India: New Delhi to Lucknow

We had read that the way to see the "real India" was to travel by train. Our expectations had been set by reading official and independent train travel reviews! What we experienced well under achieved expectations, and I arrived tired, sore and ashamed that I had subjected Lenore to the journey. A strong positive, the trip was better for the help of the Indian man sitting next to Lenore.

The arrival at New Delhi station was the expected maze of people, many sleeping on the floor. We were engulfed with porters, who we initially rejected. There was a large electronic display board of train departures. Interestingly trains are know to locals by their names, e.g., "xxxxxx express".

When we realised that our train departed from platform 12, we engaged two porters to carry our two bags; 250rp from memory. No escalators or lifts at these stations. They rolled their scarfs into a ring which they put onto their heads to cushion the weight. The other piece of vital info is your carriage number so that they can deposit you to the correct location on the platform. For each train they seem to know where the carriages on the very long trains arrive, or they ask a porter friend who works that platform.

There was a range of vendors on the platform; fruit, water, chai, newspapers/books in both Hindi and English. Also the beggars!

We were once again the subject of much interest and I soon found myself in conversation with a group of porters from Rajasthan; the topic, cricket of course! The World Cup, Rajasthan Royals and what a great captain Shane Warne was! They know the Australian greats! One asked me how old I was, possibly because most Indian men of the same age look much older.

 

 

 

When the train arrived there was an almighty crush as locals pushed to get onto the train to claim luggage space, with all seats assigned by number. We were the only 'foreigners' as they are called here;typically entrance prices are ten times higher for foreigners. When we pushed our way on we discovered that the carriage (one of 3 AC Chair carrages) was 3 abreast each side of the aisle, close spaced without reclining. Our seats were window and centre ( not aisle) as expected. Fortunately the man on the aisle who spoke some English assisted rearrangement of some luggage to allow space for ours to join the precariously balanced items on the racks. My backpack and food bag had to stay on the floor between my legs.

The train left 15 minutes late and arrived in Lucknow, 500kM distant the same amount late. The Indian Railways, the largest employer in the world, certainly moves large numbers great distances at low cost ; AUD 10 each for the highest available class. Cars and porters cost us more.

All seats were full (the norm), the seats cramped and uncomfortable, the toilets beyond description; one sit down toilet and 3 'Indian toilets ' with the outlet straight to the tracks! Chai, drink, snack vendors walked the aisle. At one longer stop you could get off and buy from the platform (see photo above of fruit seller; they also carry their heavy wares on their heads), and at later stops hot food vendors came on board to sell a variety of meals. Soon the smell of curry engulfed the carriage and helped mask the smell of toilets. When I saw an Indian lady and then man open an Indian toilet door, pull a face and quickly close it, I knew not to go there!