Riding the Indian Railway

An out-of-date blog, but one that we couldn't miss...
One of the most efficient things in India is its rail system. We took a sleeper train down south from Rajasthan (14-hour train!) and were seated with a nice family. We were able to easily talk to them without the craziness of the streets and normal noises of daily life in India. It was very comfortable with bunks, sanitized sheets, blankets and pillows. The best part was witnessing the food and drink that are available at each stop. You can buy chai or fried goodies from any number of vendors outside and inside the train. One of the memories that sticks is seeing the chai man running alongside the train (trying not to spill the tea) to get the last order in, and the customer sticking the 5 rupees out the window to claim his/her hot drink. Or, the customers who had gotten off briefly to satisfy their hunger urges and seeing the train slowly take off, running with their newspaper-wrapped goodies to hop back on the train before it picked up too much speed to leave them in the dust.

Inside the train was fairly clean and neat, but after looking at the tracks before getting on, we knew what kind of bathroom conditions there would be. No toilet paper (normal) and waste being deposited directly on the tracks; in fact a hole straight down.

But, like any train ride, it was interesting (sometimes good and sometimes sad) to watch life go by: one moment you could see beautiful rice fields and the next you would see little boys taking their shower in the local swimming hole (or open sewage).