saying goodbye to the Salty Sheep and the kids of AHSA and headed across Delhi
with Jake to catch a train south to Hyderabad. Travel days are the best…and
they are rarely less than 30+ hours. Here’s timeline look at our train ride
from Delhi to Hyderabad.
Friday, May 20
15:00:: Say goodbye to the team and kids at ASHA
15:50:: Pick up 6’9″ Saji Phillip and squeeze him into the
backseat with Jake and I.
16:15:: Stop for a glass of lassi.
16:18:: After the guys chug their lassi (I passed on this
experience, a hot car ride + semi-spoiled dairy product=no good for this gal),
we’re back in the car.
16:27:: We pass a sign that says, “Traffic Rules and Your
Dreams…follow them both.”
16:45:: We pull up to the train station and unload our
packs and follow Uncle, Babu, and Saji across multiple
train tracks (safe? Probably not.) to the platform.
17:17:: Put our packs inside our airporters.
17:18:: Realize that we are on the wrong platform and the
train we were meant to be on was loading across the way. This wouldn’t be such
a problem except packs in airporters are super hard to carry.
17:30:: Push our way through the crowd to our car and
finally find our compartment.
17:38:: Do a quick head count and realize that there are 14
people in our compartment meant for 8.
18:22:: Realize that Jake had his phone pick-pocketed while
we were getting on the train.
18:43:: We offer some of our tiger biscuits (cookies) to our
compartment mates, they want none of our treats. We eat an entire row of the
biscuits, we decide we need to ration them.
19:31:: Check the temp on my alarm clock: 99 Degrees.
19:35:: Order dinner, 2 curry chicken please.
21:07:: Get dinner, Curry is good: spicy. Chapatti (like a
tortilla) tastes fishy. Jake comes through and finishes mine for me.
longhorn in the station, we hope he’s not joining us.
22:13:: 96 Degrees
22:07:: Jake makes friends with some army guys a couple
compartments down.
22:30:: Bed time. We have a top and middle bunk, but we also
have day packs and big packs. So, we put our big packs on the middle bunk and
attempt to share the top bunk.
23:07:: I wake up in a pool of sweat. Time to readjust.
23:34:: Still can’t get comfy, decide to prop my feet on the
bed across from us. This seems to be a comfy position for now.
Saturday, May 21
1:43:: 2 hours of sleep, not bad.
1:47:: Can’t fall back to sleep, play 3 games of nertz.
1:55:: Jake gets his feet beat by a guard, no feet in the
aisle Jake!
2:03:: 2 rounds of Bananagrams.
floor, I accept this decision readily. (So while the earlier guard hit him for
having his feet across the aisle, it was perfectly fine for him to lay in the aisle.)
own.
6:13:: Everyone on the train seems to be awake and ready to
start the day…Jake moves back up to the bed.
6:14-8:27:: We continue to maneuver and situate ourselves to
sleep in tight, awkward positions.
8:31:: Try and convince myself that I’m clean and fresh
after brushing my teeth, putting on deo, and washing my face.
9:01-9:43:: iPod worship. Bringing some Holy Spirit into the
train!
10:00:: We decide it’s time to move our packs back to the
top bunk so we can fold away the middle bunk and the man on the bottom bunk can
sit up straight. (The middle bunk folds down and allows for us to sit on the
bottom bunk like a couch.)
10:34::Order lunch. Offer our compartment friends biscuits
again, this time they accept.
10:51:: Start watching Iron Man.
11:06:: 96 Degrees.
11:21:: We are gathering a crowd around our movie.
11:59:: 100 Degrees.
12:53:: 102 Degrees.
13:03:: Lunch is served. 1 Curry Chicken. 1 Potato/Tofu
Curry. (Jake finds a toe nail in his curry, he keeps eating.)
13:07:: Chapatti still tastes fishy, this time our
compartment mates accept my offer of food and eat my chapatti.
Commission.
16:17:: Start Iron Man 2
20:07:: 98 Degrees.
20:36:: Arrive in Hyderabad…now to find a place to sleep.
20:40:: Jake finds a taxi driver who looks like he’s 12, but
it’s been a long ride so we follow him.
20:46:: Jake trips on the stairs, not to be outdone I then
trip and fall face first into the stairs, my daypack is strapped to my chest so
it breaks my fall and I still have all my teeth.
21:00:: We tell our taxi driver we want a cheap hostel, our
first stop may be cheap, but it’s not WR cheap, so we keep looking.
21:15:: We find a good place, Jake negotiates an even lower
rate, and we get AC…nice.
21:40:: We head out to find food, we find an awesome Indian
place, Chicken Masala and Naan, after train food and tiger biscuits I’m
in heaven.
22:50:: Take hot showers…without a bucket and crash after one loooooong day.
So there you have it, India by train. It’s definitely an experience that I hope will remain, once in a lifetime!!
