Anyone who's ever
thought about travelling through India has seen the images of the
overcrowded trains and heard the horror stories about being jammed in
for hours on end in a carriage with no air-con and very little
comfort.
My experience so
far in just about a month in the country is that, while it has its
challenges, getting around India has actually been pretty easy. So
far.
3AC Sleeper
As I write this
I'm getting ready to take my longest – and final – train journey,
from Udaipur to Mumbai. I'll be getting on at 9:30pm tonight and
arriving around around 2pm tomorrow afternoon. While it sounds like a
long haul, its far from the longest journey possible, and many of the
other tourists I've met have done trips which have surpassed 24
hours.
Once you figure
out the Indian train system it is actually fairly straight forward.
Having said that, trying to organise my first trip, from Calcutta to
Varanasi, was anything but easy and took a good half a day going from
counter to counter before eventually finding the people who could
help me.
With many trains
booking up months in advance, the one saving grace for foreign
tourists is the tourist quota. Most routes keep a certain number of
tickets available for foreigners meaning we can generally get away
with buying tickets the day before. But it doesn't always work out so
easily. I've had to take advantage of the “Tatkal” booking system
– where you attempt to book tickets at 10am the day before a trip
with some last minute release tickets, along with thousands of other
people – as well as the Wait list, where you pay for your ticket,
despite no seats actually being available in anticipation of people
cancelling. As crazy as this system seems, so far its worked for me.
The trains are
also surprisingly comfortable. With several different classes
(including three classes of air conditioned sleeper, and one without
AC) all at good prices, you can find something that will suit your
budget/comfort line. Being a bit of a “flashpacker” these days as
I'm a bit older, I've stuck to the AC classes for most trips.
A relatively empty 2nd class carriage
I was, however,
left taking an “unreserved” journey on one occasion. These are
the carriages that are overcrowded, hot, dirty and overall, not
really that pleasant. It definitely is an experience though. Having
caught the wrong train and gotten off at a stop in the middle of
nowhere, I was directed by a good samaritan to jump on a train going
to my destination. The only thing was it was already leaving. With my
full pack on my back and thongs on my feet I had to take a running
start and literally jump up into the carriage, being dragged in by
the people hanging out of the door. Once inside I had many eyes on me
clearly wondering why I was in that carriage. I was kind of thinking
the same thing.
After a couple of
stops I was able to get a seat and from there the rest of the trip
wasn't so bad. My fellow passengers were really kind, offering me all
kinds of food – although the 4 year old using the floor next to me
as a toilet kind of ruined my appetite.
In the end I made
it to my destination, and for about $1.25 for a 4 hour journey, who
can complain?
Far from being a
nightmare, I've actually started wishing my own country had a train
system as efficient.
So who has had some bad experiences on Indian trains? And I'm I pushing my luck posting this article before my final, and longest, journey? Let me know in the comments!
