All Aboard for Jaisalmer

The train station and the train itself were clean, relatively speaking.

Yeah, this sink is crusty,
and if you don't count the grim, it wasn't so bad.
It was right outside the restroom
for your viewing/cleaning up pleasure.

The station worker who was asked to get me to the right train, did a great job and as we were on our way, I was surprised to see my driver and the coordinator of this portion of the trip, were there as well.

I kept asking what the sleeping arrangements were like, and got a clearer picture then.  Thank God I didn't ask ahead of time because I probably would have freaked out.

It all turned out fine, just me and my guys.

Think about everything you know about long distance train travel, and throw it out the window.

Step back in time about 50 years, and that is what the train looked like.  I was assigned the bottom bunk of three beds on top of each other.  There were three more right across, making six of us in pretty close quarters.  There were five guys and me.  The man directly above me was a pediatrician.  The man above him showed up with two 13 year old boys who took the top two beds across from me. The bottom bed directly across from me had an old, Santa Claus looking dude, without the cheery face.

The bottom bunk is mine.
The seat back is the 2nd bunk.
The 3rd one is overhead.

This is a view looking down the aisle,
with curtains on both sides.

We chatted for about 15 minutes of so, then we had to get up because the back of our seat was the second bed.  It was held up by heavy chains, with little chance of falling.

Once we were settled in with sheets and blankets - God only knows how many people had already used them - it was lights out.

Almost immediately, the old guy next to me started to snore so loudly, his whole body was convulsing.  It was a nasally, snotty, wet snore.  He was seriously congested.  I'm sure his snoring could be heard at the Taj Mahal, 300 miles away.

Speaking of 300 miles - you'd expect that to take about five hours to drive.  Well, it took 12 hours by this train.  Yep, 12 hours.  The return ride is 450 miles and it is expected to take 17 hours.

Note to self - avoid trips that have the words "adventure and camp," in the description.

Tonight I'm supposed to be in the dessert, sleeping under the stars.

Uh, no thanks.  I live in the desert, have ridden a camel, and been entertained by a belly dancer, so no tent sleeping for me, especially after that long train ride.  I begged off, citing the need for a hotel with Internet connection.

Back to the train for a second.

What was fascinating is that each time I turned over, there were new people sleeping alongside me.  At least three different people were sleeping in each of the other beds throughout the night.  The bed was fine, but the Internet didn't work.

It was a case of musical beds, for sure.

Side note - I arrived home late last night, so these posting are after the fact, but I didn't have Internet service for most of this trip.

More soon.