Day 32 - To Aurangabad! Eventually...

10:00
I must have done something different with my hair today. I’ve been stared at for most of my trip - at least anywhere outside of Goa - but today I’m attracting more stares than at any point before now. One guy on the station platform particularly stares at me for fifteen minutes. Straight. I’m wearing my shades, so can keep an eye on him with my peripheral vision, and I just find myself wondering what on earth is going through his head while he’s looking. I get that I look different, but this is a little ridiculous.

I wake at 04:00. No idea why. I try to get back to sleep, but it’s not gonna happen. I get up and do some admin. My cab is due at 08:00, and my train should depart at 08:45 for Aurangabad, my last stop before heading to Mumbai, and onwards back to Brighton. Train ride’s about 4 hours, which in the UK would (*should*) get you from London to Edinburgh. Here, it feels like the merest of interruptions to my day…

I decide against breakfast, as there’ll be plenty of snacks to buy on board the train. Barely five minutes go by on most trains without a vendor offering fruit, soft drinks, pots of vegetable curry, samosas, bottled water etc etc. They’re always very cheap, and usually very tasty.

I get to the station around 08:20, just to be on the safe side. Remember what I said about two versions of the truth in India? Well - the IRCTC app reckons my train is arriving into platform 2, and the folks at Nashik Road station are adamant it’s platform 1. Once again, I’m trusting the human.

The train is running a little late. 10 minutes, then 20. Then 30. Then 40. Then back to 30. Then, just to shake things up a bit, 15. It eventually pulls in 25 minutes later than scheduled. There is a problem though. The train doesn’t have the carriages I’m expecting it to have. I’ve booked myself a reserved seat in a chair car carriage, but there doesn’t appear to be one. I ask the train manager, and he gives me a head wobble. My only option is to join an unreserved, un-air-conditioned carriage. I’ve travelled in these carriages before. They’re ok for a very short hop, but not comfortable for any kind of longer journey. The one I’m directed to is also already full. I do NOT fancy standing or sitting on the ground for the next 4 hours.

I quickly check to see if there’s another train running later that I can join instead, but they’re all fully booked and waitlisted. I look at coach and bus services, but there’s nothing that’s bookable this close to departure. As a last resort, I check Uber, and find I can get driven up to Aurangabad for a little over £20. It’s a good 100 miles / 2 hours away, and this immediately feels like great value. I love Indian trains, but I’m not afraid to admit, dear reader, that I feel very happy to have ejected from my original plan…

My driver actually seems to be from the saner end of the Indian driver spectrum. Uses his indicators a lot, rarely touches the horn, understands it’s a 2 lane highway, that sort of thing. I turn up the A/C, kick back, and throw on a movie.

13:00
The drive was a very easy one, helped massively by my driver being a v cool customer. We spent much of the time on an actual highway. One with lanes, and sensible driving. The speed limit for cars is 120kph, but my driver feels more comfortable (or more likely, thinks I’LL be more comfortable) at 90. All good with me. I’m in no rush. The highway is smooth, and fairly empty. Excellent work.

We arrive into Aurangabad, and drive past an outdoor sound stage. Or more accurately, an outdoor sound truck. The music coming from it is deafening. Keep this one in mind for later…

Checked in, I feel an urgent need for a nap. Last night’s sleep wasn’t the best, and the bed looks uber comfy. Couple of hours I reckon…

22:30
Lovely nap, followed by a late lunch. I’m feeling slightly lowe powered today, so decide against heading out for an explore. I’ve most of a day to myself in town before my overnight train to Mumbai, so will have a chance to get out and see the city. Instead, I find the interestingly titled Harry’s Bar. I’ve been to the original in Venice, and this one, well - it’s not quite doing the name justice. It’s a pleasant enough place to spend some time though, and there’s a peaceful roof terrace, with just a hint of warm sunshine… I finish one book, and start another. I *think* that’s around 10 I’ve done on this trip so far. I’ve not felt the urge to re-read Shantaram, despite thinking i would probably do so. It’s an incredible book, and if you haven’t read it, I strongly encourage you to do so. That said, there’s a mystique to it, a similar frame to the one I found on my first foray into India, and whilst I’ve hugely enjoyed this trip, it’s not swept me up in quite the same way.

Dinner is a treat. I have a kadai murg - a chicken curry, laden with complex spice flavourings. There are a couple that I’m tantalisngly close to identifying, but I just can’t quite put my finger on them. Alongside the curry staples of onion, garlic, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder, chilli powder - I’m pretty sure there’s some fenugreek, black cardamom and fennel seed. It’s a rich, tomato based sauce, and has a smoky flavour. I ask the waiter dude what’s in it, he misunderstands me, and brings me another roti.

Whilst I’m eating, the outdoor sound truck gets going. It’s a din. A racket. It starts off sounding like a cross between Bangra and Grime. It moves on to some kind of ear-bleeding industrial techno, before finishing with deafening Indian pop music. The truck is part of some kind of float or parade, and after 20 minutes of barely being able to hear myself think, the noise starts to move away.

I have a beer with my dinner, but it’s a fairly abstemious day all told. My driver is coming at 08:00 tomorrow morning for a tour taking in the Ellora Caves, so I’m tucked up in bed not long after 22:00. Zzzzzz….Read more