Jaipur, Rajasthan

hello all, (this is another back-to-the-future post)

we embarked on an adventure of a train ride bound for Jaipur late yesterday evening. after checking out of our hotel, we grabbed an auto rickshaw at about 9 o'clock at night. speaking honestly, we were both a little nervous about this train ride. but, we held on to the fact that everyone we had spoken to up until that point always made it out ok. sure, the ride might have been a little bumpy, you may not get that much sleep, but we never heard one story of theft, danger, or "i'll never ride a train in india again!"....and so with that, we took off...cautious and ready for this next leg of our trip.

we found ourselves at a less-than crowded train station, and strategically situated ourselves on a bench positioned next to a family for 4. the little boy got quite comfy with me and started leaning into me as mel and i attempted to play poker with miniature cards. there, we stayed for the next hour and a half in anticipation of what our train would look like, which entrance to go in, and how many foreigners were around us. around 1030pm, foreigners and locals alike merged towards the edge of the grimy platform to board the approaching train. "3AC" was the class of train we were booked for. in layman's term...this code simply means that we were in a berth which had 3 tiers of bunk beds on 2 sides (yes a total of 6 people in a space no wider than....9 feet x 5?). the AC also meant that we had air-conditioning, which we were looking forward to...

we boarded the train, and found our bunks no problem. the beds were vinyl and we were provided each with a pillow, a bedsheet and a blanket which we promptly exchanged for our own sleeping gear. we chucked our packs at the head of our beds, set up our pillows and got ready to call it a night. Mel was on the top bunk and i was in the middle bunk...slightly squishy, but totally manageable. there were 5 people total in our berth. we were happy. we got ready to call it a night, and were pleased with our berth mates and the sanitary state of our beds. lights went out around midnight after a train conductor took attendance and ensured that we were who we said we were. our berth peacefully enjoyed the air conditioning, and the steadiness of the train. we sensed that it was going to be a restful journey...

and then at around 130am...

the lights were flicked on. the 6th bunk (middle bunk, across from me!) was opened up, and out came a beast of a man. before he laid his head on the pillow, he proceeded to turn off the fan that circulated the cool breeze of the AC. for the next 5 hours, my 4 berth mates and i tried desperately to get some sleep. no less than 10 minutes of his lights out did we hear what resembled a horse "neigh"ing in tandem with a squealing pig, alongside the putt-putt-putt of a motorcycle. it was an awful sound. truly awful. and being at the same height as me at a distance of a mere 3 feet, if that...he might as well have been snoring into a cup placed up against my ear. i swiftly grabbed my iPod and blasted the music to no avail. the steady strum of guitar or a melodic hum of a harmonica was rudely interrupted by the beast of the horse-pig. it didn't stop for the entire duration of the trip. even after we all woke up and started packing our bags around 6am...the horse-pig continued on in his sleep. did i mention the frequent occurrences of flatulence that took place as well? we were all saluted with a final toot as we exited the berth, dreary-eyed and ready for a real bed, with some fresh air.

We will never forget that ridiculous train ride from Udaipur to Jaipur. as Mel said, "no one can call us pansies now that we've taken a train in India...no one!"

i believe Mel will be sharing with you the rest of our day in Jaipur, so i'll stop here and end with a poorly lit photo of me in the train...



sleep well :)

dL