Well what a day we had…..
Early morning start 5am alarm call, today we travel on the
train to Amritsar. Shower clear the room and pay the hotel bill all by 6am. The
hotel reception assistant takes us to the auto stand down the road. The auto
driver is fast asleep in the back but wakes up quoting us 250 rupees to go 4km
to the train station. He can take a long run/short pier etc. We go to move on
but he insists we now go on the meter.
Off we go and 10 mins later we are at said New Delhi Railway Station
and the driver wants 150 rupees even though the meter says 25 rupees. Me,
Alison and driver plus A N Other Indian male get involved in an argument. We
give him 25 Rupees plus 10 tip but oh know…..I threaten to call the Delhi
Police he acts like a spoilt child and AN Other is just being a pain in the
arse. I eventually lose my cool throw 100 Rupees at him and tell him he is a
f*&king disgrace and should be ashamed of himself. We storm off. Not a happy
bunny. There starteth our woes....
We enter the station and see our train scheduled for platform 1 on the
boards another helpful but unwanted man tries to tell us where, what, how. (fuck
off and leave us alone I think my mouth says 'Thank you but we are fine').
So we head to the platform across the concourse. (lonely planet
guide advice I have read: ignore everyone most likely touts at the railway station). As we go to enter a man asks
for our ticket erm…ok, he tells us the train is delayed for 8 hours it never
arrived from Amritsar last night. Strange Indian railways are usually so very
good. Go to International tourist office upstairs….so we do but man on the
stairs tells us International ticket office is closed due to being Sunday. He
tells us to go to the platform. We go through security and another man asks for the ticket, train delayed 8 hours next train at 0820 blah blah blah. Go to ticket office in
Connought Place and get refund and rebook next train. He even finds us a cheap
taxi 100 rupees return. So to recap. We have met three men all not wearing
train station uniform who tell us train is delayed for8 hours. Message board is
showing train at 0720. I ask why….board faulty. So like a pair of idiots we get
in cab and go to the ticket office. To be told next train full, why not go by
taxi or plane. Total cost £180 compared to £30 return train. Penny starting to
drop now we are being scammed not been comfortable with this from the start. I
tell the man we are NGO’s and we have no funds to do anything more. He states
his computer is not working now and wants to check with his colleague. If by
magic he tells us that the railway have laid on a new train and the
announcement is being made now so must get back to station. We jump back to taxi
who drives like Jenson Button back to the station. Its 7am by this point and by
magic a train is waiting on platform 1, race through security and go to our carriage
and find our seats. We sit with a sigh and a laugh and realise how close we
came to being done. There was never a delay and all three men are no longer
around the concourse.
0720 the train leaves and we are headed for Amritsar.
Train is clean, spacious not fully booked, freezing cold
from over active AC. Morning tea and biscuits is served soon after leaving
followed by bottled water. By 9am we have had breakfast and another round of
tea. We settle down and watch fields of crops, paddy fields, towns and villages
rush by. We see numerous level crossing all snarled up with Indian traffic
waiting for the off when the barriers lift. Having been on that side last year
its clearly better being on the train. We make several stops during the trip
none of which I know. I give in to the badder pressure mid morning and have to
use the facilities. Two toilets western style and Indian style. That means
toilet or hole – I opt toilet but still urinate on the tracks below. I later
have a go indian but it’s the same thing.
We arrive in Amritsar exactly on time and as we grind to a
halt a man is standing there holding a clipboard with Mrs Bhandaris on it. Plan
A is working we go with him to the car and it takes 5 minutes to reach the
guesthouse. We are show to a room by the pool in fact the same room I spent one
night in last year after our AC broke down. The manger remembers me from the
bike trip last year. We quickly sort out our things and I take Mrs G for a walk
around. We have coffee at the outside tables and get talking to another
resident who’s an Italian who lives in Spain.
After coffee we go for an hours nap in the room then into
the pool for a swim. Its nearly 6pm so we order Thali and an omelette for tea.
I have a Kingfisher extra strong. It is extra strong at 8.25% and one is more
than enough. All signed out in the honesty book!
By 730pm in the room blog writing and getting ready for bed.
Tomorrow is a do nothing day but will go to Wagga for the Indian/Pakistani border
closing ceremony. Lots of stamping and fancy uniforms
A war has started in Amritsar - me versus the mozzies, last year I ended up with 200 bites on my legs. This year I will win. I am inside with all windows shut, mozzie coil lit, repellent administered, AC on to make room too cold for them and hidden underneath a bed sheet. Its only 8pm at this point. Reading my book for 90 minutes assures me we do not have infiltration's in the room and I drift off to sleep. Mrs G doesn't care they wont touch her (she must be their Queen....flipping hell that beer was strong).
Nite nite, glad today is over its been a learning
experience..
nice blog
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