Siliguri to Delhi

3rd – 4th March

For some reason, we thought it would be a good idea to take the train to Delhi instead of flying. We’d booked the tickets online a few weeks earlier, and it was only as we were about to board the train that we realised that the carriage was to be our home for the next 31 hours… At least we had booked 2AC class, which has luxuries such as reading lights and privacy curtains…

Our compartment (for 4 people) was already occupied by an Indian couple and their 5 year old child. After the initial shock (at least it wasn’t a baby!), Sam was relieved that she wouldn’t have to endure lechy stares for the entire journey, but we still had to put up with the uncomfortable silence – no reply to our initial greeting of ‘Hello’ set the tone (which together with the Toy train incident was doing little to form favourable opinions of local people) , and we kept ourselves to ourselves for the rest of the trip – not easy in a compartment the size of a broom cupboard.

After what seemed like an eternity, sick to death of the monotonous menu of dhal and chapatti, we arrived in Delhi, only 3 hours late – not bad going for a journey that started more than 35 hours earlier.