First Overnight Train Ride

I left work on Friday off for my trip to Vizag with my co-worker Ritu and her roommates. All I knew about it before we got there was that it was a beach town, it is pronounced like Vizack, and that it was not in any of my guide books. We took off on a sleeper train that would take 12 hours to arrive. Before I left, people at work did not paint a pretty picture of these sleeper trains. They warned that they are cramped (as evidenced by the picture to the right), there are bugs everywhere, and that they are extremely dirty. I was supposed to bring plenty of disinfectant and a sheet to cover the bug ridden seat. They also warned me to keep my bags close and to sleep away from the hall so nobody saw my light hair. I was a little nervous but excited to get out of town.

In addition to the cleanliness fears, I also was worried about general safety on the train. I had just read that day at work of a couple who worked for Google India that been on a similar sleeper train that died when the train caught fire in the middle of the night and they were unable to escape. I was lucky enough to be sleeping right by the emergency window and had practiced opening the bars. I also noticed an emergency chain that I could pull in an emergency that would stop the train. In addition to bringing yourself to safety, you get 5,000 Rupees ($100) for your bravery. Apparently it takes about 5 Indian men (aka a person of my size) to pull this chain so it is kind of a big deal. I set up a plan that I would pull the chain and then wait 20 seconds for the train to stop (I consulted with the group and they agreed that was a reasonable time to safely jump from a train) and then jump feet first out of the train (I thought feet first would be better than head first). I was all set to get a good night sleep.

We sat on the train just chatting. I was very tired and soon found it was time to go to bed. I tried to lay my bag next to me so that I could put my arms around it and basically snuggle with it all night. Lets just say I have had better snuggle experiences. I tossed and turned all night. My head even hurt laying there. I luckily was sleeping by the window so there was a fresh breeze flowing on me. I also put my Purel pump right by my head just in case I touched a wall or something.
I awoke in the middle of the night to a numb arm and began my switching of positions. I put the bag at the foot of the bed and rested my food on it (second position to the right). It was then that my childhood imagination took hold.

I had received a warning email from the office that bandits in Mumbai (far from where I was) were hijacking trains and robbing people. So I when I woke up in the middle of the night with my numb arm and heard the train slow, I got worried. As it became more and more clear that the train was coming to a complete stop, I felt my "cat hearing ears" perk out from my head. I could hear grass blowing in the background and the usual smalls of burning garbage and filth of a train station were nowhere to be smelled. I knew we had to be in the middle of nowhere. I then heard foot steps outside my window in gravel. I also heard what sounded like the beeping of a walky talky, or maybe a bomb? "It's the badits!" I thought to myself.

I covered up my light hair and grasped my wallet tight. Then I heard a grumbling sound and what sounded like a huge explosion going off far away. The noise quickly got louder. My adrenalin spiked and I was ready to open the window and bolt. Just then I realized that the terrifying noise was just a train passing us. Our train started up again as I laughed at myself. We stopped many times that night. I didn't realize that trains make so many stops on their way to the final destination. I thought they were like airplanes.

I awoke from the sleep nowhere near rested. I ate some potato chips (that is like hash browns, right?) and a blueberry muffin I had inadvertently slept on the night before that was in my pocket. Although an interesting sleep, I felt so dirty and tired after. I was not in a great mood headed to Vizag. We still had several hours to Vizag. I got excited as I looked out the window. Overnight I had been transported from Hyderabad and its dust to a more tropical landscape. There were palm trees with coconuts busting from the center and what looked like rice fields (something green and lush anyway). I was feeling a little bit better as our train stopped at the Vizag station.