Part 2 of the journey, about 700km in
I arrive at Bangalore by 7.15am, almost on-time. It looks like the ticket counters don't open till 8 so I mill around the station. Bangalore city station is fairly developed: working electronic sign boards, some electronic ticket machines.
I pull off my second same-day booking with only a minor hitch. It is possible to book foreign tourist quota tickets from Bengaluru. It's not advertised, but the "senior and physically handicapped"* counter in the main station building can book this overlooked quota of tickets. (Looking at the weekly schedule for my train nobody else has). For the second time I have a train ticket for a service leaving the same day (technically), in about 16 hours. The foreign tourist quota is tiny, just 2 beds of the thousand on the train. But there is a catch, it's a lower bunk. The lower classes of Indian trains have a 3-level bunk, and in the daytime the middle bed folds away to make the seating on the lower bunk. The upper bunk allows 24 hour sleeping, and a little added security. The lower bunk prevents my usual strategy of sleeping in an almost vegetative state for the duration of the journey. It's going to be tough, I'll be on the train for the next 3 nights.
I waste 16 hours in Bengaluru until the train departs near midnight.
*India is at various points in the euphemism treadmill simultaneously. Disabled is the most common, followed by differently abled and occasionally handicapped.
I arrive at Bangalore by 7.15am, almost on-time. It looks like the ticket counters don't open till 8 so I mill around the station. Bangalore city station is fairly developed: working electronic sign boards, some electronic ticket machines.
I pull off my second same-day booking with only a minor hitch. It is possible to book foreign tourist quota tickets from Bengaluru. It's not advertised, but the "senior and physically handicapped"* counter in the main station building can book this overlooked quota of tickets. (Looking at the weekly schedule for my train nobody else has). For the second time I have a train ticket for a service leaving the same day (technically), in about 16 hours. The foreign tourist quota is tiny, just 2 beds of the thousand on the train. But there is a catch, it's a lower bunk. The lower classes of Indian trains have a 3-level bunk, and in the daytime the middle bed folds away to make the seating on the lower bunk. The upper bunk allows 24 hour sleeping, and a little added security. The lower bunk prevents my usual strategy of sleeping in an almost vegetative state for the duration of the journey. It's going to be tough, I'll be on the train for the next 3 nights.
I waste 16 hours in Bengaluru until the train departs near midnight.
*India is at various points in the euphemism treadmill simultaneously. Disabled is the most common, followed by differently abled and occasionally handicapped.
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