Long train rides in India are all about not pooping. It’s
gross, but it’s true. You don’t want to have to do it. Speaking to a wealthy aristocrat in Goa about our upcoming 12 hour train ride, he said, “I once held
my functions for 24 hours on the way to Amritsar!” The guide books might not mention this –
because the bathrooms are frankly
unspeakable. I'll just tell you this: it's a hole in the floor of the train that goes right down onto the tracks (they advise not using it when stopped at a station), and unfortunately, people miss the hole. A lot.
There are 4 classes on most long distance trains – Sleeper Class,
3
rd AC, 2
nd AC, and 1
st AC. Sleeper Class is
the only non-air conditioned class on the train and the cheapest ticket on
board. There are 6 people on one side of the car and 2 on the other, repeated 10 times per car, and the
benches people sit on during the day become bunks at night.
3
rd AC
is the same configuration but with air conditioning. 2
nd AC is
similar except it’s 4 on one side and 2 on the other. And finally, 1
st
AC , has closed off carpeted compartments with 2 or 4 births and is the most expensive
by far. As explained to us by friends in Goa, the lower the class, the
worse the toilet looks by the end of the journey.
Well, in spite of that advice, we wanted to experience sleeper
class at least once during our several train journeys to the north (maybe for one of our short 3 hour rides!). We weren't expecting 12 hours in Sleeper Class, but that's what we got when all of the other classes
were sold out for weeks on the night train from Goa to Mumbai!
Despite the negatives that come with being in sleeper class, there are also a few perks that can't be enjoyed in any other class (aside from the obvious and significant price difference). For one, the windows are open, so you can really enjoy the scenery as you carve your way up the coast (the windows in AC classes tend to be very dirty and can't be opened). This is really only a positive in the temperate months, otherwise you're sticking to your seat with sweat, and the b.o. is overwhelming.
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| Luckily, it was temperate. |
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| Well...it feels like a jail in here... |
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| Let's turn those benches into beds! |
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| Mmmmmm. Feet. |
Another perk is that as opposed to the AC classes, where you order your meal from the catering car, sleeper class gets all of the local sellers coming through the cars with more food and drink than you could ever want (and frankly, if you're trying to hold your functions, you should want very little...). Here's a list of what they are selling (all of which is shouted 10 times as they walk through the car, some in English as quoted and some in Hindi):
"Samosa!"
"Cheese Sandweech!"
"Cutlet Sandweech!"
"Chai, chai, chai, garam chai!"
Milk coffee (which is what you get when you order coffee in India--instant coffee with hot milk poured over)
Peanuts
Mini bananas
"Spring Roll!"
Battered and fried peppers
"Beef burger!"
Potato sandwich
"Cheeckun lollipop!"
"Omlet sandweech!"
Lassi in a bag (yogurt smoothie)
"Finger chips!" (french fries)
"Roti!"
Goan bread
"Aloo paratha!" (curried potato in a wrap)
"Mix fruit!"
"Tomato soup!"
and after the dinner foods come through...
A crate of jelly candies and nut and milk candies
"Curd galangal!"
"Sweeeet laymon puddin!"
The prices range from 5 rupees for chai (8 cents) to 50 rupees for a beef burger (83 cents).
I won't go into any more detail, nor show you a picture, but it's true that by the end of the 12 hour trip, the bathrooms are destroyed. Destroyed.
And we both managed to hold it...for 12 hours...the stakes were too high to do it any other way...
Here's a few photos taken on our day train to Ajmer in
2nd Sitting (the day train version of sleeper class, with only 3 hours of holding our functions!):
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| More feet! |
