My most popular story telling post is a story of the worst train ride of my life. Now HERE it is in video form.
A year later people come up to me at conferences and mention that story as an incredibly moving story.
The truth is that video captures it a little bit differently. Our India trip was joined by my video-buff friend Seth who filmed everything. So visually it’s usually filmed from his perspective. So during my many trips to the train station, fighting in line, I was mostly by myself (Seth was having his first experience being really sick in India (I wonder if he has any fond memories of traveling with us)). So no video of the ticket buying.
And video in general is just different. You remember different things, things you don’t necessarily think to film.
All that to say, if you liked the video, you can go back and read the post after and get filled in on all the details. But first watch the video.
A few things to note.
Tourists don’t normally have to deal with this stuff. This train had special security measures because Jammu and Kashmir is a politically tense province because of the conflicts, partly due to both India and Pakistan claiming this region as their own.
The booking process and the doors being locked, these are not normal things.
That being said, as crazy as this video was, it’s normal life for some Indians. We don’t think $5 is a lot to ride in a first class train. But there are more videos and photos of packed trains in India than one could possibly imagine. We’re talking trains so packed that the roofs are packed. Seriously. Look it up.
The thing about India is that it is incredibly diverse. You could travel by private driver or on a train that’s so packed people have to hang on. But the reality is that no tourist ever has to hang on to a train.
And truth is that I paid for a nicer (relatively speaking) train ride, but we were “lucky” enough to be on a completely unsold train due to the security issues. I could see the seating charts, and it’s the only unsold train I’ve heard of in India.
That combined with the “luck” of these military men relocating and commandeering the unsold train, and other military men from earlier stops having locked the doors…
All doors except one.
Which is to say, if I were to go back to India I would take the train without any paranoia of this happening again. And I will take the train again in India… I’ll just book ahead with a proper agency.
As I say in the original post, I laid awake thinking about how it could have gone wrong. Like me walking backwards with the moving train and how if that kept up, the platform could have ended. All kinds of things.
![Nick of FM on #40kFarAway [TIF Podcast]](https://travelisfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/travel-is-free-podcast-nick-40K-120x86.jpg)
I’m sure you’ll agree that looking back on these days makes travel more interesting and dynamic! I haven’t broken out my backpack in years, but that video makes me wanna. I love being a fish outta water.
The trip was fun looking back… the days leading up to the train and the train… I would pay good money to guarantee that doesn’t happen again. 😀
But totally. India was incredible at being in a place that isn’t touristy, isn’t the us, and all that. Best travel of my life… more in hindsight, like you say. :-p
Great post , one correction Jammu and Kashmir is integral part of india which Pakistan want to claim, which will never happen as there had been 3 wars and all won by india.
Thanks.
Right, that was my understanding as well.
this is pretty much normal way of life in India…if you plan you fail…the best way to enjoy there is just give yourself in and take it as it comes.
one of the things which gets really boring in traveling first world countries is too much planning…you always know where you will be at what point of time and how you are going to experience it…india its almost opposite
travel is all about experiencing different cultures, different way of living life, knowing people, getting different perspectives…scary or beautiful is only relative to what one is accustomed to so far. really appreciate you taking time to post some of these experiences along with making most of your miles and points rather than those useless bloggers who never leave airport lounges and all they know is taking showers in first class, eating cavier and drinking wine…this is real travel..keep it coming
Def true that a lot of people in India have to endure terrible train situations.
And I agree about the fun of not planning.
However, not to be disagreeable, but I do want to clarify that the problem here was not planning… the problem was lack of planning.
Indians ALL book long trains months in advance. They even book speculatively and cancel… which is why the other trains had 100+ people waiting list. You’re not gonna get that train last minute. Your going to be waitlist 101.
So the problem was booking a train at all. And then the problem was that you have to do a security check. Showing up last minute to a train that is out of town, once a week, and requires a security check… that would be a fail. 😀
But I’d agree being flexible could mean being stress free, as I did have a hotel reservation I wanted to get to.
And I agree that the western world isn’t as easy last minute. We paid $40 for a last minute train from Vienna to Budapest. A train often $15 in advance.
Anywho. To me this is more meaningful.
Often times growth comes from doing the uncomfortable.
Kudos to you and Carrie for trying out new things, going new places and always being curious.
Adventures like these are more part of your existentail experience and won’t forget it. Better than a sanitized, sterile all inclusive trip where you only read about places and see the people from across a/c windows.
So easy to say “not doing it” like most of the rest.
Well my curiosity might exceed my common sense.
However, if I know THAT was I was going to get… I would have opted for the a/c all inclusive. lol
But there seem to be a lot of these experiences we find ourselves in. Months without them seem boring. :-p
That’s wild! I love the part where you say you’ve never been so stressed out. Not even close to what you experienced, but imagine 2 adults and 3 kids (ages 2-7), with a stroller trying to jump on a train at Termini station right when it’s about to leave. I feel your stress! But these are the moments that we remember and later laugh at. I honestly like reading and watching your experiences as full time travelers.
It’s usually against my religion to watch a long video (over 1 min) or listen to a podcast (never do that) because I can read faster than I can listen…but I have to say I loved the video!! Well put together and it helps that I know months later it’s a happy ending. We’re going to India in February. Hope it’s not like that.
One of my biggest take aways from this original story was to PLAN AHEAD! Needless to say, we are always more on the “plan things out” side of traveling than you guys, but this solidified it in stone! For months, we checked and re-checked the train status until we could book so that we didn’t have to go through this!