Day 5 - A Day to Forget

16:00
No wake up / mad panic / toilet dashes during the night. Success! I sleep pretty well - maybe a shade under 8 hours, but good restful and REM sleep. I’m ready for anything! All I’ve got to look forward to this morning though, is packing and leaving. My train’s not till 15:30, but I need to be out of my room around 12:00. I mooch in bed for a while, decide against breakfast (just in case, like) and order some black coffee instead. What arrives is rank. I *think* it might once have been a relative of tea, but it’s difficult to say. It’s definitely never know the forbidden love of a coffee bean.

I check out a little before midday. I need to get some food, and find somewhere to chill for a few hours before heading to the station. I head back to Panchayat, where Manas and I beered a couple of days ago. I’m their only customer. A pattern emerges. They claim to be open 24 hours a day, so for all I know, a huge crowd left only moments ago. I order some chicken and roti from the Tandoor. Delicious. To err on the side of safety, I avoid beer, and drink water instead.

Around 14:30, I figure I should probably head to the station. Confusingly, Lucknow has 3 distinct stations within 100m of each other - Lucknow NE, Lucknow Junction and Charbargh. To be honest, it might be 2 stations with 3 different names. I can’t be sure. I inevitably get dropped off at one of the wrong ones. It takes me a few minutes to figure this out, but I get there in the end. Around this time, I discover that my train has been delayed around 2-2.5 hours. These kinds of delays are very much standard on the India railways. I’ve spent plenty of time sitting on top of my rucksack on a railway platform, generally unaware of the when my train is coming in. Happily, availability of 4G coverage means I can actually keep on top of when I’m gonna be leaving. Back in 2007, there was a lot more luck than judgement, and I’m amazed I didn’t get on at least one entirely incorrect train…

So - couple of hours to kill. on what appears to be THE most uncomfortable bench seat ever. FFS.

17:45
Still waiting.

On the plus side, there’s some excitement when monkeys steal some passengers’ food.

22:20
As I FINALLY board the train around 18:30, my stomach winces. Oooooooh great. I dump (pardon the…) my bags, and head straight for the toilet. I don’t wish to be indelicate, but it’s rather like someone has turned on a tap. All comes out pretty quickly.

Back in my seat, I start to feel a little feverish. Today is worsening at quite a rate. I ignore the food offered by the train staff, and focus instead on hydration, and the occasional dash to the toilet. I’m shivering in my seat, but then suddenly roasting hot. Quite dull really. Oooh, we’re about 20 minutes from Tundla Junction, where I’ll jump off the train, and get a cab over to Agra, about 30 minutes away.

00:30
Ok - today can just get in the fucking bin. Disembarking the train at Tundla Junction, I am met by a powerful thunderstorm. Absolutely pooning it down. Thankfully, my waterproof is easily accessible in my rucksack.

All of the signs at the station are in Hindi, which makes it tricky to figure out how to get out. I’ve booked an Uber, which I eventually find about 10 minutes walk from the station. Probably some local regulation that says only the rickshaw drivers are allowed close to the station.

Those of you that have visited India will know that driving is not one of the special skills that the populace of the country possess. Fortunately, the roads are pretty empty, but my driver still manages to make the journey a fairly hair-raising one. We hit every pot hole going, aqua-plane through some deep puddles. My driver is variously on his phone, or watching music videos - while he ‘drives.’ At one point, having hit a particularly vicious pot hole, he opens the driver door while we’re doing 50mph, I guess to see if he’s blown a tyre. All of this is topped off by my seatbelt not working. Deep, DEEP joy.

We’re about a mile away from my guesthouse, when we’re met by some metal barriers across the road, and my driver says he can’t go any further forward. I had heard this might be the case, as traffic regulations around the Taj Mahal are very strict. However, in my current state, and with the weather doing what it is, it’s a bitter disappointment.

I set off in the direction of my guesthouse. Walking along has, let’s say, some detrimental effects. About half way there, I determine that I’m not going to make it without a toilet stop. It’s nearly midnight, and everything is closed. Look - let’s just say it’s definitely the first, and hopefully the last time that I have to avail myself of a plant pot as a toilet. I reassure myself that the next time I’m struck with the urgent need to visit the facilities, I’ll be safely ensconced in my room.

I arrive at Joey’s Hostel just before midnight. I just wanna get to my room and collapse into bed. My fever is worsening, and the stomach gripes are almost constant. 15 minutes later, I’m still waiting for the reception dude to figure out how to check me in. I’m verging on losing my shit - which is ironic, I guess. The other reception dude finally takes pity on me, and takes me to my room - which is not ready. It’s being cleaned. I’m boiling. Dude takes me to another room which IS ready, and I can finally bring to a close a day that started out with some positivity, but has ended up being one of the toughest days of travelling I can remember having.

As Scarlett O’Hara so famously said, tomorrow is another day…Leggi altro