Sunday, December 3 First Class Train

Of course, I slept through my alarm. I had high hopes of taking a shower and carefully packing the essentials before my 6:40 train, but those plans were shattered. I miraculously woke up at 6, frantically packed everything, and ran out the door, and had to take a rickshaw, which I decided was too slow. So I hopped out and took a taxi instead. I made him speed to the train station, of course the furthest of Delhi's three. Once I got to Hazrat Nizamuddin station, I frantically ran around aimlessly looking for my train. As it turns out, my train's name changed, and the train number was not written on the train. I jumped in the train and looked around for my seat. My ticket cost a whopping $75 to Hyderabad, as much as a flight, because I decided, just for a change from my usual sleeper class and just to see what it's like to travel in luxury on Indian Railways, to book my ticket for First Class AC, the most expensive & luxurious class offered. I entered the little room, which had a sliding door, two fans, four AC ducts, a mirror, two outlets, clothes hangers, a desk, trash cans, and four huge nice beds, the bottoms doubling as seats. I was the only one in the cabin, which was great. The service people served tea & breakfast & gave sheets, blankets & towels. The bathrooms had showerheads, soap, and toilet paper. Someone would come in every couple of hours to take meal orders and check up, it was pretty nice, except for the fact that you have to pay for all the food. I spent the day reading up on all the places I am going to in the south. I am going to be on buses the majority of the time, and I am going to see so many things within the two-week span. I better make use of my time, because I leave India in only 17 days! I spent the day eating, sleeping, reading & typing, just to pass time. I felt like I was in the hospital. It was nice to finally have a day to just relax in comfort. I really like being on buses, trains, or planes for this reason. Plus, I don't have to be actively doing anything & I am still being productive because I am traveling somewhere. The train basically traveled through Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, green and yellow from mustard fields as far as the horizon. I woke up from a nap to find three more people in the room. I decided my beloved Lonely Planet guidebook was taking up too much space, so I ripped out the unnecessary pages, which was like burning a bible; I used that book for everything. The best parts about it were the detailed transportation information, and the fact that it’s written by hundreds of different everyday travelers.