Cold Train

The Spatillomans were pretty lackadaisical about planning ahead.   We had to get back to Delhi for our plane flight, but it wasn't until a couple days before leaving Rishikesh that we bothered to book a train for that.  We booked it through  a travel agent who had earlier forbidden Courtney from snacking on raw garlic while surfing in his internet cafe.  (I gave up on numbering her antics, but I assure you they are guaranteed.)

We were too late to get the A/C car, so we got second class sleeper car.  Who would want air conditioning in the winter anyway?, we thought.  The only clue we had about the upcoming horror was how the agent emphasized the word "freezing" when warning us.   I bought a small blanket.

We got to the train station around 10pm, starting to get cold.  We probably looked a little silly, being foreigners and not immediately knowing our way around.  Creepy guys gathered around where we were sitting and openly stared at us, without saying a word.  We took pictures of this weirdness:

When our train arrived, we carried our heavy luggage up and down the long line of cars, searching for S8, the one with our seats.  It wasn't there.  An absurdly formal British female voice instructed us over the loudspeaker to board the train, but there was noone to help us find S8.  A couple "know-it-alls" were wandering around, watching everyone board; they didn't work for the train station but tried to be helpful.  They were not.  A couple assured us that S8 was in this direction or that direction, giving us the head wag.  It was in neither direction.  One guy opined that we should simply get onto any car before the train left, pointing out that technically, since we had tickets we would eventually get seats.  Do I need to explain how horrible that would be, squeezing all our stuff down dozens of crowded cars in the dark, confused and unable to speak to anyone, and heaven forbid another party doing the same from the opposite direction??  Anyway eventually S8 and S9 showed up and were connected to the rest of the train.

After we settled, I took this video:

The train ride was eight hours of freezing cold and listening to snoring.  There was no heat on the train.  Just imagine being in a metal box outside through the night in the winter.  Eight hours of wishing we had more blankets.  Evidently plenty of blankets are provided in the A/C car.  My companions were grimly composing blog entries to articulate their suffering:  see here and here for their chilling stories.

When dawn came, and we arrived at Delhi, I took this video:

We got off at a metro stop, and took the metro to the airport. A guy wonders if he's been the best host when his party starts talking about the worst trips they've ever been on, and about the Holocaust.  As we approached the airport, though, we somehow transitioned from the third world to the first.  The new airport in Delhi is really clean, warm, and classy.  It was good to back.  Here are pictures of some asana and mudra statues in the airport:

We really appreciated the sun that morning.

Can you spot your favorite mudra?

We got back to Mumbai and took a couple days to recover.  Stacy and Courtney caught a Kareena Kapoor flick.  Then we flew to Goa for the final leg of our vacation. 

Happy Mother's Day!