Tried to figure put what to do with broken coles bags and without SIM card. In the early afternoon I decided that the remaining time wouldn’t be enough to cycle all the way to Bhuj and the Rann. So, hitching or train. Hitching is fun, but train is faster. Autorickshaw’ed to the railway station and got a ticket for tonight. Departure 9:48pm, arrival in Bhuj 7:18am tomorrow. I was fifth in the waiting list for the ticket. Hasted back to the hotel, packed, and loaded all my stuff including the bike into another autorickshaw, and headed back to the station.
The ticket got confirmed and I brought the bike to the parcel office.
Took a seat on my platform, waiting for the train. Some kid started taking pictures of me with his cell phone. My usual ‘weapon’ is to take my own camera and take a shot in return. He soon came over to chat. He was waiting with his mother for his sister who’d arrive with the train I was gonna take. We were joined by another guy who was about to take the same train as me. The train was late and there was some confusion about the platform and eventually I had to hurry to find my coach and couldn’t even say good bye.
I’d reserved a bed in ‘A/C 3-tier’ class. 8 beds in a compartment, 3 on each side and 2 at the aisle. No doors or privacy, and most interestingly, women and men mixed. Note that there’s even a (non-compulsory) ‘Ladies’ waiting room’ at the railway station.
