations and health of animals and stream video to farmers’ smartphones Farmers can monitor their equipment, crops, and livestock via their smartphone or computer Sensors placed in fields and ponds allow farmers to obtain data on topography, acidity, temperature and animal health. They can also remotely control moisture and crop health
Russian names comprise a first name, a patronym (a reference to the father’s name), and a family name. Patronyms are created by combining the father’s name with the suffix -ovich for males and -ovna for females. It is considered respectful to call others by both their first name and their patronym. Hello! Привéт! (Privet!) How are you? Как дела? (Kak dela?) Excuse me Извини (Izvini) Thanks! Спасибо! (Spasibo!) I love you Выздоравливай ( Viz-dorav-livay)