July 30th, 2009 by Lauren Locke-Paddon
Arrive at dawn to a small town in Southern India after a minimum of 36 hours of travel including a night spent on the airport floor. Find your way to the train station by a circumambulatory mission on foot that involves delightful views of the highways and near-death-experiences.
At some point during the hottest part of the day, hire a motorcycle taxi to take you the rest of the way – they all offer “air conditioning”. Get delivered to the bus station by the motorcycle taxi. This will teach you to be clearer about your destination: repeat train station, not bus station.
Stand in line with the other prospective passengers for a long time. Get pushed out of line several times. Find out you’re in the wrong line. Get informed that the route you’ve planned on will take two days: 3 trains and a layover in a town not listed in your guidebook. Retreat to the plastic seats to re-think the next step.
Stand in line again. Throw your elbows into it this time. Get tickets to a town only two hours away.
Arrive three hours later (the train was a little delayed). Breathe a sigh of relief when you see the railway station sign that reassures you that this is indeed your plan B destination.
Try using the Indian Rail website in a town with frequent and unannounced power shortages. You don’t even want to talk about how frustrating this is.
Find out about Cleartrip. Rejoice in the internet cafe. Buy your tickets in advance (especially during high season) and print them out. Arrive to the train station early even now that you’ve gotten used to that Cleartrip-thing being pretty darn precise. It’s a popular pastime to hang out at train stations for days at a time. Make friends with a family, who may offer you some amazing looking food from multi-layered metal tiffins. Whether you accept or decline, dressing up their children in your hats and sunglasses makes for endless amusement.
Usually there will be a print-out or a chalk board that will tell you on which platform your train arrives. If not, run around frantically until you find someone that looks like an official Indian Rail employee and ask them if they’ve got any idea where you might go. Your train ticket will not specify train number, platform number, departure time, length of trip and may only have a cryptic abbreviation of your final destination. Most of these are included as regular attributes of Cleartrip tickets.
Things you’ll need once you get on the train
You may want to consider asking a local what's best to bring on a rail trip in India
A lot of water and snacks to eat on the train. If you’re prepared, there’s a good chance that there will be tons of delicious homemade food for sale. If you don’t have anything – there won’t be anything to eat at all, just the constant relay race of the chai-wallahs down the aisle.
A sleeping sack (or fabric) to put in between you and the invariably dusty bunks in the three-tiered sleeper class can make all the difference on an overnight journey. (Note that all the AC sleeper classes give you a fresh set of white linens!)
For peace of mind, sleep with your passport/cash/cards in a money belt strapped on under your clothes. Tucking my wallet/camera/etc. into a small bag to use as a pillow seemed an adequate security precaution for three months of travel.
Earplugs. A good book. Paper and pens.
Things you might get offered on the train
Fresh shrimp, chai, coffee, fried-things-galore, homemade food, birthday cake, watches, locks, herbal medicine and marriage proposals. Saying yes to the coffee and chai is the safest bet in the long run.
Once you’re off the highway and along the tracks you have the chance to take in some of the least traveled and most offbeat destinations the country has to offer. Enjoy the world going by outside your open window.
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