Paharganj, New Delhi
25 October 2013 | India
October 12, 2013
Train Travel Blues
Well, unlike us, who usually live day to day and make plans on the spur of the moment, we have our whole time here in India - about 44 days in all - planned and all our train tickets bought. This is a gargantuan leap for us, born of necessity due to the complicated nature of the India railway system.
There are so many people here and, despite the many, many rails and trains, not enough seats to go around. There is a tourist quota which allows only a certain number of non-nationals to ride at any given time.
We began to understand the task ahead when we arrived in Delhi, off an overnight train from Mumbai (Bombay), and tried to book, for the same day, the next 4 hour train ride to Haridwar, near Rishikesh. The next train with seats available was two days later, which a friendly officer booked for us, there on the spot. We then realized that we needed to sit down and plan out all our rail travel and go back to the ticketing office the next day and buy all our tickets at once.
We spent hours deciding on a route, planning how many days in each place, setting down dates, only to find, when we went back to the booking office, that it wasn't going to work! We were told, upon presenting our 'master plan' that it's not about where and when we want to go, but rather where and when the trains run and their availability.
After taking a number in the ticketing office and waiting for over an hour, we sat down in front of an agent, only to be told that we had to sit at another desk in the same office to check availability of trains first and then come and sit with him to actually book the tickets. Back to the other desk we went.
We sat with the availability officer for more than an hour and then went back to the booking officer, who then had to input all our passport and visa info as well as book the eight separate train rides. It was Sunday and the office was closing at 2pm and it was now about 1:35. It would appear that we were cutting it close, but we did arrive at the office around 11 (there are no instructions posted in regards which desk to go to or which person to see.first.)
It all worked out and in the end, we are going to all the places we want, but just in a different order.
We spent only 2 days in New Delhi. It was great. It was the India I remember when I travelled here some 30 years ago. So much colour, so much energy.
We stayed in an area called Paharganj, whose main street runs perpendicular to the New Delhi train station making it very convenient for our next train.
We only had about a day and a half, so we didn't go too far afield. We mostly explored around small streets and market areas. Michael and Liam did go on a bit of an adventure, which, at the end of the day, had them in a movie theatre seeing a new movie.
Next stop; Haridwar and then Rishikesh in the Himalayan Mountains.
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