On the Railroad

My journey from Hampi - in Southern India - to Varanasi - in Northern India - was so long that I think it deserves to be mentioned in a post. The total travel time was around 53 hours I think. Three trains, two moderately long layovers, and an entire experience of its own.

I started in Hampi on the morning of Thursday, May 7th. I left my little meditation hut I was staying in and took a small boat to cross a river, took a rickshaw to the nearest train station, and got on my first train to Londa, India; a small village just outside of Goa about 5.5 hours away. I had about 3 hours to kill in Londa before my next train. To be honest, I was looking forward to these two layovers that I had on my long trip north, as I figured them to be places where not a lot of tourists tend to go - off the beaten path - and I had definitely never heard of them.
 

Hanging out with my new friends in Londa, on my first layover of the long journey.

Londa was a cool little place. Not much to do, so I had lunch at a small hotel by the train station that I was happy I wasn’t staying at and then I just decided to walk around and check the place out. The usual stares from the locals ensued. A few waves, hellos, and smiles here and there, and then I came across a more active living space. This one had a group of young children playing cricket in the front yard with a middle-aged man standing outside passing the time. As soon as he saw me he waved his hand for me to come over, so come over I did. He introduced himself, asked me where I was from, and invited me into his quaint little home for some coffee. The kids were enticed by my unexpected visit and proceeded to stare and smile, a couple of them introducing themselves and having fun with it. I had some great coffee and enjoyed the wonderful hospitality that my new friend was providing. We had basic discussion about his home and family, and although his English wasn’t perfect it was enough to have an enjoyable chat. Shortly after our chat he had to go to church and left me with the cricket-playing kids. They saw me whip out my phone to see what time it was and asked if I had any games on there, so I opened one up and they were enthralled. It was priceless watching these kids surrounding each other trying to figure this game out, and there was plenty of excitement and enthusiasm during that stint of entertainment.

Alas, the three hour layover flew and the next thing I knew I had to struggle to remove myself from the highly entertaining situation, only tempted to just stay for another day in Londa, India of all places. The kids walked me to the train station and I hopped onto train number two, nearly 24 hours long, which would take me further north to a town called Itarsi in the dead center of India.
 

A small glimpse of the extensive market in Itarsi, on layover number two.

I got into Itarsi for another threeish hour layover and immediately noticed how busier things were in comparison to my previous stop. This appeared to be a decent-sized town, with an astonishingly massive market encompassing the immediate exterior of the train station. It was slightly overwhelming, but again, I just wanted to take things in and explore. I think I got more stares here than just about anywhere I had been in India. I don’t know of any foreigners who had been to this place and I’m not sure the locals did either. It was a cool experience though, and when I decided to sit at a small shop for some chai (Indian tea), I went to hand over my money for it and the local man declined my payment, offering the chai to me as a gift, and I was already impressed with the hospitality here. Not long after that, as I continued my aimless walk of exploration a gentleman who appeared not much older than me stopped his scooter shortly ahead of me and motioned for me to come over. He spoke little English, but asked me the basics and then invited me to hop on and drive me around. After feeling for the situation I accepted the offer, hopped on, and he drove me through the streets of Itarsi. We stopped at a local food market nearby and he offered to buy me a chai. I had my second free chai and once again took in the great hospitality. He drove me back near the train station and dropped me off at a restaurant so I could get some dinner. I ate dinner, continued walking around to kill time, and actually found a bar nearby, knowing that this is where I would be until my train arrived. As I was sitting alone at a table having a beer and enjoying the journey so far, two younger Indians sat with me at my table and of course we began to chat. They were really nice guys and I even gave them some foreign currency that I was looking to get rid of as a souvenir. It was yet another very successful layover in Itarsi, and I boarded my third and final 15 hour train for Varanasi, which of course would prove to be the most challenging part of the journey.
 

My friends I met at the bar in Itarsi, showing off their foreign silverware I gave them.

The third train would be about 15 hours long, and it was no short ride. I booked my ticket in the lower, cheaper sleeper class. It was packed, cramped, hot, and by no means comfortable. I think there were 15 of us crammed in an area built to normally accommodate half the amount of people. The only comfort I received on the train was from my fellow passengers, of which one spoke basic English and even taught me how to write some things in Hindi. The company was good and the views of rural India passing by briefly provided distraction from the lack of comfort. You see the villages and farms and workers and it gets you thinking, embracing appreciation for the life we lead and the opportunities we have. India does that of course, but more on that at a later time.

I finally made it into Varanasi on the afternoon of Saturday, May 9th. Over two full days of travel had passed and things were still just as hot as they had been when I left Hampi. Was I going in circles for two days? I got off the train and immediately began to sweat.