Okay so I left off last time when we left Mayadidi’s house for the train station. On our way to the station, there was so much traffic on the roads because of the damage caused by the cyclone. Huge trees were lying in the middle of the road and there was just debris everywhere. During that ride, Katie and I realized how lucky we were with our train tickets too. See originally we booked a train for Monday night, but because of logistical and cost problems we ended up changing our train to Tuesday night. If we hadn’t switched then we would have been riding the train during the cyclone! Obviously, someone was looking out for us!
When we got to the train station, we found our train and our names were on the list! In Hindi too! We wanted to take a picture but our biggest concern right then was getting safely on the train. Mayadidi and Tandra got on the train with us just to make sure everything was okay. Luckily, we ended up getting the top bunks that we wanted on the train as well. We rode in 3rd class AC which was amazing! There are eight beds total in each compartment—3 on one wall, 3 across from them, and then 2 on the side. Katie and I got the very top bunks which was amazing because we just shoved our suitcases and bags onto the bunk and then laid on top of them so we didn’t have to worry about anyone stealing our stuff! (Side note—the fact that the bunks were so high up also created a slight problem in the middle of the night when we had to climb down to go to the bathroom. I almost sprained my ankle at 3 am in the morning when I misjudged the height of the bed. ) Once Mayadidi and Tandra saw that we were all set, we said our goodbyes and Mayadidi almost started crying. They stood on the platform outside our window until our train started pulling away and then Mayadidi walked after the train until it started moving too fast. We will miss her so much! We both got so close to her during our week in Kolkata.
I don’t even how to begin to describe our train experience. All in all, it was amazing! For the first hour or so, we just sat in the compartment and stared out the window trying to soak in all the images of India! After an hour or so, more people started coming into the compartment though so we decided to climb up to our bunks and settle in for the night. We positioned our suitcases and book bags so that we could sleep and relax but still protect our stuff at the same time. Katie and I took turns sleeping which made us feel much more safe. We had a nice little routine for 14 hours where one person would stay up and then when they got too tired they would chuck the bag of hand sanitizer, flashlights, and cliff bars to the other person as a sign that it was their turn to stay awake now. We actually slept really well because it was the first time we had been in air conditioning in about a week and it felt amazing! Katie and I literally had pants, sweatshirts, and like three blankets wrapped around us. The bathrooms on the train were also very interesting. First of all, they are very very secure! There are four different locks on the bathroom door so we told Mayadidi that our plan was to run to the bathroom and lock ourselves in if there was trouble. She laughed but agreed that literally that probably would be the safest thing to do! Also, the toilet is just a whole in the floor of the train. It’s a Western style toilet but you don’t flush or anything. It just goes right out the bottom of the train. Luckily, we remembered to bring toilet paper and hand sanitizer with us this time though! Finally, a bathroom experience gone well! Oh and another funny story—see its very dark on the train once everyone decides to go to sleep and the compartments all look exactly the same. One time when Katie got down to go to the bathroom, she got a little lost on the way back and started climbing up onto the wrong bunk. All of a sudden I heard her quietly scream, “Michelle!” I shined my handy dandy flashlight in her direction and saw her perched on the ladder of a bed that was not hers. It was quite hilarious but we couldn’t laugh because again we would have disturbed everyone around us J There have been so many stifled laughs on this trip, its not even funny!
On a more serious note, that train ride to Allahabad was just an amazing, incredible experience because we were finally heading to the city we had been planning to go to for six months. It was a very surreal feeling knowing that in less than 12 hours I would be standing on the streets of Allahabad. It was amazing to just have that time to think back and reflect on all the work we did to get to this point and to realize that we were living our dreams! It’s very easy to get caught up in everything, and it was nice to just sit there and savor the experience. We were travelling in an Indian sleeper train to a random city in the middle of India! It was insane and crazy but it was happening! The next day, we would meet all the people that we had been randomly emailing for months J That train ride was amazing for me and Katie because it allowed us to step back and really appreciate the incredible experience we are having!
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