It was a pity to be leaving our lovely Home Stay accommodation in Agra. Dinesh had ordered his staff to make a tummy friendly breakfast and they served a sensational savoury tapioca and potato dish which, I, for one, loved. Tim and Karl still not eating and Annika and Luke stuck to toast. I walked up to the corner and negotiated with two tuk tuk drivers to drive us and all our luggage to Agra Cantonment station.
 |
| Squeezing in a tuk tuk |
 |
| Tuk tuk central Agra Cantonment Station |
It was my job to buy the tickets which was particularly good as I joined the short "Ladies Hepl Line " queue (not my misspelling!) and was "hepled" quickly. The men's queue was long and pushy. Our tickets cost 90 Rupee each ($1.80 AUD), 2nd Class, superfast train.
 |
| Agra Station |
 |
| Quiet moment for Luke |
The railway station had plenty of cheeky monkeys who literally stole food from distracted passengers! An unsuspecting woman had just started peeling her orange, when a monkey sleuth jumped up and grabbed it from her. They are bold, these monkeys!
 |
| Roof monkey |
 |
| Track Monkey! |
I was watching a busy gang of rats scurrying across the tracks until I noticed the piles or slops of poop on the tracks amongst the rubbish. Seriously stomach churning. They clearly do not have the rule I sang as a kid:
"You should know you shouldn't oughtta pull the chain and splash the porter when the train is waiting at the station night or day..." Yuk!
We dragged our packs up the ramps to the bridge and down to Platform 2. A few trains came and went before a kind gentleman explained that we could hop on to any Delhi train as the seats were unallocated. The Platform 2 train, was announced to be coming to Platform 4 which we realised when there was a mass exodus from our platform up and over the bridge to the next! We jostled with the crowd and settled in a sleeper carriage alcove which we shared with an Indian couple and their two adorable little boys.
 |
| Our train to Delhi |
Luke and Annika thought it was great fun to sit up on the upper sleeper shelf and so it was until they realised that once they had given up their seats, others would sit there.
 |
| Looking out the open barred windows. |
 |
| Upper seat!! |
 |
| Room for more..... |
The carriage had a hundred eyes on us and men in turbans leaned out of their alcoves and unashamedly stared at us. This also happened when we pulled up at stations. To stare or not to stare (back), that was my question!
 |
| "The day had a hundred eyes..." |
The railway journey gave us a different perspective than the highway journey on the bus. The track mostly went through farmland passing rice paddies and fields, with many little makeshift camps/villages by the railway and pigs and cows and acres of piled up round cow pats. The extent of the poverty in India is evident EVERYWHERE!
 |
| Poverty en masse |
 |
| Pig foraging through rubbish...the ultimate recyclers. |
 |
| Cattle and waterbirds in stinking stagnant water. |
 |
| Home for many. |
 |
| It would be chilly at night now but in summer it would be almost unbearable and smelly. |
The train was speeding along mostly and was so much more comfortable that a bus ride and 100% more entertaining. It took 2 1/2 hours. Apart from being squashed into the train and jostling for our seats, and facing the crowds pushing out of the train whilst others were pushing in, travelling by train was terrific. What we couldn't get over were the annoying number of porters offering to carry our bags and standing in our way. We didn't want porters and we didn't want them standing in our way! There was no ramps at New Delhi, only steep stairs, with heaps of people who kept stopping in the middle of them. We found ourselves giving as much as we got, so to speak, in our effort to carry our packs up the steps.
Then, it was time for the familiar haggling for a good price for a taxi. It felt so good to be back in New Delhi where we recognised landmarks and could direct the taxi driver to the front door of our apartment.
As we don't have a phone in India, Tim, Annika and I walked to our local convenience store to make a phone call to our host, Pranndeep, and also to buy yoghurt and other supplies. Once inside, it all looked good!
Then we discovered a toilet didn't flush, a pipe wasn't connected to a basin, there were no teaspoons, the rubbish bin was full, etc. After our last two lovely accommodations, although this looks great superficially, there is much room for improvement. Incredible India!.
No comments:
Post a Comment