The bus back to Ernakulam, the train station by Kochi, stopped at the corner of the road by the guesthouse, so I just had to walk down a couple minutes to catch it.
After crossing the road, I looked back to see the full moon setting behind the tea hills. I could have sworn it had a greenish twinge to it. It was a nice last impression of the magical land of Munnar.
The bus wove slowly back down the mountain, took a long break at the same market, where I got out to buy some fruit this time, and eventually made it back to the train station.
I was about an hour early, which, by India time, meant I had time to eat, do some internet, and then wait on the platform for anywhere from 2-5 hours.
Traveling through India by train sounded much more romanticizing than it actually is. The trains are stuffy and packed. You have to chain your stuff to your seat, leaving little room to actually use the seat, If the person in the bunk above you doesn't want to use it, they also have a portion of the lower seat reserved until they feel like sleeping, so you must wait for them before you can lie down. One of the things everyone warms you about is not to accept food offerings from people. They dose it with sleeping medicine and wait until you're out, then rob you.
This time, I was lucky to get a top bunk, though it was along the aisle where people were constantly passing, at least I could bunk up, with my camera bag as a pillow and my backpack under my feet, I wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was cozy enough. I set my little alarm clock for 4:30am and lay there waiting for sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment