Calcutta and the 3 day train journey...

...And the answer to how you get from the very northernmost tip of India to the very southernmost when you can't afford to fly is this. A three hour jeep ride back down from the Himalayan mountains to Siliguri. A tuk tuk from Siliguri to the train station at New Jaipalguri. A 10 hour train from New Jaipalguri to Calcutta. And finally... an epic 42 hour, 2 night, 3 day train journey all the way from Calcutta down the Eastern coast of India and then reaching Chennai and cutting across Tamil Nadu to Ernakulum station in Kochin, Kerala. So that's what we did! The Indian train network really is fantastic, you can travel to absolutely anywhere from anywhere in relative comfort, and by our standards, for an absolute steal. It's so huge and extensive in fact that it's actually the world's biggest employer.

We stopped in Calcutta for 2 days, staying in the Sudder Street area, and other than the accommodation in the city being very overpriced (you simply can't get a bed for less than 600 rupees, and that's going to be dodgy) I really liked this friendly city. Calcutta, or Kolkata as it's now officially known, is like a microcosm for the whole of India, in that the gap between rich and poor is in your face like nowhere else. In the city where Mother Theresa taught at St Mary's High School, families with tiny children live on the side of the road and wash themselves from buckets, ragpicking litter to survive and hand-pulled rickshaw wallahs still remain (they're apparently the best way to get around in the monsoon) sleeping under their vehicles. Meanwhile just round the corner are air conditioned stores and restaurants where rich young Bengali's meet for coffee, wear beautiful clothes and speak to each other in English. Watching the streets of Calcutta is more fascinating than any movie.

Soon enough it was time to board the train that would be our home for the next three days. Usually we take 'sleeper' trains which are the cheapest class of Indian train and comprise of 3 rows of beds opposite each other, while the bottom two fold down to seats for daytime use (so if you want to sleep you book the upper berth) so you agree to put the beds up when you're ready to sleep with whoever else is sharing your section. In sleeper class there are no luxuries, the flat 'beds' are blue plastic pads and I usually use a jumper as a pillow and a sarong as a sheet. The windows are barred so natural air flows in (there are fans too) and you get a great view of the surrounding countryside. It's also incredibly noisy. However, as we knew that we would be on the train for SUCH a long time, we decided to book a 3 AC carriage, which means there are still six of you in a section, but the temperature is controlled, it's much quieter and you get a bed roll to sleep on. Most of Indian overnight train journeys don't cost more than £5, and this trip cost us about £18 each. Not bad at all when you consider you're getting 2 nights 'accommodation.'

So we settled in to the ride, reading, sleeping, drinking endless cups of chai tea from the chai-wallahs, buying bananas through the bars, gazing out at the beautiful and changing countryside beyond the window, stretching our legs on the station platforms (and even watching men having a wash on the railway line, oh how jealous I was!) and getting to know the families around us, who, as always were incredibly friendly and interested in our lives and telling us about Indian culture. They also kept us very well fed, giving us biriyanis and endless Indian sweets. The length of the journey didn't seem to phase them at all. It's just simply what you do if you want to get from one place to another. The Indian resilience never fails to impress me. On the whole they have never known privacy, or peace and quiet, so if someone starts talking loudly at 4am it doesn't bother them at all. That's just life.

Another note about Indian trains is that, like in all of India, you can pretty much do what you want. There are no health and safety rules, so if you want to open the train door and sit on the step watching the world rush by with the wind in your hair, waving at the kids playing cricket or living by the side of the tracks, you can. And that was one of my absolute favourite things to do, especially when they saw a white person and screeched at their friends to come and look and they all smiled and waved. In the same way, if the homeless, or young children want to take the train they can hop on and off, as long as they're not taking up anyone's bed or seat. It's a very common theme in India. No one (i.e. the government) seems to be looking out for the people, but no one's stopping them either. If they want to sleep inside the train station, they can. They won't be moved on.

So it was quite a challenge, and one we thought would never end, but of course it did, and actually it was a fascinating experience. Stumbling out onto the platform at Kochin we flagged down a tuk tuk and found a bed in Ernakulum before booking a houseboat trip on Kerala's famous backwaters for the next morning, ordered room service, switched on the TV and collapsed into our first good night's sleep in 3 days.