{"id":266796,"date":"2025-03-26T02:35:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/a-journey-on-south-africas-blue-train\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T02:35:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:35:07","slug":"a-journey-on-south-africas-blue-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/a-journey-on-south-africas-blue-train\/","title":{"rendered":"A Journey on South Africa\u2019s Blue Train"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/20\/safrica-bluetrain-wine2-21170-cover\/safrica-bluetrain-wine2-21170-cover-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"A Journey on South Africa\u2019s Blue Train\" title=\"A Journey on South Africa\u2019s Blue Train\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Chaos surrounded us. Informal porters rolling luggage carts zigzagged between cars. Commuters spilled from the bus terminal onto the sidewalk, where they sat on suitcases and duffel bags. Minibus taxis zoomed through the congestion, pedestrians be damned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Our car crawled past a barbed-wire fence and reached a sliding gate, where all that separated my wife and me from the empty lot on the other side was a security guard. \u201cBlue Train,\u201d I said, and the guard waved us through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We pulled up to a blue carpet next to Cape Town\u2019s central train station, where two butlers in blue vests and white gloves greeted us by name and unloaded our luggage before ushering us into a waiting room that was decidedly more upscale than the one in the adjacent building for bus travelers. We lounged on plush sofas with a few dozen other passengers, relaxing to piano music and enjoying a spread of fruit, pastries, sandwiches and sparkling wine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I had traveled to this stunning South African metropolis, where the ocean meets the mountains, last December to indulge in a bit of Gatsby-like luxury by taking a trip on the country\u2019s legendary <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bluetrain.co.za\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Blue Train<\/a>. It\u2019s an adventure that turns a two-hour flight (plus a 45-minute drive) from Cape Town to Pretoria into a two-night, 994-mile experience, with all the pampering and beautiful vistas you could possibly ask for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Blue Train, whose origins date back a century, is meant to evoke exclusivity. And that\u2019s exactly what you feel when you\u2019re waiting in the lounge, a separate world from the gritty urban commotion outside. The tin shacks you flew over when landing at the Cape Town airport were out of sight, as were the people who approached your car asking for money, and those who pitched tents on street corners in the shadow of glossy condominiums and waterfront restaurants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The whiplash between excess and destitution is something that I still haven\u2019t grown comfortable with in my nearly four years as the Johannesburg bureau chief for The Times. South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, according to the World Bank, a reality on display almost anywhere you travel across this vast nation of more than 60 million people. The inequality is in many ways the legacy of apartheid, a decades-long racial caste system in which the country\u2019s former white-minority government violently segregated nonwhite South Africans into communities that were left to rot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During the thick of apartheid just over 40 years ago, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/05\/business\/media\/joseph-lelyveld-dead.html\" title=\"\">Joseph Lelyveld<\/a>, one of my predecessors in this job and a former executive editor at The Times, chronicled this same trip on the Blue Train in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/05\/08\/travel\/south-african-journey-the-blue-train.html\" title=\"\">an article for the Travel section<\/a>. Although it was the country\u2019s only desegregated train at the time, it was rare to see Black passengers because of the high cost. The train, he wrote, offered \u201ca window on a society that is compartmentalized on or off the rails.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Lelyveld, who died last year, added, \u201cOutside the train, you can catch some reasonably telling glimpses of the uneven ways in which land and labor are apportioned under the South African system.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, three decades after that racist system had been undone, I wondered how the trip and the country it showcases might have changed. Racial segregation is no longer legal, and South Africans may now live and work wherever they want, regardless of skin color.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But from the moment I walked into the lounge, I realized that this trip would offer a firsthand view of the staggering inequality and racial divide that continue to bedevil South Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The cost of the train remains prohibitive for many. Rates, which include seven meals and as many drinks as you want over a roughly 54-hour trip, start at nearly $4,000 for two people for the lowest room type in the low season, and climb to more than $6,000 for the most luxurious rooms during high season. Third-party vendors offer significantly discounted packages for South African residents that include hotel stays.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">My wife and I accounted for two of the four Black passengers. The dozens of other passengers were white \u2014 mostly foreigners, but also a handful of South Africans. It was the other way around for the staff: All but one of them were either Black or colored, a multiracial classification in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Our departure time came and went while we waited. The train manager stood at the front of the lounge to offer an explanation: Someone had pelted the train with stones as it approached the station that morning, and technicians were repairing a shattered window.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While the pelting could have been the result of youthful mischief, I couldn\u2019t help but think about something many South Africans have told me: The ostentatious display of excess by the privileged few can feel like a slap in the face to the masses who have been excluded from post-apartheid prosperity. And few things scream excess more than a train with hot showers, air conditioning and an open bar crawling past settlements where many people live in shacks without running water or electricity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Blue Train was established when the moneyed elite from around the world descended on South Africa in search of gold and needed a way to get from the Cape harbor to the mines near Johannesburg. Naturally, the workaday passenger coaches wouldn\u2019t do the job. That led to the creation of coaches decked out with what were sumptuous features at the time: card tables, ceiling fans and sinks with hot and cold water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When it was time to go, our assigned butler led us down the hallway to our suite, one of 37 on the 18-car train. The suites vary by bed type and bathroom amenities. Ours had a double bed that was folded up into the wall during the day, leaving a two-seat couch to lounge on while we soaked up the view outside a big window. Our bathroom had a bathtub with a gold, hand-held showerhead. Our cabin featured a television with Netflix, (spotty) Wi-Fi and a remote control for the curtains and blinds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The train evoked a sort of Gilded Age, with paneled walls, brass sconces and Italian marble tiles. There were two lounge cars (one for smokers) with plush sectionals and a curved granite-top bar. For formal meals there was a dining car with white tablecloths.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<p><h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-1d060279\">Prickly nuances and captivating scenery<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We took off around 2 p.m. on a Thursday, with our arrival in Pretoria scheduled for late Saturday afternoon. Because we were leaving late, there was no formal lunch; instead, the staff set up light bites in the observation car \u2014 the last car on the train, with the biggest windows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I loaded up a plate with grilled prawns, risotto balls, chicken with a sweet chile glaze, and skewers with cheese, tomato and cucumber, and settled in as the train crept out of central Cape Town. The first part of the trip cut through several townships, the outlying communities that the government restricted nonwhite South Africans to during apartheid and that today still largely suffer the effects of poor investment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There were piles of trash on either side of the track in some places. Cube-shaped tin homes hugged the tracks so closely that it seemed as though the corrugated roofs of some might scrape the train. A private security car drove alongside the tracks; a staff member later told me that security escorted the train through certain urban areas to thwart potential vandals. Some locals stared as the train jogged past, while giddy children waved and smiled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As we took in the humble communities in front of us and the gorgeous green mountains in the distance, a loud thud rocked the observation car. Almost everyone snapped their heads around, wide-eyed. Someone had whipped a rock at the train.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhat kind of people are they?\u201d sighed a South African passenger, who told me she was worried mostly about what visitors might think of her country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some visitors had ample opportunity to develop those opinions before they boarded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMany things changed. Positive,\u201d a Swiss woman sitting near me told a white South African woman, reflecting on the difference between her first trip to the country in the early 1980s and now. Back then, everything was separated, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the South African passenger explained to the Swiss woman and her husband how society, in her view, had broken down since the end of apartheid. She described downtown Johannesburg as \u201ca no-go zone\u201d and said if you drive there alone as a woman, \u201cdefinitely, you will be hijacked.\u201d It was a place full of squatters who burn down buildings, she said, suggesting that things went downhill when South Africans once confined to townships got their freedom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWith integration these people all moved into the city center, and now it\u2019s a mess,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those sentiments are not surprising. I\u2019ve heard South Africans of all races and ages complain about lawlessness and decaying infrastructure. Crime rates are high across the country, and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2023\/08\/31\/world\/south-africa-fire-johannesburg\" title=\"\">a fire in Johannesburg that killed dozens<\/a> two years ago brought global scrutiny to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/04\/world\/africa\/johannesburg-squatters-building-fire.html\" title=\"\">the city\u2019s blight<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-14\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There are complicated reasons parts of South Africa are struggling. But no one seemed in the mood to delve into the prickly nuances of mass dispossession, inherited wealth disparities, poor governance or the influence of global finance. We were just under three hours into the trip and the scenery became so captivating that pretty much everyone in the car fell into a silent awe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-15\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The train, perched above the Little Berg River, snaked its way through a valley north of the wine town of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/discoverpaarl.co.za\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Paarl<\/a>, with rocky green and yellow hillsides around it. We chugged on through Western Cape province landscapes so consistently majestic that you could easily begin to take them for granted. Flat fields where cattle foraged were illuminated gold by the setting sun, with hulking mountains in the background.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-34588872\">An \u2018honest\u2019 landscape<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-16\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The train stopped for a water refill at the Worcester station. That\u2019s where we were served dinner by the attentive staff who were eager to spoil us. Dinner was meant to be an elegant affair, with men asked to wear blazers and women evening dresses. Options for the three-course menu included raw salmon, rice noodles, pumpkin soup and lamb noisette.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-17\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The stop was scheduled for about 30 minutes, but the train stayed for more than an hour and a half, through our entire dinner. No explanation was given. Some South Africans had warned me before the trip to be prepared for unexpected delays. The country\u2019s rail infrastructure has been beleaguered for years, in part because of corruption and mismanagement within Transnet, the state-owned rail company that owns and operates the Blue Train.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By the time we were moving again it was nightfall, too dark to see what my predecessor, Lelyveld, had described as a \u201cdramatic ascent through the Hex River Pass, where it loops back on itself 16 times in the course of climbing 1,600 feet in only 15 miles.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-18\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When we retired to our room, the bed was neatly prepared by the butler, who had left chocolates on our nightstand. In the morning, the lush greenery of the Western Cape had given way to the brown shrubs of the semi-arid Northern Cape province. The scenery was different but no less spectacular. This was the Blue Train at its finest, showcasing South Africa\u2019s vast and diverse beauty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There was something honest about it, too. The landscapes themselves told a story of South Africa\u2019s journey as a nation. The train rolled through Hutchinson, a former railway junction in the Northern Cape where you could see that the glory days of South African rail were in the past. The brick buildings in the old station were gutted and abandoned, without roofs. But we also got a glimpse of what could be part of the country\u2019s economic future, passing a wind farm and a solar field.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-19\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Breakfast was pastries, fruit, eggs, bacon and French toast. We crossed the mighty Orange River, and then it was lunch time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-20\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A little later, we stopped in the city of Kimberley for the trip\u2019s lone excursion: the Big Hole diamond mine. The first diamond discovery there was made in 1871, setting off a rush that would eventually make Kimberley one of the most productive and largest hand-dug diamond mines in the world. It closed 43 years and 14.5 million carats later. Decades after that, the famous diamond company, De Beers, which got its start in Kimberley, funded a museum on the site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">We browsed the exhibits, which included a replica underground mine. From a suspension bridge that shakes with the wind, we got a view down into the Big Hole, which looks like a turquoise lake at the bottom of a deep crater. A plaque on the bridge paid homage to the people of the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"http:\/\/www.agrinc.gov.za\/index.php\/layouts\/content-mass\/home-1\/114-news\/853-the-royal-bafokeng-pilgrimage-takes-place-in-kimberley\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Royal Bafokeng Nation<\/a>, an ethnic group whose laborers died working at the Big Hole \u2014 a nod to mining\u2019s exploitative history in South Africa.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-33800af8\">\u2018You see what you see and you keep going\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-21\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That evening, I polished off salmon for dinner and we made our way to the lounge car for a night cap. A saxophonist played cover tunes and the blue carpet turned into a dance floor. The festive vibe was indicative of the South Africa I have come to know: a place of joy and creativity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As we rumbled through communities south of Johannesburg the following day, in the final hours of the trip, I thought about how the mood from the night before played against what I saw out the window: dilapidated factories enveloped in bushes and weeds. This area, once a manufacturing hub, was now a sad marker of the country\u2019s industrial and economic decline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-22\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s two worlds,\u201d a French tourist who was visiting for the first time told me, explaining that what she\u2019d experienced in the country was unlike anything she had encountered as a humanitarian worker in West Africa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She was talking about the extreme poverty and extreme wealth that live side-by-side in present-day South Africa, but she might have said the same thing to Lelyveld had she been on the train with him four decades ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-23\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From the comfortable confines of the Blue Train, I saw a South Africa that was similar to the one that Lelyveld saw: the breathtaking beauty, the rank poverty, the racial segregation. But a train, like a cruise ship, has its limitations. You see what you see and you keep going.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I\u2019ve had the benefit of exploring the country at a more measured pace. I\u2019ve met Black entrepreneurs thriving in disinvested townships. I\u2019ve been to swanky restaurants where the diners are Black and white and they\u2019re all dressed to the nines and swirling their wine with the same level of pretension. I\u2019ve seen the ways in which South Africa, though far from perfect, is a very different place than the one that Lelyveld explored.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And so when we arrived in Pretoria, I hopped off, appreciating that this trip had allowed me to see the country in a way that few others have, but knowing it only told part of South Africa\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/25\/travel\/south-africa-blue-train.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chaos surrounded us. Informal porters rolling luggage carts zigzagged between cars. Commuters spilled from the bus terminal onto the sidewalk, where they sat on suitcases and duffel bags. Minibus taxis zoomed through the congestion, pedestrians be damned. Our car crawled past a barbed-wire fence and reached a sliding gate, where all that separated my wife [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/20\/safrica-bluetrain-wine2-21170-cover\/safrica-bluetrain-wine2-21170-cover-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1664,165573,3530,205115,191667,168646,165575,11555,5070,205113,196538,205112,88816,108464,6967,1643,6612,170109,205114],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266798,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266796\/revisions\/266798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}