Yesterday we got to the Sawai Madhopur train station in plenty of time and found our platform. It's not a big station so that was easy. While we waited for about an hour, we watched the activity. People who don't want to walk around to other platforms by the ramps and overpasses just hop down and walk across the tracks. No-one seems to care. In the station, there are few seats, so most people just squat or sit on the platform. A little boy was fascinated by Anita so she gave him a Canada pin that Dylan and Kasumi sell through their Tiny North mini-conglomerate. If you look closely at the picture you can see the pin on his shirt. We wish we had brought more to give away.
The "second class" cars with no AC are easily identifiable by the open windows with bars. Those cars are rammed with people.
When our train arrived, we found our car without too much trouble. It was an AC 3 tier, meaning 3 tiers of sleeper beds. I had a middle bunk and Anita had a top bunk on the other side. We didn't want to sit up there so a nice older Indian couple on the lower bunks let us sit on the end of their berth. We spent the trip chatting with the man, who was retired from the Indian army, a Greek lady about our age, and a young Indian woman who spoke very good English. She told us she worked for a company that subcontracted recruiting services for American and Canadian companies. She mainly works nights because of the time difference. She calls Americans and Canadians to discuss their prospective employment with companies in America and Canada, with no relation to India. Who knew?
The Greek lady has been traveling alone throughout India for about 6 weeks. She had more of the typical rip-off stories that we hear all the time, where until she learned, she might pay up to 10x the true value of a good or service. Our young Indian friend was embarrassed by these stories but she knows they're true.
Our train was late, of course, so the driver we had arranged was not at the appointed spot. However, our new friend called our hotel and confirmed the pickup. She helped us because she said we were her guests. After she left us, a couple of the local petty criminals tried to strike up a conversation but our driver arrived before we had to get stern with them.
Our hotel is in a quieter area, a little out of the way. However, a taxi to the old city will only cost about 100 rupees ($2 Cdn). The vegetarian restaurant in the hotel is fine but not as good as at our last hotel (where I couldn't eat for 3 days). Luckily I'm over the Delhi Belly but I somehow caught a sinus or cold virus on the train and have been congested since we left Sawai Madhopur. At least I don't have to be near a bathroom all the time.
This morning, we booked flights to Udaipur next Tuesday and from there to Delhi the following Sunday. The hotel charged only a couple hundred rupees per ticket for the arrangements, which we found to be very reasonable. At the end of our trip, we'll stay at the most expensive hotel of all, the Holiday Inn near the Delhi airport, just to be close to our homeward flight.
Today, we're just going to explore the neighbourhood a bit and find a good restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow we'll hire a car and driver to visit the Amber Fort.
The "second class" cars with no AC are easily identifiable by the open windows with bars. Those cars are rammed with people.
When our train arrived, we found our car without too much trouble. It was an AC 3 tier, meaning 3 tiers of sleeper beds. I had a middle bunk and Anita had a top bunk on the other side. We didn't want to sit up there so a nice older Indian couple on the lower bunks let us sit on the end of their berth. We spent the trip chatting with the man, who was retired from the Indian army, a Greek lady about our age, and a young Indian woman who spoke very good English. She told us she worked for a company that subcontracted recruiting services for American and Canadian companies. She mainly works nights because of the time difference. She calls Americans and Canadians to discuss their prospective employment with companies in America and Canada, with no relation to India. Who knew?
The Greek lady has been traveling alone throughout India for about 6 weeks. She had more of the typical rip-off stories that we hear all the time, where until she learned, she might pay up to 10x the true value of a good or service. Our young Indian friend was embarrassed by these stories but she knows they're true.
Our train was late, of course, so the driver we had arranged was not at the appointed spot. However, our new friend called our hotel and confirmed the pickup. She helped us because she said we were her guests. After she left us, a couple of the local petty criminals tried to strike up a conversation but our driver arrived before we had to get stern with them.
Our hotel is in a quieter area, a little out of the way. However, a taxi to the old city will only cost about 100 rupees ($2 Cdn). The vegetarian restaurant in the hotel is fine but not as good as at our last hotel (where I couldn't eat for 3 days). Luckily I'm over the Delhi Belly but I somehow caught a sinus or cold virus on the train and have been congested since we left Sawai Madhopur. At least I don't have to be near a bathroom all the time.
This morning, we booked flights to Udaipur next Tuesday and from there to Delhi the following Sunday. The hotel charged only a couple hundred rupees per ticket for the arrangements, which we found to be very reasonable. At the end of our trip, we'll stay at the most expensive hotel of all, the Holiday Inn near the Delhi airport, just to be close to our homeward flight.
Today, we're just going to explore the neighbourhood a bit and find a good restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow we'll hire a car and driver to visit the Amber Fort.
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