Ghost Train
Trip Start
Nov 21, 2007
1
14
18
Trip End
Dec 30, 2007
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Ajmer,
India
Thursday, December 13, 2007
When I booked my ticket (Kunal was with me for this leg-) from Jaipur to Ajmer- keep in mind, this is after screwing up the dates for my Udaipur trip due to freezing ass late bus, and spending hours dealing with that whole clusterf*ck- I asked for a 10:45 PM.. PM... PPPEE EEMMM... train, as the LP made reference to such a train existing. Since it was a same-day train, the ticket that they issue, (naturally..) has no train number on it and no departure/arrival time.. So I figured, as I wrote PM on the little piece of paper that you use to book your ticket at the station, that it was indeed for the 10:45 pm train. The ticket guy had nodded emphatically when I was explaining the details of what I wanted... Nope. No such train. He'd booked me for the one that was basically sitting at platform 1 right then. The 10:45 AM train that was, at the moment, pulling out of the station. Found that out after I left the station and had a full day of whatever, and then came back to the station and waited for that ghost train. And waited. Finally Kunal asked around (first he was told yes- 10:45 pm train, comin' up.. and keep in mind he's Indian and speaks Hindi... that's how screwy it is..) and then finally no, and then no again (you have to check a few times.. You never know what they maybe never know...) I also had phoned to the hotel in Pushkar (you take the train and then the bus) as they probably have an influx of guests after every train arrival there, and they said, oh yes, sure, 10:45 pm train from Jaipur comes in and you'll be here at the hotel at 2:00.
Kunal plays a funny on me
You have to laugh, or you'll lose your mind.. Sooo... yeah, no 10:45 pm train to Ajmer, where we were going to make that bus connection and see Pushkar. PLUS... I'd booked overnight tickets from Ajmer back up to Delhi for the following night- I have a plane that leaves out of Delhi today (that's actually where I am right now) and couldn't miss that. Because I wouldn't be able to get a full refund (again, only half) of the ticket from Ajmer to Delhi, and also because it would be another three hours of running around the train station, I decided, screw it, we'll take a bus to Ajmer (there are public government buses that run every 10 minutes, that supposedly took 2 hours..) and at the very least, I would be able to catch my train. There's no way you could use your ticket that had you booked from further south and just get on a little bit north- ie, I couldn't have a ticket that got me on the train from Ajmer and then actually board when the train got to Jaipur.. A few holes in the ol' "system".. so, yeah, took the bus down. So it was 50 rupees each to ride, and it was fast, and sure, the driving was crazy, and I was the only honky on the bus, but.. it FAR outperformed the "private" bus. It was only an hour longer than they said (knew that going in) and you didn't have to guess where you were, as someone's shouting it the whole time (for better or for worse..) and it arrived without shuffling you off to sit in the street (or stand) for an undetermined period of time for undetermined reasons. Anyway, a success! ...and we had a whirlwind walk through Ajmer (which is actually Amber in English) and guess what I bought there! Give up? Strands of amber. I could hardly contain my poker-bargaining face when they told me how much- like $7US for a giant beautiful strand of high quality amber.. I don't know when I'll use beads that big, but they are just so pretty to look at! Got a few smaller ones too. Bargained anyway, got a few more things, saw the muslim temple there very briefly, took some photos, had an amazing dinner (again... we're going to have to do something about sweet lassis at the Creamery upon my return.. A must. Can't live without.) Went to a bar for the second time since I've been here which I would never do alone (at least not out of a touristy area) where I was the one and only female.. We were approached by a guy who offered "brown sugar" which I did not know until last night was a term for heroin... It really pissed me - and Kunal- off, actually, and he told him to go away immediately, angrily, in no uncertain terms. Interesting. So then after that whole thing, we went to the train station, got our luggage out of hock, and got on the train. The train was a little late, but we were on by about 12:45 (AM) and then went to sleep in the berths. Woke up with some tea and as I was having my morning coughing fit (just a part of the day!) one of the guys in the berth thing called whoever, and he was told on the other end of the phone that there had been a bombing at 5:55 AM on the train headed the other direction. Basically, the same train, just going south. Jesus. Kunal of course translated all this for me, and then someone had a radio and turned it on for the news and he translated the detail- not much- just the time and the fact that it had been on the train going the other way. 5 killed, don't know how many injured. Second bombing since I've been here. This one felt pretty close; it could have just as easily been the northbound train, which I hesitate actually to write... Don't want to freak anyone out, it's OK. Safer now in a way that one has just happened and plus I'm headed south today where tensions appear to be less. I called Mom immediately so that she'd (everyone would) know, when the news got home, that I was fine. Ah, cell phones. They do make it easier. When we got off the train there was a news truck outside the station. Security here, everywhere, is a total joke, I mean it would be if people weren't getting bombed. Even the airport puts on a facade of being careful, but take for example the day that I brought my knife.. all my stuff, including my fire toys, on board because I was late... Well, I'm showered (Kunal got a friend of his to let me use a hotel room for a quick HOT shower.. wow.. so I didn't have to buy a room to freshen up) and now here I am, and he's brought me tea and has made a CD out of my photos for me, he's helping me to send another package from here, thank god for the help on a relatively tight timeline... and then he's going to accompany me to the airport.. On the way is the toilet museum- apparently there's toilet history there dating to 2500BC. I just can't miss it. Could you? I am flying to Trivandrum tonight where hopefully I'll get a room before I start the crawl up the southwestern coast.
If I'm lucky, I'll have internet tonight when I land and I'll upload some photos... Bye for now!
