The last train
I would say that this was to be the last day that I would start by sleeping on a train, but that would suggest I was sleeping at midnight! More accurately, I was being squashed like a sardine in less than half of a very small bed. So this was the train that we didn't actually manage to get a real ticket for - they were sold out when we came to book. Instead, we had what is called a Reservation Against Cancellation, or RAC, ticket. This means that you basically get half a berth (could be awkward if with a complete stranger...) and if someone doesn't turn up technically you should get upgraded to a berth each. Realistically what happened to us was either everyone turned up or beds were claimed by others, so we ended up squashing into one, and a narrow corridor version at that! Very uncomfortable indeed and not exactly sleep-inducing.
To rewind a little to the previous evening in Jaisalmer, predictably, yes, the train was late (left at 20:00, was due to leave at 16:45) but we had been able to predict this a little and suitably time our arrival to the station. I even risked a (very spicy!) omelette at the station in lieu of dinner (feeling much better now, phew!). We boarded the train with a very noisy group of about 35 family members, who had also spent New Year's Eve in Jaisalmer.
By the time we were back in Jaipur it was truly morning, light streaming in at the windows,so I decided to read for a bit. The hardness of the seats required a shuffle every 15 minutes, difficult with two of you squashed in one berth. Hence the next few hours were spent cycling through dozing, reading (finished my fifth book), puzzles and biscuit-eating. We had failed again on the food front - nutritious food is so hard to procure outside of restaurants in India, and nothing of interest was offered to us for the duration of what turned out to be a 20 hour journey.
I was so incredibly glad to leave the train (dehydrated, grumpy and with a raging headache) at 16:00, just the 5 hours late. This was our last train journey and if I can help it I will never be using Indian railways again, nor recommending them to others. Bleurgh.
Our tuktuk took us a very roundabout route to our hotel, where we unceremoniously dumped our bags, waited for the attendant to slowlu show us every intricacy of the room (TV, window onto a wall, two sets of blinds, shower, heating, air con, wardrobe, shelves) before heading straight out into Old Delhi to procure some real food. After a short walk through some typically thronging streets, where raw pigs heads seamlessly ended into stalls of papaya, and then cooked chicken, we plonked ourselves down at Karims. This offered us cheap, reasonably tasty food, and although the kitchen didn't look fantastically clean, the turnover was so high we hoped it wouldn't be a problem (which it turned out, it wasn't).
Feeling a little better, we caught a cycle-rickshaw back to the hotel to help us navigate one particular arduous road crossing in the now dark, before gratefully collapsing into a real, soft, stationery bed.
NB this is the first day the camera has not come out of its envelope so apologies for the quality of the photos!
I would say that this was to be the last day that I would start by sleeping on a train, but that would suggest I was sleeping at midnight! More accurately, I was being squashed like a sardine in less than half of a very small bed. So this was the train that we didn't actually manage to get a real ticket for - they were sold out when we came to book. Instead, we had what is called a Reservation Against Cancellation, or RAC, ticket. This means that you basically get half a berth (could be awkward if with a complete stranger...) and if someone doesn't turn up technically you should get upgraded to a berth each. Realistically what happened to us was either everyone turned up or beds were claimed by others, so we ended up squashing into one, and a narrow corridor version at that! Very uncomfortable indeed and not exactly sleep-inducing.
To rewind a little to the previous evening in Jaisalmer, predictably, yes, the train was late (left at 20:00, was due to leave at 16:45) but we had been able to predict this a little and suitably time our arrival to the station. I even risked a (very spicy!) omelette at the station in lieu of dinner (feeling much better now, phew!). We boarded the train with a very noisy group of about 35 family members, who had also spent New Year's Eve in Jaisalmer.
By the time we were back in Jaipur it was truly morning, light streaming in at the windows,so I decided to read for a bit. The hardness of the seats required a shuffle every 15 minutes, difficult with two of you squashed in one berth. Hence the next few hours were spent cycling through dozing, reading (finished my fifth book), puzzles and biscuit-eating. We had failed again on the food front - nutritious food is so hard to procure outside of restaurants in India, and nothing of interest was offered to us for the duration of what turned out to be a 20 hour journey.
I was so incredibly glad to leave the train (dehydrated, grumpy and with a raging headache) at 16:00, just the 5 hours late. This was our last train journey and if I can help it I will never be using Indian railways again, nor recommending them to others. Bleurgh.
Our tuktuk took us a very roundabout route to our hotel, where we unceremoniously dumped our bags, waited for the attendant to slowlu show us every intricacy of the room (TV, window onto a wall, two sets of blinds, shower, heating, air con, wardrobe, shelves) before heading straight out into Old Delhi to procure some real food. After a short walk through some typically thronging streets, where raw pigs heads seamlessly ended into stalls of papaya, and then cooked chicken, we plonked ourselves down at Karims. This offered us cheap, reasonably tasty food, and although the kitchen didn't look fantastically clean, the turnover was so high we hoped it wouldn't be a problem (which it turned out, it wasn't).
Feeling a little better, we caught a cycle-rickshaw back to the hotel to help us navigate one particular arduous road crossing in the now dark, before gratefully collapsing into a real, soft, stationery bed.
NB this is the first day the camera has not come out of its envelope so apologies for the quality of the photos!
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