Holy Cow!

Wait… I mean WOW!

Since I am in India, I don’t want to confuse my expression of “Holy Cow” with the cows that are considered holy here.  But what I was trying to express was that something big and wow happened.  It’s called the “India Train Experience.”  It is quite the sensory overload thus the expressions with exclamation points!!

Please imagine a crowded train station where everyone stares at the white Americans, and crowds gather around to watch what the white Americans are doing.  Please imagine the smell of urine soaked into the ground mixed with garbage, body odor and exhaust fumes, in a place where there are crowds of people.  Now let’s add the hot sun and dust and dirt to the stench.

Today we rode back to Delhi on the train.  Oh my! (Another expression because it was such a sensory overload).  It was a little less than a week ago when we rode the train to our location in India.  The ride back to Delhi was equally or even more adventurous.

Now add beggars. Not just any beggars, but little beggars under the age of 10 wearing clown like makeup, dirty clothing and trying to perform for our group by dancing and playing a little drum.  One of the saddest sites I have seen, and it will haunt me for a long long time.  After they played, they reached their little hands out to us hoping that we would give them money.

Now imagine getting on the train…the dirty train.  We rode in the air-conditioned area considered the 1^st class.   It wasn’t bad.  Sure, there was the smell of the bathrooms that were right behind our seats, the smell of cigarettes from those that sneak into the bathroom to smoke, the smell of the food that the vendors constantly bring up and down the aisle, and the smell of body odor in addition.  The combination wasn’t so good, and I will admit that it gets old after  8 hours on the train. However, this was far better then the other section of the train where thousands crowd into small spaces and open carts as if they were being shuffled off to the Holocaust.    It is a WOW experience to see and smell.

We finally arrived in Delhi at night.  It was dark in the train station, and with 13 Americans trying to carry luggage through a crowd, it was a bit stressful with all the people starring and gathering around us.  We had to watch our bags very closely.  We have now made it safely back to the hotel and it’s a big relief.  My adrenaline is still in high gear, but I am so thankful we are safe.

We have one more day to see Delhi and then I get to fly back home to see my family.

Oh friends, this was the WOW!  And I will say HOLY COW!!  And WHAT A DAY!! What a crazy day!

The adventures of travel!