It's lovely that I can write this in the comfort of my own home with an actual keyboard and mouse instead of having to juggle typing on my phone and messing everything up because typing with two thumbs is horrible and poor connection makes me lose paragraphs. Mostly it's fat fingers but I like to blame ISPs because you know, they can't really defend themselves.
But in all seriousness, doing this on a desktop is infinitely easier and faster. Ten finger typing and a mouse beats zooming in and out trying to find the "add picture" button. However, at home I am also infinitely more prone to procrastination. So, some amount of give and take on both sides.
Anyway.
First up, the legendary Indian Railways! The strange naming convention is presumably because in 1951 they nationalized all the various railway systems in India under one company. I actually just researched this because I had some OCD typing this out because I thought the company would be named "Indian Railway", the singular, since there was only one railway system in India. As opposed to what it currently is, using a plural name when in fact it refers to a singular system.
Confused yet? Yeah, me too.
Also, there was a online website to book a train ticket, but for some reason you needed a local account, either some sort of local ID or phone number or address or something, so that was completely elusive to us tourists. Thankfully the last hotel we stayed in seemed to know exactly what situation this was because they very helpfully booked and printed our tickets for us (for a small fee).
It was actually a lot better than I expected. It was not overflowing with people, and there was actually pretty good sitting and sleeping room. Nothing at all like the pictures you get when you Google "Indian Train" see people hanging off the side and piling up on top.
As seen from this specimen, there's actually adequate sitting room, but this is the second class cabin, with 6 beds to a cabin, and I was sitting on someone else's bed space (more on this later). 3 on the lower deck, and 3 on the upper deck (note the person sleeping above them). The beds can be converted into chairs if need be, but my general rule of thumb in India was "don't fix what isn't broken" (this applied to not just trains). Also, you might not want to discover what lies beneath the two layers of cushion. It comes with a blanket and pillow, and there's a pile of wrapped bed sheets (presumably washed) which you can line your bed with. However, when we pulled into Delhi a staff member came on just to refold all our blankets and put them back on the beds, so it's anyone's guess when the last time the blankets were washed.
And I spent about 10 hours huddled up under one because of the cold. Oh dear.
The first class cabin has 4 beds to a cabin and an actual door (ours has no doors, just curtains), while the third class cabin has 8 beds to a cabin. This also means that you probably won't have sitting room in the third class cabin, so for the small price difference I think you'd want at least second class so you could actually sit.
Also, our cabin was "air-conditioned", which actually meant it had a little strong fan in the middle of the cabin. It was fine in winter, but might be tough in summer because the windows can't be opened. Something to think about.
Some rudimentary research online suggested that there would be food and drinks available for purchase in the train and indeed there were people walking past calling out various phrases such as, "Chai, chai, masala chai" over and over and over ad nauseum. The chai was not nearly as good as any chai we had in our whole trip, but flavoured hot water was still not a bad thing to have on a cold winter night. The rest of the food options were...not very attractive. I asked them what were in those paper containers so they peeled the cover back for me to see a few slices of bread and a few chunks of fried...stuff. I never thought anything could be less appetizing than airplane meals, but I found it.
Thankfully there was a snack cart at the train station in Jaisalmer before all this began, and you should never go to war without enough ammo. At least, that's my personal policy.
That...should be enough to last me 18 hours. Also we brought our own bottled mineral water, which I actually finished.
Interestingly, sometimes the train was travelling forwards, while other times we travelled backwards. And there was a lot of this to-and-fro changing. Presumably there was some looping through the large number of stops between Jaisalmer and Delhi. And this was supposed to be the express train. I wonder what a regular train would be like if an express train took 18 hours.
I realized how much more advantageous it was to be male when taking the train. The toilet was...functional but challenging. Yes, I think that's the most appropriate way of putting it. There's no running water, despite there being two sinks and an extra water outlet that seemed to end above a mug next to thehole in the floor toilet. No, I don't know what the mug is for, nor could I find out how to operate any of the taps. I washed my hands with bottled water.
The walls are somewhat gunky and I wouldn't recommend touching anything as much as possible. Add in trying to keep your balance on a shaky train without spilling anything and you get an idea of what a toilet experience is like on the train. It was a little like navigating the Wave House at Sentosa. Lower in intensity for sure, but you definitely don't want to slip. It might make more sense to go when the train is stopped at a station, on hindsight.
I'm sorry if you were hoping for a picture, but there's no way in hell I'm risking any sort of equipment to get a photo. It's actually not too terrible just looking at it. In fact, it's somewhat comparable to a regular coffee shop squat toilet. Just with dingier walls, a door that doesn't close properly, no flush and no running taps. Oh, and it's shaking around most of the time.
The other 3 people in our cabin were the unnamed Indian man sleeping above Yinghao's bunk, and 2 nice old ladies from South Africa, one of whom I had to share sitting space with. It was great to have some company to talk to, and I found it quite amazing that they opted for the 18 hour train ride because they wanted to experience something different after their 2 weeks of travel in India (with guides). I'm not sure I would be able to take such a train ride when I'm 70. We spoke about travelling, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, it was all jolly good conversation. Also, hearing about history from the perspective of someone who had actually lived through it was fascinating. Mandela, the apartheid, the mess in Johannesburg, all of it.
Hm, I just realized I don't actually have a picture with them. Alas.
I thought an 18 hour train ride would be excruciating considering the longest one I had taken before this was only 8 hours, but I slept through half of it and the other half flew by through a combination of conversation, music and games on my phone.
So we finally got to Old Delhi Railway station and found that our accomodation was 3km away. The moment we get out of the platform we're accosted again by half a dozen touts trying to sell tuk-tuk services, accommodation, food, everything under the sun.
Interestingly, we were quoted 80 Rupees by Uber for the ride, which somehow worked out to 170 Rupees after charges. We were however, quoted 200 Rupees by the tuk-tuk drivers, who eventually tried to settle for 150 Rupees. 170 Rupees in an air-conditioned 4-wheeled vehicle with boot space vs 150 Rupees in a 3-wheeled open air vehicle with not nearly enough space? Not sure there's even a basis for comparison here. 170 Rupees = $4, 150 Rupees = $3.40
In fact, this was actually a trend in India where the Uber rides were consistently half the price of regular taxis and even competitive against the tuk-tuks. At this rate some people might out of jobs soon. Only worked in cities and touristy areas though, and there was a downside that we had to wait over 20 minutes for a vehicle that seemed to be "5 minutes away". Why that was the case would soon be revealed to us.
We got into our vehicle, I slept for what felt like an eternity, and we got to our hotel. It turns out that I had actually been sleeping for almost 45 minutes. Now if you remember, our destination was only 3km away. That's slower than I can walk. Apparently I missed a lot of grid lock, inching, horning, vehicles going against traffic, perpendicular to traffic flow, and a whole lot of waiting. Whee.
The rest of the day was spent freshening up, hunting for food and going to the Red Fort, which I only came to know about from playing Civilization 5. Who said that games were only for entertainment? We also walked about 2km to find KFC. A little embarrassing initially, but those 10 pieces of fried chicken were the best thing we ate since...hm. Possibly since the last time we went to KFC a week ago in Surat.
At the Red Fort (which we did not enter as it was closing), there was an even more extreme version of the selfie phenomenon.
It was fascinating. I'm not sure what was worse, the fact that they stood there for 5 minutes in various poses, sometimes having their picture taken, sometimes with selfies, or the fact that we stood there watching them. I feel a little ashamed of myself now. Also there was another group doing the same thing, but the most amazing part was that between the 4 of them they had one pair of shades, and they took turns using the pair of shades for pictures.
Because you know, this was actually the attraction we came to see. Unfortunately because I'm an uncultured lout I really can't tell you too much more about it, except it was a Mughal Fort as opposed to the Rajput Forts in Rajasthan.
Been quite a long post, this one. If you're still here thanks for reading, and here's something to think about if you would order it. We had the chance but we...did not make the adventurous choice.
Cheerios,
Jik
https://give.asia/movement/rickshaw_run_-_driving_for_charity
P.S. Now that we've stopped driving maybe it's more appropriate to call it "writing for charity". Hah.
But in all seriousness, doing this on a desktop is infinitely easier and faster. Ten finger typing and a mouse beats zooming in and out trying to find the "add picture" button. However, at home I am also infinitely more prone to procrastination. So, some amount of give and take on both sides.
Anyway.
First up, the legendary Indian Railways! The strange naming convention is presumably because in 1951 they nationalized all the various railway systems in India under one company. I actually just researched this because I had some OCD typing this out because I thought the company would be named "Indian Railway", the singular, since there was only one railway system in India. As opposed to what it currently is, using a plural name when in fact it refers to a singular system.
Confused yet? Yeah, me too.
Also, there was a online website to book a train ticket, but for some reason you needed a local account, either some sort of local ID or phone number or address or something, so that was completely elusive to us tourists. Thankfully the last hotel we stayed in seemed to know exactly what situation this was because they very helpfully booked and printed our tickets for us (for a small fee).
 |
| Actually quite decent, despite my initial reservations and strange naming |
 |
| Happy campers |
And I spent about 10 hours huddled up under one because of the cold. Oh dear.
The first class cabin has 4 beds to a cabin and an actual door (ours has no doors, just curtains), while the third class cabin has 8 beds to a cabin. This also means that you probably won't have sitting room in the third class cabin, so for the small price difference I think you'd want at least second class so you could actually sit.
Also, our cabin was "air-conditioned", which actually meant it had a little strong fan in the middle of the cabin. It was fine in winter, but might be tough in summer because the windows can't be opened. Something to think about.
Some rudimentary research online suggested that there would be food and drinks available for purchase in the train and indeed there were people walking past calling out various phrases such as, "Chai, chai, masala chai" over and over and over ad nauseum. The chai was not nearly as good as any chai we had in our whole trip, but flavoured hot water was still not a bad thing to have on a cold winter night. The rest of the food options were...not very attractive. I asked them what were in those paper containers so they peeled the cover back for me to see a few slices of bread and a few chunks of fried...stuff. I never thought anything could be less appetizing than airplane meals, but I found it.
Thankfully there was a snack cart at the train station in Jaisalmer before all this began, and you should never go to war without enough ammo. At least, that's my personal policy.
 |
| Not taking any of this lightly |
Interestingly, sometimes the train was travelling forwards, while other times we travelled backwards. And there was a lot of this to-and-fro changing. Presumably there was some looping through the large number of stops between Jaisalmer and Delhi. And this was supposed to be the express train. I wonder what a regular train would be like if an express train took 18 hours.
I realized how much more advantageous it was to be male when taking the train. The toilet was...functional but challenging. Yes, I think that's the most appropriate way of putting it. There's no running water, despite there being two sinks and an extra water outlet that seemed to end above a mug next to the
The walls are somewhat gunky and I wouldn't recommend touching anything as much as possible. Add in trying to keep your balance on a shaky train without spilling anything and you get an idea of what a toilet experience is like on the train. It was a little like navigating the Wave House at Sentosa. Lower in intensity for sure, but you definitely don't want to slip. It might make more sense to go when the train is stopped at a station, on hindsight.
I'm sorry if you were hoping for a picture, but there's no way in hell I'm risking any sort of equipment to get a photo. It's actually not too terrible just looking at it. In fact, it's somewhat comparable to a regular coffee shop squat toilet. Just with dingier walls, a door that doesn't close properly, no flush and no running taps. Oh, and it's shaking around most of the time.
 |
| Here's a photo of what our train looks like on the outside, as compensation |
The other 3 people in our cabin were the unnamed Indian man sleeping above Yinghao's bunk, and 2 nice old ladies from South Africa, one of whom I had to share sitting space with. It was great to have some company to talk to, and I found it quite amazing that they opted for the 18 hour train ride because they wanted to experience something different after their 2 weeks of travel in India (with guides). I'm not sure I would be able to take such a train ride when I'm 70. We spoke about travelling, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, it was all jolly good conversation. Also, hearing about history from the perspective of someone who had actually lived through it was fascinating. Mandela, the apartheid, the mess in Johannesburg, all of it.
Hm, I just realized I don't actually have a picture with them. Alas.
I thought an 18 hour train ride would be excruciating considering the longest one I had taken before this was only 8 hours, but I slept through half of it and the other half flew by through a combination of conversation, music and games on my phone.
So we finally got to Old Delhi Railway station and found that our accomodation was 3km away. The moment we get out of the platform we're accosted again by half a dozen touts trying to sell tuk-tuk services, accommodation, food, everything under the sun.
Interestingly, we were quoted 80 Rupees by Uber for the ride, which somehow worked out to 170 Rupees after charges. We were however, quoted 200 Rupees by the tuk-tuk drivers, who eventually tried to settle for 150 Rupees. 170 Rupees in an air-conditioned 4-wheeled vehicle with boot space vs 150 Rupees in a 3-wheeled open air vehicle with not nearly enough space? Not sure there's even a basis for comparison here. 170 Rupees = $4, 150 Rupees = $3.40
In fact, this was actually a trend in India where the Uber rides were consistently half the price of regular taxis and even competitive against the tuk-tuks. At this rate some people might out of jobs soon. Only worked in cities and touristy areas though, and there was a downside that we had to wait over 20 minutes for a vehicle that seemed to be "5 minutes away". Why that was the case would soon be revealed to us.
We got into our vehicle, I slept for what felt like an eternity, and we got to our hotel. It turns out that I had actually been sleeping for almost 45 minutes. Now if you remember, our destination was only 3km away. That's slower than I can walk. Apparently I missed a lot of grid lock, inching, horning, vehicles going against traffic, perpendicular to traffic flow, and a whole lot of waiting. Whee.
The rest of the day was spent freshening up, hunting for food and going to the Red Fort, which I only came to know about from playing Civilization 5. Who said that games were only for entertainment? We also walked about 2km to find KFC. A little embarrassing initially, but those 10 pieces of fried chicken were the best thing we ate since...hm. Possibly since the last time we went to KFC a week ago in Surat.
At the Red Fort (which we did not enter as it was closing), there was an even more extreme version of the selfie phenomenon.
 |
| The macho pose phenomenon |
 |
| Photo of the actual Red Fort |
Been quite a long post, this one. If you're still here thanks for reading, and here's something to think about if you would order it. We had the chance but we...did not make the adventurous choice.
 |
| Apparently it's a real dish. Just with a a somewhat unfortunate name |
Jik
https://give.asia/movement/rickshaw_run_-_driving_for_charity
P.S. Now that we've stopped driving maybe it's more appropriate to call it "writing for charity". Hah.
We are urgently in need of kidney donors in Kokilaben Hospital India for the sum of $450,000,00,All donors are to reply via Email only: kokilabendhirubhaihospital@gmail.com
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