We were done at the Taj Mahal by 8am but at this point we had already sweat out over 77 litres between the three of us. Agra (the town where the Taj Mahal is) is ridiculously hot, at least it was when we were there. We thought it wisest to go back to the hotel for breakfast, pack up and have a nice shower since for the next two nights we were going to be in trains. At 12:30 our driver picked us up. He wanted to take us to the Agra fort which I am sure would be super cool to see but we all declined: it was just too hot. We asked him to find us a place with air conditioning. Here's the deal: when I was in Barcelona last August it was also ridiculously hot. But at least there you could find some relief in stores and restaurants that had a/c. India? Not so much. You have to search for a/c. Well, our driver knows people. He brought us to a shop of a friend if his, a marble shop. We chatted for hours and learned a lot about the Muslim religion (he's muslim), the history of India and more. I did not know that until 1947 Pakistan was a part of India and until 1963 ish Bangladesh was as well. Looking at a map I suspected than was Bangladesh' story but wasnt 100% certain. With those two countries added to the present day india: massive doesn't even begin to describe the old India!
We managed to spend most of the afternoon there or simply driving around in the a/c car. Although it may not sound like it, it was quite a party-filled afternoon. We ate dinner and headed to the train station to catch our 7:45 train to Varanasi.
The train station is as I expected it to be: dirty, hot and full of people. As we walked in there was a sea of men dressed in orange. There was a distinct urine smell close to the tracks. Although there are some garbage cans, it does not seem to be common Indian custom to use them as the ground does just as good of a job. We walked by parents and children sleeping on mats on the ground. Many elderly people were doing the same. It seemed more common to sleep on a mat on the ground in the train station than to sit up and wait. If people weren't laying on mats they were squatting and waiting.
The train: quite the experience that every traveller should experience at least once. We booked a sleeper (one with beds) and we paid the even bigger bucks to be in a car with a/c. Apparently the seat numbers on your ticket is not the actual bed you have so it took a little bit if work by we figured out where we needed to be. Michelle got a bottom bunk in a different car. Teresa and I were in the same car but not the same compartment. She had a low bunk which I was jealous of at first until we saw a mouse at our feet: then I was fine with being on the third bunk. This train car had two 'north/south' facing bunks on one side, then the aisle then multiple compartments each with six 'east/west' facing bunks. Essentially the bunks from each side other aisle make T's. Now think about the height of trains a d divide that by three bunks. Right, not much head space. And the third bunk is quite the climb.
It's a good thing I have a bladder the size of the Titanic so I didn't need to get out of bed and disturb the patrons below. When I laid on my side I didn't have enough space for my elbow to reach the ceiling. And I slept pretty much fetal position because a) the beds are short and b) I had my backpack on the bunk with me = not a whole whack of space. But having said all of that, it worked. I slept until 4 because at that point I was kinda paranoid about missing our stop (there are zero signs and zero announcements). We were to get off at 5am but we were late and finally got to Varanasi at 7. And our new day of adventures began!
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