The Indian Express

Here Click this first.


I am now really in India. Yesterday I left the friendly confines of the hotel to enter into the real India. We were off to our first meeting that is 14 hours away by train. First we needed to get to the train station. There was “no” traffic because of the Holi Holiday that was on Sunday. It is really a 2 day festival. The roads still seemed very crowded and everyone loved to use their horn. The way to fix this problem is to make the horn really expensive so that if they want to use it they will have to pay. We get to the train station and it is crazy. There is one woman with no legs (below her knees) and is walking around asking for money. There are a few beggers but not too many to really be a problem. Lots of dogs that are carrying various diseases. Also everyone still has the face paint on from the festival so it looks like a crazy dream.
There are three classes of train cars. There is 1st class which is what we are in with beds and your own private area. There is 2nd class which is seats and there is 3rd class which is first come first serve benches. Some people even stand. It is crazy the amount of people they fit in 3rd class. For the 3rd class, there is a line and everyone is holding on to the person in front of them. My guess is so that they do not loose their spot and no one cuts in front of them. If someone does try and cut, there is an officer to yell at them and hit them with a stick. I could only imagine what goes on in 3rd class. Because of the 3 classes of train, it is the most popular form of travel in India. Over 70% of the population uses the trains.
The trains are the same trains type of train from The Darjeeling Limited, and I feel like Owen Wilson. So that is how I feel a little bit. Small but very comfortable. Our train car is very new (built 2 years ago) so it has a lot of creature comforts like, it does not smell, no cockroaches, and it even has toilet paper in the bathroom. The 1st class cars even have power outlets for your computer or your cell phone which is totally awesome. Because there are 6 of us traveling we got 2 cabins; a 4 person cabin and a 2 person cabin. Sleeping was very easy because I am so used to sleeping on a boat, the repeating motion is no problem for me. I slept great and had a great night. I am sorry that I did not get any pictures of the train station but I did not want to stick out more than I already do. The countryside is vast and is very sparsely populated. Here is where we ended at the Grand Dhillon Hotel in Nerhu Nagar, Bhilai. We are off to our first meeting so we shall see how that shakes out. More adventures to come soon and pictures below.