Night train to Varanasi

Later, we walked back up Chandni Chowk to the Red Fort, so we could get an Uber back to the hotel. On the way, Fiona bought three pairs of cotton trousers.

Back at the hotel, we caught up with the rest of the group. We'd been allocated two communal rooms to wait in until 5pm came and it was time to leave for the night train to Varanasi. We were taken to New Delhi station in taxis. We were far too early for our train, so we loitered on the platform until staff unlocked the doors, and then had a few shenanigans about who was sitting where. There were six bunks in each cabin. When we'd sorted everything out, five of our group were in our cabin, plus a random Indian guy who had the lower bunk on one side.

We tried to settle in, but I think we all realised that we wouldn't be getting much sleep! Emma and her Mum, Rachael, decided to take the top bunks, Kathy and Fiona would have the middle ones, and I would have the lower one opposite the Indian with the loudest snoring ever!! Fiona managed to drop her bag on his head as she was making her bed up. It stopped the snoring for a bit and caused great hilarity all round, as did Fiona's comic performance getting into her bunk 😂🤣. The exploratory trips to the toilet were quite an event, too!

Eventually, at around 10pm, the lights went out and everyone tried to settle down - some with more success than others. I think I got around 2 - 3 hours sleep all night.Read more