Translated by Ann Wright (Route 2009)

By Maurizio Tinnirello

Classic train journeys evoke certain romanticism.The Orient Express is associated with luxury and refinement, the Trans Siberian joins Europe with Asia and the Pacific Ocean, and the Palace on Wheels recreates a glorious past through Rajasthan in India.  The Train of Ice and Fire evokes none of these.

Of all the places where a great train journey can be done, Manu Chao chose a country where there are no running trains and the rail network is in ruins: Colombia. This eccentric adventure takes Manu Chao, his band Mano Negra, acrobats, tattooists, various other entertainers, Manu’s father – the chronicler – and Roberto, a fire breathing Dragon, through the heartlands of Colombia in a bric-a-brac train named La Consentida. 

The sole purpose of the journey: to stop at abandoned stations and entertain for free the disenfranchised people who live close by. Descending from the Altiplano – 2,500 metres above sea level – to the Northern Coast of Colombia, passing through Aracataca the hometown of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the adventure took this group of artists through some of the most beautiful and diverse scenery in the world.

Ramón’s description of the various sights, the vegetation, mountains, valleys and so on, transmits a sense of wonder, almost a feeling of disbelief in front of such well hidden beauty. However, it was the people who they encountered that amazed them most. The journey turned into a splendid rendezvous of cultures and people; a bunch of French entertainers and the simplest of people in Colombia, but also the warmest and probably the more intrigued at seeing this bunch of French gypsies in their small towns. Ramón illustrates this beautifully by noting how a terrified Colombian girl asked him how French men make love.

The journey is also accompanied by a description of the political, historic and social contexts that enriches the book in a subtle way. Despite crossing through one of the most violent countries in the world, the crew did not experience major security problems; it did experience other type of pitfalls: lack of funding, personality problems, mosquito attacks, constant derailments, Roberto the fire breathing dragon that sometimes breathed nothing at all, and the dissolution of Mano Negra. This did not deprive the travelling gypsies of an adventure that neither the Orient express or any other train journey can provide.

This book raises the spirit and engages one’s laugh at every kilometre advanced. For the reader with some knowledge of Colombia and South America, it will be unavoidable to laugh at the subtleties noted by Ramón. For the rest, the book will awake a pressing interest for the country and its people and undoubtedly will be lured into this voyage. 

Worried about derailment, one of the members of French crew asked the driver of La Consentida to slow down. It was cruising at the unthinkable speed of 25km/h! The driver calmly answered: ‘There is no danger; we are on the flat’. This book shares so much joy that it can be read faster than 25 km/h without fearing derailment!