No Sleep Since Brooklyn

Day 2 - Delhi (May 26 2012)

I'm writing this now from the top bunk of a train bound for Rajasthan. My day in Delhi was highly uneventful. I went to bed last night at 7 PM after a decent dinner at a vegetarian restaurant near my hotel. I woke up at 3 AM and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to just wake up and take a nap later. I managed to keep myself occupied until 7 AM. After I had breakfast, I felt my eyelids getting heavy, so I laid down for a "quick nap".

I woke with a start. My room had no outside facing windows, so it was pitch black day or night with the lights off. I turned on the light and fumbled for my watch. I guessed it was about noon, and I was mentally kicking myself because I had things to do - I needed to buy a cell phone and I wanted to find an internet cafe (the internet service at my hotel was nonexistent, except for the first morning when I managed to steal a neighboring place's WiFi for about 5 minutes before I lost the signal). I hoped I had enough time to accomplish both, and maybe some time left over to check out the local market before I had to leave for the train.

When I saw my watch, my jaw dropped. It was 3:30 PM! My car was coming to pick me up at 4! I scrambled to pack my things up in time to meet my taxi. Apparently the 3 days with minimal sleep finally caught up to me.

The train station was only about 3 km from my hotel, but it took about 40 minutes to get there. I am finding this to be par for the course in Delhi. Traffic is horrible.  Also, it's not "traffic" in the way we think of it in the States. Cars, lorries, bicycles, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, ox-drawn carts, motorbikes and pedestrians all vie for the same strips of unevenly paved road. There are no "lanes" as far as I can tell. Much like the concept of "queuing up" or "standing in line", this seems to not exist here. Everyone just crams themselves and whatever form of transport they have in the same general direction, laying on their horns incessantly. It's loud, smelly, and confusing.

Which is exactly how I found the train station to be! Delhi station is a huge cluster of old cement buildings with dim lighting. Inside, it's filthy, hot and crowded. People push and shove their way through throngs of passengers. I was actually glad the travel agency sent a guide to get me on the right train. Carrying a heavy bag, navigating the snaking passages to the tracks, and trying to hear the track announcements over the din of the crowd on my own would have been difficult, if not impossible.

We got to the right track, and as the guide led me to my seat, some clown stuck out his foot and tripped me, which prompted a wave of giggles behind me. What a dick.

So now I'm here, on the top bunk of an overnight train. I hate the top bunk (no window!  Also, it requires acrobat-like skills to get up and down). I am looking forward to getting to Jasailmer tomorrow. I've only had one real meal since I arrived, which may be contributing to my crankiness and overall lack of humor at the moment. Rajasthan is supposed to be even hotter than Delhi, a fact that my brain cannot even comprehend. My guide told me it was supposed to be about 48C tomorrow (around 120F).