Traveling India Style

This is a photo montage of about 24 hours worth of traveling from far northern India to central/eastern India.  We left the city of Leh in Ladakh mid-morning, finally arriving in Varanasi on the edge of Uttar Pradesh the next morning.

This was the first time we used domestic airlines to travel within India.  Being so close to the Pakistan border, with a constant terrorist threat- the airport was overwhelmed with Indian Army security.  We actually passed through at least three security checkpoints.  Even entering the airport complex in a vehicle requires a passport and airline ticket check.  Then entering the airport terminal you get checked again.  Our bags ran through two different preliminary x-ray machines before being checked at the main baggage check.  Then we were scanned and patted down twice before going to the gate.  At the gate, just before departing for our plane, we had to visually identify our baggage in a pile, then board a bus to the plane.  Once aboard the bus, our baggage was whisked off and loaded on the aircraft.  A quick shuttle across the tarmac brought us to our plane, where we finally climbed a set of stairs and boarded.

The first half of the flight was spectacular.  We quickly climbed and had front  row seats watching the Himalaya pass beneath us.  Nameless peaks and massive glaciers filled my window.  I was reminded of similar flights over the Alaska Range from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  The difference was the vast size of the Himalaya.  They seemed to go on forever.  We made a stop to the west of Leh in Sringar, then turned south east and landed in Delhi.

Once in Delhi we played the transportation game again.  Bluffing an airport shuttle service, we got free tickets to travel 7 miles from the domestic terminal to the international terminal.  At the international terminal we were able to hop on the Delhi Metro and ride into the city.  Once in Delhi we had several hours to kill before our train, the Mugadh Express left for Varanasi.  The thick sub-continent humidity once again over took us.  I instantly missed the dry heat and cool nights we found in the high mountains.  

A women has henna painted on her hands

The longer I was in India the more comfortable I became with my camera.  I really had a lot of fun taking candid photographs in Pahrganj and around the New Delhi Train Station.

The main board announcing departures and arrivals, not to be believed...

Gretchen waits for our train, watching our luggage as I wander snapping photographs.

The New Delhi Station has at least 16 tracks if I remember  correctly, possibly more.  Every few minutes trains arrive and depart from all over the country.  Figuring out schedules is overwhelming at first, as previously mentioned in our first encounter.  Our train to Varanasi would end up being about two hours late.  Returning from Varanasi to Delhi a week later our train arrived nearly four hours late.  There are many classes to train travel.  For mere pennies people cram into open air cargo style train cars to travel across the country.  For $20-30 US a person, tourists can spread out in large sleeper cars.  We spent about $10 US.  That got us a semi-personal sleeper car.  Sometimes with six bunks to a chamber, sometimes four.  

A small child rushes to her mothers side looking for their train

Beautiful blue cars, most travelers were men

Pausing in larger train stations is a welcomed break for 30 and 40 hour train rides

Cargo is constantly being loaded and unloaded

The sun sets on the tracks at New Delhi Railway Station

Gretchen rides in comfort, our exclusive four person sleeper bunks

I love traveling by train in India.  I will go back to India, and when I do I hope to stay for longer and travel further by train.  Trains go nearly everywhere except the Himalaya.  Learning to hop trains and reach new destinations is a fun puzzle to solve.  You meet really exciting and interesting people on trains.  I wish America would rethink they way we look at transportation.  The more I visit exotic countries, the more I enjoy traveling by bus and train.  Both those modes have almost become obsolete in America, or at least very unpopular.  A train ticket at times can cost more then the fuel to drive.  Buses are cheaper, but not my much. Why?  In this day and age where we have become  more concerned with our environment, on top of a failing automobile industry- lets look to alternate transportation.  I hate to use the term alternate.  Lets bring back or repopularize those other modes of travel.  Gretchen and I have become more interested in seeking out public transportation in U.S. cities.  We’ve rode a couple different city busses, and always get cold stares.  I think that needs to change.  Though a little harder in Alaska due to greater distances and smaller populations, its still possible to commute by bike, or share commutes with a friend.