Astonishing Overnight Train Journey In India
When planning to travel India and train is part of your journey, the tickets might make the difference between plans and reality. Then what are the wonders of a train journey in India? Truth is nobody really warns you about anything but the water and the germs.
There are hidden tips nobody would give your about India. Until now.
I traveled from Mumbai to Goa, then New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and back to Mumbai. It was a tour I planned on my own and it went great. No, not really as planned, but really great! And I am now sharing the wonders of a train journey in India with you.
My Indian experience was fantastic and I’ve learned so much from it. I would go back at any time, for a longer period if possible, especially now that I know exactly what are the things I could do and things I should never do on a trip to India.
So here are the tips nobody would give you about India. Learn how to book train tickets in India from abroad for a perfect vacation!
How to make online reservations and buy tickets with Indian Railways IRCTC website
Visiting India is an experience I cannot recommend enough. Leave any fears aside and don’t count on your wiki information. This destination is about facts that will generate memorable stories.
This is probably one of the most adventurous and funny moments I’ve ever lived during a vacation.
I was in Mumbai and had plans to reach Goa by the next morning. Mike and our friend Lily were very excited about our AC First Class train tickets that I bought two months in advance, following the exact procedure as you find it written everywhere on the Internet. No agencies, no headaches, no surprises, I thought to myself, considering I was one of the smartest travelers of all time. Ahem… right.
I did my research, hence the decision of buying the tickets/ online reservations straight from the horse’s mouth – the Indian Railway Company’s website (IRCTC). But IRCTC train ticket booking is slightly different to any other online reservation system.
IRCTC website down
Yes, you need some patience there, as the IRCTC website not working is a message you can often see and also because your debit or credit card never seem to be accepted, unless it was generated by an Indian bank.
Still, my MasterCard worked beautifully after several attempts, as I was fighting hard to keep my zen with me at my desk. Around twenty attempts, as I had nothing to do on that morning around 6 am anyway…
I was so happy as soon as I managed to buy all the tickets I needed for our Indian tour. Considering the very friendly prices and the overnight journey, the First Class comfort for the three of us seemed great thinking.
If you plan on booking train tickets, visit the IRCTC and avoid third parties.
Mumbai to Goa by train
It was our third day in India during a delicious itinerary:
From Mumbai to Goa, then New Delhi as a start for the Golden Triangle Tour, including Jaipur, Agra to see the gorgeous Taj Mahal of course, then back home.
The evening found us on the platform, waiting for our train. The crowds and the vibe at the Mumbai Railway Station (Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj are incredible as ever.
Also known as CSMT ST or Victoria terminus, I strongly suggest you go there to see the architecture of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and the atmosphere or if you have a train ticket, of course.
In any way, the wait was fun as we’ve been asked to join locals for a few photos. Yes, this is how they make you feel, like a superstar all day. They literally ran after us just to ask for a photo.
It’s one of the sweetest things you could experience abroad, especially as a non-celebrity.
First mistake in India
The train arrived on time but our names were nowhere to be found on any of the papers glued to the doors. No, this is not one of the wonders of an Indian train journey.
I thought it’s just a minor detail and we shouldn’t worry. We went straight to our seats as they were indicated on our tickets. Once there, we were very happy to find the place clean and comfy, with clean bedding, toiletries and towels on each bed.
Within minutes, two angry ticket controllers entered the cabin telling us we did not belong there, those berths are definitely not for us. Calmly I smiled and elegantly replied “But we have the tickets bought 2 months ago, of course these are our berths, sir!” . That only made the anger on their faces grow beyond their eyebrows. They started shouting and pointing the door “You must go out immediately, this are not your seats, I assure you! Get off this train now!!!”
Clueless in India
We could feel the tension in the air so I decided to cut the smile short and show the tickets. Ta-daa! It took them just a couple of seconds before exploding “See? These are not your seats, these are not tickets, get off the train, we are about to leave!”
Probably our faces at that moment were priceless “What do you mean these are not tickets? I personally bought these tickets online 2 months ago. Look, all three names are clearly written, the train car and the seats as well. We are not getting off, no way!”
The most furious Indian fellow I’ve ever seen came closer to my face and yelled at me “These are not tickets, you are on a waiting line. You need to pay extra for tickets. get off the train!“
Thinking this is just one of those moments when they try to get more money from you hoping you’d be so naive and pay for something you already paid, I decided not to give up – What’s wrong with you, people?
Watch out, online tickets may be just your spot on a waiting list, not real tickets!
Long story short, a third colleague came to us, trying to calm everybody down, asking us to trust him and follow. It clearly looked fishy, but we had no choice then play along. We got off the train while this friendly railway official helped us with the bags, walking us along the train to the latter cars.
I remember I was counting down the train classes and started panicking when we stopped at the one I knew we should avoid – the Sleeper class. He encouraged us to get on the train and asked for 3000 rupees just for this “great service” that we never asked for.
I snapped. I started yelling at him, saying that we were sick and tired of all this as we paid AC First Class tickets and now we are in the wrong car. 100 rupees is all I gave him for helping with the luggage and nothing more. He silently took the money and vanished.
On the Indian train… again!
As we were struggling to find three seats and some room for our luggage, I couldn’t help but thinking this was nothing but a gross scam, those guys probably weren’t even officials and we should go back to our seats once the train is moving.
But everything was jam packed so we shortly found ourselves unable to move.
The first two hours were more like a nightmare, frustration stopped us from dealing with the unexpected situation on a better manner. As time was passing by, we began to understand that those guys were right and what I thought to be tickets were actually only reservations on a waiting line – a classic misunderstanding for a newbie on the Indian railway website.
Clandestine travelers in India?!
And, what was worse than anything, we also understood that we were supposed to travel to Goa for eleven hours with no valid tickets now. Clandestine travelers in India? OK, now I really did it… Luckily, we had a couple of mini bottles of red wine left from our British Airways flight.
Discover incredible India indeed!
It was a very long night but we discovered a completely different world along the journey. And, of course, with the help of the small wine, we reached the true wonders of this Indian train journey.
Everybody was well organized and all seats were occupied. Seeing us so lost, a group of teenagers gave us an upper bunk bed to store our luggage and eventually sit down.
Although each lower bunk has four seats, things change if it’s an overnight journey. One passenger will take the whole lower bunk bunk, other two take the middle and the upper bunks and one is out. It all depends on the type of ticket in this class.
When it’s time to sleep, the one with the basic ticket will find a place on the floor, or sit in a small corner at the feet of the lucky passenger, onto the bunk.
Being polite in India
I remember this man laying in his bed while a young woman refused to sleep on the floor and chose to sit on a corner of his bunk for the rest of the night.
The man did not offer his comfortable place (who knows, maybe he worked hard all day and was very tired, maybe he was insensitive or maybe it’s not a custom in India) but he got his legs a bit up, making some room to the woman.
There were people sleeping all over the floor (yes, directly on the floor, nothing under, not even a towel) so you could barely walk in between them.
I should have taken photos, but out of respect I decided not to. Besides, it was pretty dark for photography anyway. And it was that type of experience I prefer to remember with no material proofs.
Indian train – an experience like no other
But, back to the main idea: the wonders of an Indian train journey.
So, everyone took their shoes off before sleeping.
Everyone kept quiet except for the car next to ours, a different class though, where people were singing and having a great time.
In the morning, the whole place was clean, no garbage left behind, no bad smell, no mess.
We looked like albino monkeys at the Zoo, yet everyone was friendly and we caught a lot of shy smiles upon us. It was a fascinating routine and a certain discipline of the hard working masses and we would have never seen it if it wasn’t for a childish mistake with the tickets purchase.
Bottom line, the morning found us richer after such a precious lesson of life and we are still grateful for living this episode in India.
And, speaking of rich, Goa waited for us with a insanely luxurious apartment for the small price we paid – inspiring me to name this experience the Indian roller coaster – one night in the slum, next day in a palace.
Germs in Indian trains?! I couldn’t care less!!
Yes, you probably heard about nasty germs in Indian trains or in India in general. The Internet offers plenty of articles about zillions of don’t’s when you travel to India. And the stories are meant to scare you.
I was one of the scared ones myself. I’ve made my own list of don’t’s and tried my best to stick to it.
- Don’t eat fruits or salads because the water they were washed with wasn’t safe.
- Always use a sanitary cleanser with me.
- Never street food.
- Never ever tap water, under no circumstances.
- Check the bottle 100 times, make sure it’s really sealed
- Never street food etc
Funny thing is that I kinda spoiled it completely. The list that is.
Where paranoia stops, India starts to reveal its real self
So when the paranoia stops, the wonders of an Indian train journey reveals. Here’s a few warnings that I ignored in India, like when:
- I brushed my teeth using tap water in Goa as water was actually filtered and clean there.
- I accepted street food offered by our driver in Jaipur. It was delicious and perfectly safe. Now I regret I didn’t try in Mumbai too.
- Or, um… this one is heavy, guys! when I dropped my sandwich at McDonald’s and then picked it up and continued to eat. Yes, it was in its paper wrap, the location was spotless clean, I was on my last day in India, was hungry, on a rush and… a lot more confident! I lived.
But the funniest story was still about the Mumbai – Goa train journey. And then, as a direct consequence of all the stress and the completely messed up series of events that night…
The towel that I accidentally dropped on the platform in the evening, giving me the creeps – OMG, the germs from a railway station in India!! – then dropped it again in the train – OMG!!! the germs in an Indian train!! – the very same towel became my best friend for 30 minutes at dawn, when I buried my face in it, ignored all the glorious Indian germs and took a deep reinvigorating nap. Zzz-zz…
🙂
Did you know: when the Indians shake their head it means yes/approval?
I cannot end this story without giving all of you a small piece of advice: pay attention when you buy train tickets online. The website is confusing and sometimes, what it seems to be a valid ticket that you actually paid for, is nothing but a reservation on a waiting line.
Yes, you might see the date, the ticket, the train number and even a seat but it’s only a reservation, not an actual ticket. As frustrating as it sounds at this point, you’ll find it best to be uncertain now than being taken off the train in India.
And why is there only a reservation instead of a valid ticket? It’s simple – because the Indian trains are incredibly crowded. And because travelers like us, coming from Europe for example, they want superior class seats. And these are just a few per train and sell out quickly.
In case of reservation, go to the train station on the day you travel and check with the cashier for available seats. If successful, you will get a number and you’re good to go, otherwise you receive a full refund for what you paid online. Or, you can change for a different class, subject to availability.
In any way, do not count on traveling without a ticket, like we did. It was pure luck that nobody asked to check for the tickets that night.
On the other hand, if you want to try the Sleeper class atmosphere, you can purchase that type of ticket as it’s cheaper than a sandwich at M&S and makes the journey FUN experience!
In the photos below: the train passengers in the morning light, Mumbai Railway Station and me on the beach in Goa. I’d repeat anytime!
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