The day of our trip finally came. Dijana and Tiho have been here for almost two weeks now and they already adapted well. Maja arrived five days ago and we are all eager to start the journey. The plan is to start by crossing the subcontinent, to the southern part of its west coast. The town is Varkala, the state Kerala. Then we will follow the coast toward the North, stopping in Goa and Mumbai (a.k.a. Bombay.) We also plan to see Taj Mahal and go to a popular pilgrimage town Haridwar at the Himalaya foothills, but the second part of the plan still needs some brushing up.

Let the tour begin!

Chennai Central station is very busy, as it is mostly the case on Friday nights, when thousands of Chennaites leave the city to visit their families in rural areas. The train is punctual and we easily find our wagon. Our names are on the list of passengers glued next to the wagon door and we are impressed by the organization of Indian Railways, a company that moves more than 15 million people a day.

We get in and we are less impressed by their minimalistic approach to the interior design. It reminds us very much on the socialist industry of our former homeland and we are quick to draw conclusions about the Russian influence (which are not entirely unfounded, I must add.) One section consists of two benches facing each other, that seat three persons each, and another pair of seats by the other window, separated by the passage. Luggage shelves are where one would expect luggage shelves to be, three fans hang from the ceiling and a small foldable table is mounted on the wall below the window. The neat thing about this setup is that it can easily be transformed into eight beds, one for each passenger. Pretty clever and not completely uncomfortable. Especially for a 15 hour journey, during which any horizontal surface large enough to host a human being in a lying position, becomes extremely valuable. There are more people than seats and when passengers with reservations decide to go to bed, the rest of them find their spots on the floor.

Not so uncomfortable either.

And the floor is not the place where you want to be. Probably ever, but especially this night. In the middle of the night, while crossing Western Ghat mountain range, we went through some heavy rains and open doors and windows were not very helpful in keeping water out. Our bags are lying in water, but there is not much we can do, because in the night shift the floor works as a luggage shelf. Our first contact with monsoon rains, which will follow us during the whole trip.

Upper levels.