Alignment Yoga India Travel Log: August 2011

Excerpted from a blog on Sleeper class, one class below our tickets. I find the information still relevant. Our tickets are A/C Sleeper (Air Con, Air Conditioned) and that means the windows have glass on them and remain closed.

Outbound we will fill four berths and returning to Delhi we will fill two berths of the train plus half of a third berth. Therefore those in the full berths will not be as exposed to some of the cultural aspects of traveling with Indians on the train. You may request to be one of the four individuals in the 1/2 berth if you want to spend more time talking to Indian families, otherwise these four beds will be assigned to Dawa and the three late sign-ups.

Toilets
There are 4 toilets per carriage (for 72 people), one of these toilets is a western style toilet with a seat, ALWAYS leave the seat in the UP position after you use the toilet, if you leave it in the down position people will pee on the seat, the other 3 toilets are Indian style squat toilets, a squat toilet is difficult to use at the best of times, but on a moving train it's an experience never to be forgotten, and likely to be the source of many an AFTER dinner conversation, the main problem for foreign tourists is that we have no need in life to squat down with our feet remaining flat on the floor, try it, our muscles are not used to this position so we always end up squatting down on our toes, try doing this with your trousers around your ankles on a moving train, it really takes a lot of practice.

Next to the toilet you'll find a sink with a tap, there is also a tap low down next to the squat toilets, there is no soap, towel or toilet paper, you must take your own, the floor of the toilet is nearly always wet, be it water or whatever else.

Be extra careful with your money belt or anything else you may be carrying, all toilets have just a large hole direct through to the track, anything dropped down the hole will not be seen again.

Do not use the toilet when the train is at a station.

There are also 2 extra sinks outside the toilets, one at each end of the carriage, each one also has a mirror, however, even with 6 sinks per carriage, you may still have to wait to use a sink early in the morning.

Carriage Temperature
The variations in temperature are one of the main problems in Sleeper Class carriages, the whole of North India (for this purpose, north India is anything north of the Mumbai-Hyderabad line) can be chilly at night from the start of November till mid February, especially on a moving carriage, it is not possible to keep all of the draughts out of the carriage and you will find yourself falling asleep at 21:00 feeling warm then waking up at 2 in the morning feeling cold (especially your feet).

There are no sheets, blankets or pillows provided in Sleeper Class. A light sleeping bag would be perfect for these chilly overnight trips, but if you (like me) can't sleep in a sleeping bag, a warm hat, extra thick socks and a warm jacket/cardigan/jumper should be enough. (I had one of those thick 'builders shirts' on my last trip and it was enough)

The daytime temperature (from 8 or 9am till about 8 or 9pm) is perfect in the same area at the same time of year, in fact a t-shirt is all that is needed.

Sitting by the open carriage door with nothing to obstruct your view is one of the best experiences in India, and is easy to do in Sleeper Class (or 2S), in higher classes the train staff often ask you to move, be careful not to have your legs dangling from the doorway as your feet would be lower than many platforms, I used to sit with my feet on the top step whilst making sure my knees were not sticking out, these days though I normally sit with my back against the heavy carriage door and just one foot on the top step, it feels safer, watch out for that carriage door, it can suddenly start to swing closed as the train puts it's brakes on, also keep an eye out for bridges, it can really give you a shock when you first cross over a high bridge and realise that there's nothing to stop you falling off the train and over the bridge, also make sure you go back to your seat/berth as soon as you feel a little tired, I didn't and found myself nodding off, very scary.

Cleanliness
Sleeper Class carriages will be dusty, wipe your seat & berth with a damp cloth or a couple of wet wipes/baby wipes, but wait till the train is moving before you do this, boarding time can be chaotic and thieves know how to take advantage of the confusion.

If you plan to sit by the open carriage door you will find the floor is dusty/dirty, I still just sit on the floor then quickly dust myself down when I get up, you could sit on a piece of paper.

Clothes will become a little dusty on a long journey and you will feel a bit dirty yourself, however, if you're overly concerned about the dust, Sleeper Class may not be for you.

You can wash your hands and face in the sinks at both ends of the carriage or in the toilets, you can also brush your teeth and shave, I've tried 'showering' in one of the toilets (just using one of the tiffin tins), but I wouldn't recommend it, it's difficult, there is nowhere to hang your clothes/towel and it's a selfish misuse of the limited water available on a train. *

It's best to wait till you get to your destination, if you're going to a large station you will find an 'Upper Class waiting room', try to walk in, as a foreigner, half of the time the staff will assume you have an upper class (Air Con) ticket and will not ask to see the ticket, once inside, you will find a large clean bathroom area with 2 or 3 large shower rooms, there is space to hang your clothes, towel and backpack, but I can't remember ever finding hot water or a towel, also in the bathrooms are a number of toilets (both seat and squat) and lots of sinks and mirrors.

Be careful though, there are separate upper class waiting rooms for men and women, I got some terrible looks when I mistakenly showered (and.....) in the ladies waiting room last month.

Also on the large stations, there are Sleeper Class waiting rooms, these are not so spacious & clean, but are still OK to use.

Most long distance trains have long halts (20 minutes or so) along the route; this allows the station staff to re-fill the water tanks on the train.

I really can't comment on mosquitoes in Sleeper Class, I can't remember ever noticing them, though to be fair, I don't really notice them on my travels, I'm the kind of person who can be bitten 20 times and not realise, so I'll leave others to comment on any mosquito problems.

Windows
The windows in Sleeper Class are open with 4 bars on the outside of the window, the bars obstruct the view a little bit, but not much, you soon get used to them, but because there isn't a fixed glass window (like there is in all air con classes) you can see, smell and almost feel India as you're travelling.

These open windows are wonderful when you pull into a station, vendors walk up to your window and sell you Chai, coffee, food, snacks and newspapers, but you also get beggars coming to your window.

If you sleep with the window open, be careful where you leave things, people can put their hands through the bars and take things, so be careful.

Emergency windows are located at seats 17, 23, 52 & 56, these windows have red bars that can be lifted up into the window housing above and locked open, then you have nothing to obstruct your view, a really great option.

Children
Children aged 5 and below 12 years are charged half the adult fare and are allowed a seat/berth of their own, children aged 4 and below travel free (though their details still need to be added to the reservation form), but they will not be allocated a seat/berth and must share with a person they're travelling with.

Luggage.
You are allowed 40 kg free luggage allowance and 10 kg marginal allowance per person, children aged 5 and below 12 years are allowed half of the free allowance.

The gap between the bottom of the inside lower berth and the floor is about 35cms, and the gap is about 38cms for the side berths, it's worth measuring your luggage to see if it will fit into this space.

You will find a metal wire below the lower berths, you can lock your luggage to the wire (a lock and chain can be purchased on most medium and large stations), if you prefer to keep your luggage in your berth, there are places to lock your luggage to, mainly the metal chains/bars that hold up the berths, however, you can't keep your luggage on a middle berth during the day, and the side berths are really too small to keep your luggage on the berth, there isn't a lot of room under the side berths for luggage, so if you have a lot of luggage, inside berths are best.

Food.
I'll leave others to comment on the food that is served on trains, I tried it a few times and found it bland and unappetising, so I either buy platform food, or get a restaurant to fill a Tiffin Carrier with food for longer journeys.

Be careful of moist food (like Omelettes) bought on a platform, they're often served on newspaper, but if you look around, you'll find the very poor Indian people collecting newspapers off the floor to sell to the food vendor.

A stainless steel tiffin carrier is ideal for long train journeys. See your local indian grocery.

Fellow Passengers.
Sleeper Class has the widest variety of passengers of all the classes on Indian trains, there will be many families from very different backgrounds, some going on important pilgrimages, some going to weddings, others just going to see family members, there will be groups of men or women, some tourists, many men travelling alone for job interviews etc.

The amount of English spoken in Sleeper Class is a lot less than in air con classes, you'll always find people who speak a little English, but conversations with these people can be difficult (but can still be fun), sometimes you find yourself sitting with a family who speak excellent English.

You will always be warned not to accept food from strangers, and there is good reason for the warnings, criminals put drugs in food/drink and offer it to you, if you then consume the food/drink, you'll wake up many hours later and find all your valuables gone, however, this kind of crime is still very rare, so don't cut yourself off from the world and refuse anything from anyone, use your common sense, a man will not bring his wife, children and parents if his only intention is to rob you.

When a family offer you food, it's not an 'offer', they have decided they will share there food with you, a refusal can be hard for the family to understand, I've always felt safe and never refused food, and I've been given some fantastic food, some of the best I've had in India, the children of the family are often fascinated to watch a foreigner eating their food, and this is a wonderful way of getting chatting to them.

Sleeper Class passengers are normally very friendly, and you'll notice this more if you're travelling alone, I've had Indian families almost adopt me for the journey when they realise I'm travelling alone, the level of friendliness can be a shock for some travellers, especially those from more reserved countries.

Another wonderful Indian custom you may notice, especially if you're in an inside berth with a family or group of Indian friends travelling together, everything is shared, and without ever asking, it seems strange at first, but almost comforting when you get used to it, you put your newspaper down, someone will pick it up and start reading it, you put your drink down, someone will start to drink it, and so on....but you're expected to do the same with their stuff, I always feel like I've been accepted by the family when someone helps themselves to something of mine.

A few tips.....
Take some photos from home, family photos, pet photos, even photos of your home; your fellow passengers will be as fascinated by them as you are about India.

Ask if you can take a photo of your fellow passengers, then show them the photo (if digital camera used), kids love it.

Pass your iPod/mp3 around for others to listen to, always good fun.

Always remember that your fellow passengers are an extra 7 pairs of eyes looking after your luggage, a smile when you meet them is a very worthwhile investment.

Plug sockets.
I hope other members can supply more info here, as this was not something I was looking out for on my last trip.

However, on every single Sleeper Class carriage I used on my last trip (about 12), I saw people charging mobile phones, at one end of the carriage (maybe both ends, I wasn't really looking) on the wall that doesn't have a sink, there was a minimum of 2 x 3-pin sockets, as I said, people were using these to charge their mobile phones, though you would still need to use an adaptor, I use a simple one that I bought in India for about Rs60.

I don't know if plug sockets are available in all Sleeper Class carriages, I hadn't even noticed them on earlier trips, however, a few of the carriages I used on this trip were over 10 years old, and despite what Sleeper Class carriages look like, that's quite old for a carriage. (You’ll find the age of a carriage on the outside at the end of the carriage)

Alignment Yoga India Travel Log

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Samples of Ani Choyung Drolma and Nagi Gompa nuns

Thursday, August 18, 2011

What you can expect on the train

Eight Great Buddhist Pilgrimage sites

Accommodations and Contact Info for 2011 Trip