Did I mention the serious challenges one faces trying to organize travels in India? Thanks to my trusty epidemiologist student, Raman, I was finally able to successfully navigate the Indian train website (it being impossible to purchase tickets at any train station). However, I started too late and most of the trains were booked!! Eventually and through great persistence I created a dream holiday in mythical Rajasthan (with only two 5am trains to deal with)!! We arrived at the train station at 430 because the train station is a monster and to try to figure out where to go since most of the signs are in beautiful Hindi. Over five hours later we were on our way—cold, tired and hungry, since we didn´t dare leave the station because the train was almost here. The 150 kilometer (110 mile) trip took about five hours and we finally arrived at our destination described by the guidebook as a town where even the most seasoned travelers have a hard time with the touts and level of harassment of the local merchants and guides.
It turns out that part of the delay was because of a small uprising in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It seems they’re fighting the government for a higher quota of government jobs. And, as any rational group of people would do, they blocked all of the main roads through Rajasthan and started ripping up the train tracks leading to town. At first we thought it was a clever strategy on the part of our sleazy hotel managers to get us to stay in town a bit longer. The next morning (again at 430—apparently my witching hour) we learned from some Italian tourist that we were indeed stranded. All of my planning completely laid to waste as we shivered in the cold trying to figure out what to do next, since even the most enterprising of businesses did not open for a few hours. Two cafes and numerous cups of tea later, an escape plan was hatched!
Oh yeah. I saw the Taj Mahal. Check.
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