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Published: March 17th 2008
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It was 7:30am and we were hungover from our only night in Delhi. We'd met some local Indians and had a fantastic time in their office after hours. We had our bags packed and were waiting outside our hotel for our pickup to the train station; set for our 30 hour trip to Muniguda, (a tiny town in Orissa no one goes to). We knew this would be fun. We were soon going to meet our team leader for the Orphanage volunteer project we'd signed up for. Soon enough the Tuk-Tuk rolled up, but not before a six year old street beggar approached me asking for spare change. I waved her off with a slight hand gesture, (we'd gotten used to many beggars in Thailand and it seemed India was going tobe even more of the same, only younger). She had a Steel ring about a foot in diameter. She did flips through the hoop in the air and I realized she wasn't just a beggar but a street performer. Only six years old. I tried to make her leave but her stare never strayed from my eyes. The guilt overthrew me. I gave in and tossed her ten rupees (25
cents CAN). She left without a word.
The train station in Delhi was packed, even at 8am. Chris and I found our train and hopped on. We had been advised by a fellow traveler in New Zealand that, if we wanted the "authentic" "genuine", 'Indian' experince; we had to take "Sleeper Class". You see, taking a train in India is a very big deal. There are so many different classes, it's almost impossibleto keep track. Sleeper Class is just above "General Class", where the stray Indians jump on and for every 1 metre of space, they fit 9 Indians! We weren't courageous or crazy enough to go for General, but we figured we had to try Sleeper Class. Each ticket cost about 600 rupees ($16 CAN).
The trains are like small markets on wheels. You have full Indian Families cooking their meals around you, while vendors move from cart to cart selling Chai, Sunglasses, water, you name it. I spent the majority of the first day reading by the barred window, surrounded by a generous family of Indians who shared their lunch with me. Chris slept up top the entire time nursing his hangover.
When it came time to go
Sleeper class
Only the best for us to bed, the fans were shut off and the cold emerged. We snuggled under our blankets in our tiny bunks and drifted off as the train rolled on into the night.
I woke up early and walked to the nearest door to take a look outside. The scenery had suddenly changed drastically. We were passing tiny villages and vast open rice fields green as could be. I could feel the air was hotter and stickier on my face than back in Delhi.
"India is a continent", someone told me as soon as I arrived in India. "Too many people think of it as a country. It is a continent". I understood what they meant when I looked out at the wild bush that surrounded us. I could see the obvious differences in the people and villages. Life was so simple.
I sat on the train steps and watched the people go by and enjoy their completely bewildered faces when they saw me (a white person), on a train in their state (Orissa doesn't see many tourists).
As the morning progressed I saw things that made me laugh. smile and many things that puzzled me. When the train stopped by a
Evan getting comfortable
Setting up before we leave small village, there was a line of about 4 men, squatting down about six feet from myself and the train. They all stared up at me with their pants down and their bucketsof water infront of them. I was in such an unfamiliar place, I had no idea what it was custom to do. Even so, all four men kept their gazes going, while they all celebrated the act of "Number 2" in it's truest form. At another stop I saw a pack of twenty wild dogs feasting on another Kanine's rotting corpse. You see these types of things everywhere you go. Even though Chris and I have lived and seen this everyday for the past three weeks; these sights still bewilder us. And at the same time, our own culture and lifestyles bewilder the Indians in the exact same way.
The train arrived in Muniguda at about 3pm. We had been on it since 9am the morning before. Exactly 30 hours. We will never forget our first experience on a train in India. We hope there will be many more. Sleeper Class was a paradise in secret for us, we enjoyed every second in the end.
As the train
Beggar Boy at the station
Somewhere in between Dheli and Muniguda rolled up to Muniguda station, we bid farewell to our new fond Indian friends and they gave us their cellphone numbers (I swear we have about 100 already). They wished us luck and we did the same. We stepped off and saw what was one of the most underdeveloped towns we'd ever visited. A place where a picture will find you a best friend. A place where a cold drink is only for the wealthy.
One of the train captains approached us and asked us if we were getting off here. We answered yes and he looked at me blankly and replied,
"Why?"
"Who knows?" we answered.
We walked into town.
Love from Muniguda,
Evan and Chris
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Best blog...
you guys are great travelers...thanks for the blog! Great!