Allahabad was great fun and nowhere near as busy as Chitrakoot which was a welcome relief after the excitment of yesterday. We had a fairly relaxing day after a very early 4.30 am start. I found out that I won't establish whether I have a seat reserved on the sleeper train from Varanasi to Darjeeling until a few hours before the train is due to depart; which dampened my mood quite a bit. I started looking at alternative methods of getting there - bus, plane and hitch hiking (my least favourite). But I won't be able to sort anything out until Varanasi because everyone is on holiday for Diwali - which is what is causing the problem in the first place; despite booking my ticket over 4 weeks in advance, the trains are full of people
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