Train Ride #2 - Now This Is More Like It!

Mr Sashi waiting to pick us up at the train station in Aluva, Kerala.

Scenes from the train ride to Aluva. Kerala has much more lush countryside.

There is our train engine visible around the curve

Some very interesting houses along the track - but can you imagine living this close to the tracks!

A great play area along the tracks - Always friendly and like their picture being taken.

One of many rivers in Kerala. Monsoons start in another month so the water is very low

Commuting along the rails rather than by rail

They must know a train is not due as they have no place to get off until the other side

We piled into our compartment as soon as the train pulled in - no first class this time but 3-tier sleeper instead. With 3 tier sleeper the compartments are all open to the aisle. On one side of the aisle are two seats facing each other with a bunk above running along the length of the train. On the other are two bench seats facing each other which allow seating for 6, 3 people facing 3 with knees touching, while far above each side is a bunk. At night the backs of the bench seats fold up to form a third bunk on each side - hence the 3-tier name. We boarded at approx 8:30 PM and by then bunks were already in position with people planted on them. Thus commenced the game - whose ticket matched which seat/bunk, will you swap positions, where will the bags go, etc. Eventually all was arranged with Merv and James on the 2 high bunks, Phil and I on the middle bunks and 2 Indian ladies on the bottom bunks (what was the seats during the day). The bunks are the width of my shoulders and 6 feet long, so I was side to side with my feet sticking out into the aisle, face level for walkers, if I was not careful. This is still more luxurious than the old days though - it is air conditioned and the bunks are all padded. It used to be just hard wooded seats and bunks and no AC - just windows open to catch all the breeze we could. Most trains then used steam engines and you could stick your hand out the windows and fell little bits of coal hitting you as the engine huffed and puffed. Now it all seems to be diesel engines which are much cleaner. They also now provide a sheet, pillow and blanket for the night. It did not seem possible we would need the blanket, as it was still hot and stuffy in spite of the AC. However, around midnight I woke up and had to pull up the blanket as it was getting chilly. By 4 AM both Phil & I were up - the people down below were getting ready to get off - and by 5 we had put our bunks down and were sitting again. Merv and James kept sleeping - perhaps a good defensive reaction? :-) With the arrival of daylight it was clear we had arrived in a new area - thick and green with vegetation. So this was Kerala. It was going to be interesting to see a whole new area of India - one where they have adopted as the slogan for the state "God's own country"

Pictures Inside Train #2 To Aluva

I thought this was supposed to be fun!!!!

There used to be more room here.....40 years ago....have I grown that much????

Relax Merv.....this IS fun!.....until later in the night!!!!

Jimmy James is chillin up on top...out of the way of everyone.

Looking at Phil's bald spot.

Finally, it cooled off enough to need a blanket.

That is Jimmy sleeping in his Israeli combat boots.

In between train compartments.

Train Ride #2 - Goa To Aluva

This train ride was nowhere near as nice as our trip from Bombay to Goa. For one, Goa was not the starting point. This meant that the train rolled into our station already full of people. It only stopped for 10 minutes so we had to jump on and find our supposedly empty seats. As I mentioned in my last post, we only had 3 confirmed seats to start with. They were in section B1, seats 57, 59 & 60. The 4th seat that we confirmed when we got to the station was in section B2, seat 36. That was in the next coach, not the best situation. I told the guys that we would try and switch seats with whoever was holding seat 58 between us, and see if they would move to B2-36. As it turns out, the person holding seat 58 was also getting on the train in Goa. Well the train rolled onto the platform at 2030, an hour late, (not unusual in India). We all jumped on and found section B1-57,59,60. There were 6 people in that section, all eating supper. A couple of them had laid out their bedding to sleep. I told them 3 of those seats were ours and to please move. You need to understand that there was chaos going on all around the whole time. We were in a very narrow corridor with all our bags, people were squeezing by both ways, vendors were coming by selling stuff for supper, people were all talking loud, shouting, laughing, (not at us), and everyone was doing their own thing. We were just part of the pandemonium. James took a moment to throw his bag up on the top bunk and climb up out of the way. Randy got the 2 older ladies who ended up staying in our section, to give up the other top bunk and Merv did the same as James. The dude who held seat 58 arrived and I asked him if he would mind switching with me so we could stay together. “No”, was his reply. He was travelling alone, around 40 years old, spoke good English but seemed to be a bit of a dick! I said bye to the guys and went to the next coach and found my seat. A very nice older family was there, also eating supper. I stuck my bag under the seat and told them to go ahead and finish dinner; I would be back in a bit for my seat. They said no problem; take my time, very nice people. My seat with them was the window seat, bottom birth, a very desirable position. The dude who wouldn’t switch, was sandwiched in-between 56-59 and had the middle birth, the least desirable position. I went back and told him that he would be sitting beside a very nice family, had the window seat etc, come and have a look. He agreed and came with me to look. He was leaning towards switching until I pulled out my e-ticket to show him I belonged there. Well then he made a big deal about how the Ticket Inspector might make us switch back and went on and on with total BS. The nice family argued with him saying don’t be stupid, an e-ticket was just as good as his “normal” ticket. He would hear none of that and headed back to his original seat. By this time, approx 20 mins had passed, the train had already started, the chaos was starting to die down. I started to get settled down with my nice family when “Dick” suddenly showed up and switched with me. Go figure. Nobody had asked him again, I don’t know what his deal was but we ended up all together.
Now as far as where we were, it wasn’t great. We were the last section where the corridor door opens up to let people to the BR and to the next coach. That door was constantly opening and closing, the air-conditioned air didn’t have time to cool off our section before the door opened again! Plus the noise of the door plus Randy’s feet sticking out into the doorway and him having to always be moving them when he wasn’t careful. This was a long night. We got to “sleep” with lights out about 2200. I was up out of bed by 0300 and never went back to sleep. Randy got up around 0400. The family sharing our section was getting all their stuff together, their station was at 0500. After they got off, we had lots of room. We put the middle births back down and could sit properly. Merv and James stayed up on top till around 0600. It was light by this time so we stood out in the open doorway and took some pictures, just enjoyed the cool morning air. This was the best part of train travel in India, being able to stand or sit in the open doorway of the moving train. Awesome! You can’t beat it. It’s like the dog hanging out the window of a car, loving life!! Ahhhh!
Our train made up the hour overnight and we arrived in Aluva at 0900. Our driver was waiting for us at the station with a sign for “Mr Randi”. He escorted us to a beautiful white SUV, a Toyota Innuva, and our journey to Munnar began. That is another story…….

Scenes of Goa

Looking out over the Colva beach, one of the more "tourist" beaches.

A cute little girl trying to sell some bead necklaces. I didn't buy any but gave her $2 for her picture. She left with a smile!!

Pearl and Mike and I ate at this place in 1995. All was good that night until Mike bit into a piece of his Jumbo Shrimp that wasn't quite cooked enough! Uughhh!

Local folk live in these huts right on the beach.

Some of us take our dogs to the beach, others take their buffalo. No problem!

Local tourists having fun in the sand.

Say no to crack!

We felt under-dressed at times, especially at the beach.

Stopped for a cold drink at one of the many restaurants right on the beach.

One of the other beaches we found while cruising around on our scooters.

"Just hanging out, chewin my cud. What are you guys upto?"

One of the many beach huts.

Boys On Hogs!

We were the most feared Biker Gang in Goa!

Scooters At Work

Scooters are one of the first steps of upward mobility in India and they prove to be much more versatile than we would tend to think they might be in the West. They can be used to transport vast quantities of goods to market and/or home again. I didn't get a picture of it, but from the train on Tuesday morning, I spotted a fellow driving his scooter 'cross country' along the rice patty trails with what looked to be 3 large gunny sacks (larger bags than a 20 lb bag of potatoes for example). I caught sight of him just in time to see him lose his balance on the rough trail and dump his scooter and goods into the dirt. As you can see in the pictures from Goa, there people used their scooters to transport people with their suitcases, or to take their whole family for an afternoon out to the beach. We of course felt we should also do our best to fit in with the local ways.

Scooters At Work In India