This Tshirt Was Outsourced in Bangalore

Goodbye for a while, IR.

Train journeys, 18 April to 3 June -

Sealdah (Calcutta) to New Jalpaiguri (for Darjeeling): 569km
New Jalpaiguri to Mughal Sarai (for Varanasi): 849km
Varanasi Junction to Agra Fort (for the Taj Mahal): 607km
Jaipur to Jaisalmer: 614km
Ahmedabad to Mumbai: 491km
Mumbai to Madgaon (for Goa): 765km

*Total distance covered by train* – 3895km

We must have covered a similar distance by bus.

Breakdown of train classes: Tier 3AC (4 times), non-AC Sleeper (once), AC Chair Class (once)

The trains are the arteries of the Indian transport system. Contrary to the popular belief that Indian trains are hopelessly overcrowded with passengers on the roofs and sides, the IR is doing a pretty good job, considering its size (it is the world’s largest employer, and has been in existence for 150 years). Travel in the classes of 3AC upwards is very comfortable and clean. Sleeper class might be a better idea in the winter. Sometime during the 3895 kilometres that I’d travelled, I struck upon the great idea of travelling the same distance from Singapore by trains, and trains only, and seeing where I’d end up.

The fact that I know exactly where I’ll end up (China), and which succession of trains to take (Singapore to Hat Yai, Hat Yai to Bangkok, Bangkok to Nong Khai, then into Vietnam, to catch the twice-a-week train to Beijing… is quite scary. That I’m seriously contemplating this journey, and doing it myself, is the other thing.

*Home is the Stopover Before the Next Destination*
First dinner back home: Butter crabs and crab beehoon at _Melben_

I liked Bangalore: the weather was great, the people were great (except the rickshaw men), and I got to meet “Kiran”:http://jace.livejournal.com/421377.html, Zainab, and Avinash from Delhi. I think I could actually live there for a couple of months. Then again, by the time we got there, we were so fatigued from backpacking (though admittedly we did much more _flash_packing), that we just settled nicely into nice dinners that cost hundred-something (yes, Singapore dollars), and the other flash on MG and Brigade Road.

This post was originally named _How Many People Does It Take to Get Something Done at Bangalore International Airport?_ But I lost count, trying to recount this morning’s events.

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