India is huge. It is not easy to get from the North to the South. I travel on trains, for it is comfy and I can get some sleep at the same time. Sleeper trains are fun because you get to know your co-passenger well. Indian trains are reliable but terribly slow. To travel 500 miles takes 12 hours, sometimes even more.

 

When the train stops at a bigger station, you get beggars crawling into the carriages, begging for some ruppies. Believe me, it is not a nice site, when the limbless lepper stares at you asking for spare change. You cannot help them all.

 

ON the sleeper train there are 8 berths in each section. Last time I chatted for hours to 22 y/o Fahed who serves in the indian navy. He was surprised whe I told him, that we have 4 seasons in Europe. In India they only have 3 - winter, summer and raining season. It was difficult to describe the beauty of spring with all the life coming into being and all the autumn colours shining in the evening sun.

 

When I arrive at the new destination, I get a hostel, pick up a local map and find out the interresting highlights of the town. I spend 2-3 days exploring the area and then I move on. This way I travelled all the East coast, down to Chennai, and now I do the same on the West coast.