There’s Ananda! At the foot of Buddha!
Although I really wanted to go to Ajanta, I had to do some homework. It turns out that my timing was off somewhere along the line and I thought I had a few more days to work on one of my assignments and it wasn’t until looking over my calendar to see what else was coming up did I realize that my assignment was actually due very soon.
I pretty much spent the day in the hotel, ordering cup after cup of coffee (well, actually, I usually just ordered two cups at a time…) and doing my work. It as a bit of an adventure in power supply since there were both scheduled and unscheduled power outages, so I found myself having to do a bit of manual writing instead of typing…. Oh, the horror!!! (At least I now know that my penmanship hasn’t gotten as bad as I thought it would have….)
During my one of my breaks, I went to confirm our train tickets for the evening so that when everyone else came back in the early afternoon, we’d be good to go.
When everyone got back, I got to get a little idea of what it was like from the photos that Amy and Axle took—at some point I’ll get Amy’s renditions of Henny’s reactions too, since I’m sure there were some good insights from her…. (Here are some of the photos.)
Our second train ride
Our train—the Karnatika Express—came a little late. It was one of those super-long-distance trains, and we were traveling second-class air-conditioned this time…. Both of those were new to me. So far, most of my train rides have involved me getting on and off at the originating and terminating stations. Jalgaon, being a small station, would only be a five minute stop for this train, and Agra, though a major destination, was not the final destination for this train, so the situation would be similar for us when we would get there (supposedly) at six the following morning. So, we did our part and got to the station early and confused ourselves each time a train pulled up to the station.
Second-class A/C isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. It is almost the same as third A/C, with the exception that there are curtains in each section so there is a little bit more privacy. But honestly, the curtains are totally cumbersome, especially when you are trying to board and disembark a train quickly with a lot of luggage. Also, the train just seemed very dirty to me, but that may be because we were getting on halfway through what is probably a minimum 40-hour train.
Our boarding was very hectic. We weren’t all sitting in one place, which adds to confusion for everyone, especially trying to figure out who is going to sleep where. Plus, no one had really had a good lunch, so I think they were a bit tired too. Henny was depressed, we found out later, because the trains reminded her of the trains during the war….
Once we were all on board, we waited around a bit for some people to come by with some dinner. Amy and I hung around for a while on the top bunk and looked over everyone else trying to acclimate to their first overnight train experience.
Suddenly there’s a shriek from Karin, and in a flash, she’s standing on her seat. In another two seconds, she’s scrambled to the top-bunk across from us. A rat had apparently decided that it would be fun to start climbing up Karin’s leg….
The Indian spectators looked on as if this were just a matter of routine. Axle seems pretty amused by it—I guess the cats bring in enough living and dead animals that this didn’t really shock her. Henny’s reaction?
“I would take that rat by its tail and swing it around my head and throw it against the window….”
Not sure if I believe her, but the fact that it was accompanied by a demonstration of her swinging her hands above her head was pretty classic….
Related posts (possibly):
- Sun. Jan 21 – Agra, Agra Fort, and the Taj Mahal View from Agra Fort…. Just as Ajanta and Ellora was...
- Sat. Jan 13 – Madurai This was mostly “temple day” for us in Madurai, with...
- Sat. Jan 27 – In Delhi, living like royalty… What an interesting morning. We all woke up very well-rested...
- Thurs. Jan 18 – Various Modes of Transportation This day was interesting because we managed to pack in...
- Mon. Jan 15 – Floating Around (on a Houseboat in Kerala) Pretty much, a houseboat experience is something like this: you...
The Grumpy Writer’s Grumps
Sat. Jan 20 – Ajanta (and studying) and a train to Agra
There’s Ananda! At the foot of Buddha!
Although I really wanted to go to Ajanta, I had to do some homework. It turns out that my timing was off somewhere along the line and I thought I had a few more days to work on one of my assignments and it wasn’t until looking over my calendar to see what else was coming up did I realize that my assignment was actually due very soon.
I pretty much spent the day in the hotel, ordering cup after cup of coffee (well, actually, I usually just ordered two cups at a time…) and doing my work. It as a bit of an adventure in power supply since there were both scheduled and unscheduled power outages, so I found myself having to do a bit of manual writing instead of typing…. Oh, the horror!!! (At least I now know that my penmanship hasn’t gotten as bad as I thought it would have….)
During my one of my breaks, I went to confirm our train tickets for the evening so that when everyone else came back in the early afternoon, we’d be good to go.
When everyone got back, I got to get a little idea of what it was like from the photos that Amy and Axle took—at some point I’ll get Amy’s renditions of Henny’s reactions too, since I’m sure there were some good insights from her…. (Here are some of the photos.)
Our second train ride
Our train—the Karnatika Express—came a little late. It was one of those super-long-distance trains, and we were traveling second-class air-conditioned this time…. Both of those were new to me. So far, most of my train rides have involved me getting on and off at the originating and terminating stations. Jalgaon, being a small station, would only be a five minute stop for this train, and Agra, though a major destination, was not the final destination for this train, so the situation would be similar for us when we would get there (supposedly) at six the following morning. So, we did our part and got to the station early and confused ourselves each time a train pulled up to the station.
Second-class A/C isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. It is almost the same as third A/C, with the exception that there are curtains in each section so there is a little bit more privacy. But honestly, the curtains are totally cumbersome, especially when you are trying to board and disembark a train quickly with a lot of luggage. Also, the train just seemed very dirty to me, but that may be because we were getting on halfway through what is probably a minimum 40-hour train.
Our boarding was very hectic. We weren’t all sitting in one place, which adds to confusion for everyone, especially trying to figure out who is going to sleep where. Plus, no one had really had a good lunch, so I think they were a bit tired too. Henny was depressed, we found out later, because the trains reminded her of the trains during the war….
Once we were all on board, we waited around a bit for some people to come by with some dinner. Amy and I hung around for a while on the top bunk and looked over everyone else trying to acclimate to their first overnight train experience.
Suddenly there’s a shriek from Karin, and in a flash, she’s standing on her seat. In another two seconds, she’s scrambled to the top-bunk across from us. A rat had apparently decided that it would be fun to start climbing up Karin’s leg….
The Indian spectators looked on as if this were just a matter of routine. Axle seems pretty amused by it—I guess the cats bring in enough living and dead animals that this didn’t really shock her. Henny’s reaction?
“I would take that rat by its tail and swing it around my head and throw it against the window….”
Not sure if I believe her, but the fact that it was accompanied by a demonstration of her swinging her hands above her head was pretty classic….
Related posts (possibly):