We arrived in Varanasi yesterday and getting here was quite an experience that I was too tired to write about yesterday. We only spent the day in Agra and were numbers one and two on the wait-list for the overnight train to Varanasi. Every blog I read online made it sound as though we should have no problem getting our tickets confirmed since so many people cancel their tickets last minute and there are always extra seats left over from the 24 hr before departure section. Even people at the hotel we stayed at said we would have a problem and Ramesh told us he was 99% sure our tickets would get confirmed....
So here we are waiting at the train station, with no idea how to check whether our tickets had been confirmed or not yet. The employees at the train station were incredibly rude and unhelpful. When the train arrived we spotted a tourist couple (from Colorado) and asked them if they had any idea what we should do. They told us that they were number 13 and 14 on the wait list and that they were not confirmed according to the list (that the unhelpful man had!) but that they were just going to board the train anyway and that we should too! So we followed them onto the train hoping to find someone who could help us, when a man told us the conductor was outside and would tell us if our tickets were confirmed. So we left the couple and approached the conductor who was telling a british couple that there tickets would not be confirmed. They told us they were numbers 3 and 4 on the wait list, suddenly we begin to panic again (our flight was to leave from Varanasi to Mumbai in two days... kind of had to be there...) Our turn..
Not confirmed!
Crap..
So we chatted with the British couple for a few minutes trying to figure out what our next set of actions would be, talked about the four of us getting a taxi to Varanasi, trying for the next train in the morning etc.. We decide we will just try again tomorrow and wish each other luck. As we were leaving we noticed a man helping the couple and they were heading back towards the train. Hey! If they were getting on, we were too! So we followed them to see what was going on. After a lot of confusion and some translating by a bystander we were told that we could buy tickets from the general sleeper class and get onto the train still. "How many?" he asks. Dave, the British fellow looks at us, "four!" we reply. Quickly Dave runs off with the guy to purchase the tickets.
I look at the clock, 3 minutes until the train departs.
Somehow they made it back seconds before the train started moving, we were all running to the sleeper carriage on the train!
We get into the carriage, we are the only tourists, and the only ones who seemed to be able to speak any English. It was so crowded there was no room to lay down (remember, this is an over night train. The AC class comes with sleeping berths, pillows, sheets, a blanket, and curtains to draw). We squeeze into the chairs and find everyone is staring at us. The man sitting next to me was trying to ask what the hell we were doing in that class! Haha! (took me a couple of times to figure out what he was trying to say to me) It was filthy, the benches were hard as a rock, the windows would not stay closed and between the other passengers loud talking, smoking, farting and spitting (yes on the floor on the train) it was a pretty miserable 13 hours! As people started to get off at stops there became more room to lay down on the berths, however I did not get more that 30 minutes of sleep (opposed to the perfect night of sleep in the AC class.) Casey slept a little and the British couple seemed to sleep a bit too. When we finally got to Varanasi, we saw the couple we left from Colorado and asked them how they stayed on the train. They told us they just stayed in the AC class until a berth became available as people got off... !! No one even checked their ticket!
The four of us hated them..
Needless to say, we decided to spoil ourselves on our hotel accommodations in Varanasi after our long ordeal and spend $50 US a night as suppose to our typical backpackers accommodations for around $25. We've been staying at the Silver Ganges Guesthouse and it has been so nice!! The first bed with a spring mattress, reliable hot water for showers (and the spout actually shoots out hot water, not just trickles it!) a rooftop restaurant, and wifi. The hotel is buy the main burning ghat so all the funeral processions pass our hotel, and since many elderly people go to Varanasi to die (dying in the city ends the cycle of reincarnation) we have seen many. It is really interesting, but you can't take pictures of this.
We decided to use the tour the hotel has set up and it was really nice. The the man working at the counter set up two boat rides down the Ganges (took one last night and we will take one tomorrow morning), and then drove us to see various sites in Varanasi today. We saw the Beranas University, which is the largest university in Asia, the temple of Shiva (Varanasi is the holy city of Shiva), the monkey temple, another temple and then went to the part of town were all of the silk scarfs, blankets, etc are woven. The tour was very informative and he told us not only the history of the temples but explained various parts of the Hindu religion to us.
After our tour we took a drive to Saranath, where Buddha gave his first lesson. It is a pilgrimage destination for many Buddhists and has the ruins of a buddhist city. We thought we were going to die on the way over there, by far the scariest drive yet! The driving here is a constant game of chicken. Both cars drive head on towards each other until someone finally swerves out of the way! People were yelling at him to slow down and he even hit two other rickshaws! Hah.
Needing some time to recover from our near death experience ;) we have been relaxing in the room before finding a place for dinner (hence the long blog post).
So here we are waiting at the train station, with no idea how to check whether our tickets had been confirmed or not yet. The employees at the train station were incredibly rude and unhelpful. When the train arrived we spotted a tourist couple (from Colorado) and asked them if they had any idea what we should do. They told us that they were number 13 and 14 on the wait list and that they were not confirmed according to the list (that the unhelpful man had!) but that they were just going to board the train anyway and that we should too! So we followed them onto the train hoping to find someone who could help us, when a man told us the conductor was outside and would tell us if our tickets were confirmed. So we left the couple and approached the conductor who was telling a british couple that there tickets would not be confirmed. They told us they were numbers 3 and 4 on the wait list, suddenly we begin to panic again (our flight was to leave from Varanasi to Mumbai in two days... kind of had to be there...) Our turn..
Not confirmed!
Crap..
So we chatted with the British couple for a few minutes trying to figure out what our next set of actions would be, talked about the four of us getting a taxi to Varanasi, trying for the next train in the morning etc.. We decide we will just try again tomorrow and wish each other luck. As we were leaving we noticed a man helping the couple and they were heading back towards the train. Hey! If they were getting on, we were too! So we followed them to see what was going on. After a lot of confusion and some translating by a bystander we were told that we could buy tickets from the general sleeper class and get onto the train still. "How many?" he asks. Dave, the British fellow looks at us, "four!" we reply. Quickly Dave runs off with the guy to purchase the tickets.
I look at the clock, 3 minutes until the train departs.
Somehow they made it back seconds before the train started moving, we were all running to the sleeper carriage on the train!
We get into the carriage, we are the only tourists, and the only ones who seemed to be able to speak any English. It was so crowded there was no room to lay down (remember, this is an over night train. The AC class comes with sleeping berths, pillows, sheets, a blanket, and curtains to draw). We squeeze into the chairs and find everyone is staring at us. The man sitting next to me was trying to ask what the hell we were doing in that class! Haha! (took me a couple of times to figure out what he was trying to say to me) It was filthy, the benches were hard as a rock, the windows would not stay closed and between the other passengers loud talking, smoking, farting and spitting (yes on the floor on the train) it was a pretty miserable 13 hours! As people started to get off at stops there became more room to lay down on the berths, however I did not get more that 30 minutes of sleep (opposed to the perfect night of sleep in the AC class.) Casey slept a little and the British couple seemed to sleep a bit too. When we finally got to Varanasi, we saw the couple we left from Colorado and asked them how they stayed on the train. They told us they just stayed in the AC class until a berth became available as people got off... !! No one even checked their ticket!
The four of us hated them..
Needless to say, we decided to spoil ourselves on our hotel accommodations in Varanasi after our long ordeal and spend $50 US a night as suppose to our typical backpackers accommodations for around $25. We've been staying at the Silver Ganges Guesthouse and it has been so nice!! The first bed with a spring mattress, reliable hot water for showers (and the spout actually shoots out hot water, not just trickles it!) a rooftop restaurant, and wifi. The hotel is buy the main burning ghat so all the funeral processions pass our hotel, and since many elderly people go to Varanasi to die (dying in the city ends the cycle of reincarnation) we have seen many. It is really interesting, but you can't take pictures of this.
We decided to use the tour the hotel has set up and it was really nice. The the man working at the counter set up two boat rides down the Ganges (took one last night and we will take one tomorrow morning), and then drove us to see various sites in Varanasi today. We saw the Beranas University, which is the largest university in Asia, the temple of Shiva (Varanasi is the holy city of Shiva), the monkey temple, another temple and then went to the part of town were all of the silk scarfs, blankets, etc are woven. The tour was very informative and he told us not only the history of the temples but explained various parts of the Hindu religion to us.
After our tour we took a drive to Saranath, where Buddha gave his first lesson. It is a pilgrimage destination for many Buddhists and has the ruins of a buddhist city. We thought we were going to die on the way over there, by far the scariest drive yet! The driving here is a constant game of chicken. Both cars drive head on towards each other until someone finally swerves out of the way! People were yelling at him to slow down and he even hit two other rickshaws! Hah.
Needing some time to recover from our near death experience ;) we have been relaxing in the room before finding a place for dinner (hence the long blog post).
What a funny, crazy experience - now looking back! I'm sure it was stressful at the time! We all are enjoying your stories and photos! Thank you so much for keeping us updated.
ReplyDeleteHave safe travels!
Namaste
What a crack up! Sounds like you two are going to have many fun stories. Can't wait to hear more and thanks for sharing this funny experience. Love you two!
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