Browsing Posts tagged Transportation
James and I took a train from Mumbai (Bombay) to Goa which is about a 10 or so hour ride. Ours unfortunately turned into a 12 or so hour ride, but we were entertained the entire way. The scenery was amazing, passing from sunshine to rain to sunshine to rain. We stopped at many stations along the way and watched the vendors running up to the train windows to sell water, cashew nuts and snacks. Porters would grab luggage from people and beggars perfected their art. There were probably over 1000 people on this train which was destined for the most southern point in India, originating in Mumbai. James and I were, if not the only white people, most definitely 2 of the handful on board. We never saw any others so who really knows.
The train starts out at a station, which in order to get to it, it’s a crazy taxi ride from where we were staying, 90 mins thru town, swerving left and right. Lucky for us our taxi driver was great, telling us when to roll up the window to avoid the cross-dressing beggars among other people low on the totem pole in India.
We eventually made it, wove our way through the hordes of people, found the wrong seats initially and then go sorted and settled. It was absolutely fascinating to watch the Indian scenery fly by, take in the noises of the train, it’s passengers and see watch thousands of people travel at a time. About 3/4 of the way through the trip, we made friends with the group of family and friends traveling in the compartment next to us.
Interesting as I was, I think they all had their eye on James, as apparently he resembled a famous Bollywood actor. Lucky for them, he posed for photos!
