The train was due to leave at around 1.30, an inconvenient time, since we could not really sleep beforehand. The train originated from Siliguri, so we hoped to get on board early, but it was, of course, late, so it was after one before we were told we could go down to the platform. Even then, it took some time to find the guard, + then some more for him to assign us a couple of berths. Eventually, we crawled in + went to sleep, even tho’ this was truly “hard sleeper” – plain wooden boards.
The day that followed was quite hideous. A reserved berth at night does not seem to guarantee a seat of one’s own during the day, so we were squeezed up, 4 or more to a 3-seat bench, all day. All the worse, because I did not have a book in which to lose myself. I had begun reading Tolstoy’s “Resurrection”, but had been forced to give it up, finding it literally too painful to continue.
Somehow, the day inched away, + first Val, + then I, went to bed. I did get up again quite late when we stopped at a station, to drink tea + eat curry + chapattis from a street, or rather platform, stall. I was also able to discover that we would be a few hours late arriving. Just as well really, since this meant we would have a reasonable night’s sleep + be arriving in the morning, rather than clambering out in the middle of the night, + then having to find a corner to curl up in.
Something of a miserable experience, it would seem. One tends to forget that, when travelling, huge chunks opf time can be used up in situations such as this, ie of being pretty miserable.
