We left the Pantanal and we left Brazil. The border crossing was more than obvious, the paved street suddenly became a dirt road and the buildings on the Bolivian side looked run-down compared to Brazil. After the border formalities we got continued to the train station of Corumba. Ultimately it turned out, we were at the wrong train station (the booking agent got everything wrong, they quoted the wrong time and the wrong station) – consequently we needed a quick transfer to the correct station and ended up with five persons in a taxi (plus according number of backpacks…) for an interesting 20 minute taxi ride. The train was actually waiting for us at this station (we made up about two thirds of the first class car); we boarded quickly and the train journey started.
While we did not use the actual Death Train, our train at least used the same tracks on our 14 hours journey. The seats and seat arrangement were rather nice, however the ride itself rather bumpy and uncomfortable – I’d rather have a Chinese hard sleeper train…