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By now I was meant to be in Varanasi sampling the delights of the most holy city in Hinduism and India. Alas this isn't the case and i'm currently in New Delhi. Let me tell you what happened.
I left Johdpur on the slepper train at 7:30 pm. It was quite comfortable although it was absolutely packed to the rafters. The journey was fine though and any fears of missing my stop were quickly quashed by the impressive if rather noxious dawn chorus that woke me up at 6 in the morning. Not something to be repeated. I think I will travel in second class next time. The train eventually pulled into Delhi station at 7am and I had to leave my luggage there as I was going to catch a train from there to Varanasi at 3:30pm. After reading the Lonely Planet I decided to go to Connaught Place which is quite trendy and has lots of coffee bars, so I thought this would be a good place to get breakfast. So I get to Connaught Place only to find the whole place is shut until 11am. At this point I was really pleased with my rickshaw driver for not disclosing this information. Anyway I have a walk around and decide to head back to Parharganj (the backpacker area) for breakfast. went to a place called the Everest Cafe. Very nize!
After a couple of hours I make my way to Delhi station for my train. At this point I realise I've left my luggage in Old Delhi statiopn 6 miles away! After muttering several expletives to myself, I hightale it over there to get my luggage and come back to New Delhi. When I arrive, I discover that my ticket is in fact not a guaranteed ticket and that I am still on a waiting list for the train. After 30 mins of politely queing at the info desk I go in Indian style an barge my way to the front. Phew I now have a place on the train. Wahoo.
So I returned to the waiting hall to find out there is a 3 hour delay on my train. A few more expletives follow before i finally resigned to the fact that I just had to sit and wait for 18:30 to come round. (Sorry to drag this out but this whole business really riled me and i'm sure you really want to hear it. There's nothing more us English like than a good moan)
SO at 18:00 I make my way to the platform to find it packed out. There is a train waiting there, but there are no lights on or passenger lists up so no-one gets on. At 18:30 the train leaves and when I look up to the notice boards, I notice that train number on the display board also changes. Confused I head back to the info counter. Here I am told that the empty train was in fact my train and that I had just stood there and watched it slip away in front of me. At this point I was ready to kill all the train staff on the station. After asking the guy at the desk if I could get a refund on the ticket, he types some information into his computer and then replies in Hindi something along the lines of "computer says no" I had no idea that stereotype crossed cultural boundaries. This was turning into a typical Sharp holiday. I guess it had to happen at some point.
At this point I decide that I hate Indian Railways, Hate India and myself for being a typical English touristand not asking for help!!! Idiot. I decide to give up on Varanasi so I check into a nice Hotel with Hot water (yes...Hot water) and chill for couple of days. Spongebob was on the TV so this helped with the de-stress.
I've spent the last couple of days just chilling out in New Delhi. Connaught PLace is really cool (when it's open) so I have been hanging aroud there for most of the time. Icant get a train to Varanasi for another 2 weeks, so I decided instead to fly to Nepal and spend 4 weeks there. Hopefully I'll be able to get some trekking in while i'm there. I now like India again but i'm not doing anymore trains.
Well I'm glad I got that off my chest. I hope everyone is well and thank you the messages. It's been great reading them. Felicia, keep on Rushing!
See you in Nepal
All the best
Will
P.S. Made Travel blog of the day, can't be bad!
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