2-09-09

We got up early this morning to see the Taj at sunrise, but once again clouds prevented us from seeing the touted magnificence. We arrived at the train station before 8 am to be first in line at the tourist booking office when it opened. Despite this, all we could get a hold of were unreserved seats which could be upgraded by the conductor, if we could find him and seats were available. We had some difficulty in finding the correct train and when we did, there was a mad dash to get on. We ran up to the first door pushing ahead of Indians and dragging suitcases behind, but just before we reached the door, it was shut in our faces. We hurried to the next door, but the same thing happened. At the last door, a guard took pity on us and knocked on the shut door, telling the conductor o let us in. We walked in, expecting to be forced to stand for the next hour at least, but there were two seats right in front of us, and plenty of space for our bags as well. We’ve no idea why, but the door-man in our compartment had slammed the door shut before all the seats were taken. We were quite comfortable and decided not to upgrade.
I was a bit disappointed wih the normalcy of the situation, actually. This is probably the only time we will go unreserved and I had been looking forward to an adventure. I’d been old that some people take their chickens with them in unreserved cars, among other stories. No chickens in our car, though. No doubt they were all in the next car – the car with the door that got slammed in our faces.
We arrived in Jhansi without mishap and hired an auto rickshaw to take us to the bus station. Two men, friends of the driver, hopped in too. They spent the better part of the trip trying to convince us to take a taxi and lied through their teeth. “The bus will take 7 or 8 hours. A taxi takes only 3” “You will not get a seat on the bus” “The taxi is almost as cheap” etc. Eventually we shook them off.
At the bus station we had a bit of trouble finding the right bus. When we did, we took our assigned seats. The less than half full bus gave me a false sense of security. Our only problem was that Mom’s seat bounced too much because the lever moving it up and down was broken. I planned on switching seats with her halfway through the trip, but this proved to be impossible. At the next stop, people poured onto the bus and any hope of having enough space to move a leg or elbow disappeared, let alone the thought of switching seats.
We arrived in Khajaraho quite late. (This seems to be a common occurrence in our travels due, I suppose, to India’s immense size. What looks like a short jaunt on the map can, in fact, be quite a distance.) A boy about my age accompanied us from the station to our hotel in the rickshaw. He wanted to practice his English, which is understandable. Although it was late and I was in no mood to be understanding, his smile and laugh were infectious and I couldn’t bring myself to dislike him.
We ate a late dinner in the rooftop restaurant of our hotel. It was delicious, if a bit overpriced. Mom and I have taken to splitting meals, which means we can sample more dishes without overeating. It is a good system.