Monday, 21 April 2008

Leaving Mumbai




After a good 48 hours, with nothing to eat except half a pizza and a mars bar (due to very dodgy stomach,) I was not really feeling at the top of my game. The lack of sleep was a factor too, only managing two hours at a time, but at 3am we had to get up to be able to catch the train at 5.30am. We didn't have a ticket when we got to the train station, and while I was lying down on the platform trying to get some sleep, getting up every now and then to be sick in a corner, Sam met a couple of lads from Kuwait, one also called Sam, and the other Slim. They were alot more experienced at getting trains in India, and they spoke perfect English and Arabic, so were a great go between with us and the locals. So we got the train with them, turns out the best way for non-locals to catch a train in Mumbai is not get a ticket, but bribe the guard when you're on there. So half an hour and 800 rupees (10 pounds) later we had our route secured all the way to Margoa, where the train terminated. It was everything we expected from an Indian train ride. It was so hot and humid that all the doors and windows on the train were open, whenever we stopped, locals would jump on and run through the train selling food and drink, then quickly jump off again just before the train picked up too much speed when leaving. The advertised 'express route' was only meant to take 8 and a half hours, but express obviously means 'only a little bit quicker than walking' as 11 hours later we arrived at our stop, covered in diesel fumes, as whenever the train went in a tunnel, with all the windows and doors open, the exhaust just filled all the cabins, so by the end of it all, sams white shorts were no longer white, and the smell wasn't too great either.

No comments: