Amtrak vs. India Rail

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Hello,

Well I am at the end of my tour but I wanted to let you know how it turned out.

Most of you may not get the Amtrak vs. India Rail but my mother certainly will. It was about 10 years ago that my mom thought it would be an adventure to take all four of us kids crosscountry from Seattle to Boston on Amtrak. Probably the worst trip to date. So in my mind as bad as India rail is it still is toss up which system is worse.

We have spent three nights on the trains thus far, and it is for this reason that I have decided to fly to Calcutta. Flying was 4 times as much but will only take 2 hours where the train will take 24 hours non-stop!

Here is my descprition of the Indian trains. The trains sleep three beds on one wall so you are either to close to the ceiling for your own good. Or smack between two elephants snoring or stuck so close to the floor that you are not alone (if you know what I mean). It seems that we arrive at the station about an hour before our train leaves and then rush to jump on a train that has been sitting there for the last thirty minutes with everyone screaming and not wanting to get left behind. The first train experience the train began to move as half our group was on and half was still sitting on the ramp! The second time we ended up in the wrong seats and had to hustle our white butts onto a different train! THis is even in AC 1st class with a Hindi speaking guide trained in the language of India Rail! Normal class looks like about a 1/4 of the 1.3 billion that call themselves Indian living in one car. The smell of the bathroom is something that I cannot describe but will forever haunt my dreams. Think a hole in the car that 1.3 billion people have used on a train that rocks back and forth all night.

Okay, positive things. It seems that half of India speaks Japanese and most of them better then me. Everywhere I go I have full intriguing conversations with Indians that are fluent in Japanese and feel like the idiot when I ask them to repeat it! They think it is ridiculous that I am Japanese and can't speak my own language! It is absolutely hysterical. I had a dance party with Trixxi on the train one night and was comparing beats with this Indian guy who was blasting stuff from his phone and I ended up practicing my Japanese the entire night. Just hilarious. . . At times it does seem that most Indians are trying to get money from you but I have also met some really geniune people during my time here. There is no way that 1.3 billion Americans could live in such cramped quarters and not have brawls in the streets everyday! Life continues here as organized chaos that only looks to have a purpose when you stop for a moment and remember to smile and keep in mind that not everybody wants to take your passport or throw you in the Ganges~!

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Comments

[Dad]

The train!
Becca: You crack me up. Thanks for the vivid descriptions and funny stories of life on the Indian train system. I hope you are taking lots of pictures. You are missed (and loved). See you soon. Love, Dad