I use Trains when Travelling in India
Our Indian neighbour in Munich laughed loudly, when he heard we are going to India.
You are arriving during Holi? No…no…don’t tell me it’s Holi your first day in India!
We all to soon found out what he meant and took rescue in a train trip north to the calm soothing foot hills of the Himalayas.
You prefer to not only look at people wiggling with their head and telling you: “impossible” when trying to board a train? – Organize yourself a confirmed ticket beforehand! It’s easy…
To understand the Indian Train Reservation System (not one, not two, not three but 10 Classes, Confirmed Tickets, Ticket Reservation Application, Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC), Waiting List (WL), reservations and ticket sales open at different times, dates and hours, purchase and reservation beforehand is “impossible” and many more things to enjoy from…) best go to cleartrip.com and let them do the job…we found the page thanks to the hint of an unnerved fellow traveller from Japan… oh, one you DO hold in your hands the long desired confirmed ticket, be aware that your train might be cancelled and nobody will tell you. When you arrive at the train station, as we did, and there simply is no train, cleartrip can also launch the ticket-refund application with the Indian Railways for you…
Read on and come to our Indian journey in my next India post.
Trackbacks
- Running from Holi we Took Rescue in Haridwar. « ⠁⠁⠁ I love light. I love air.
- Guwahati, Assam, North-East India. « ⠁⠁⠁ I love light. I love air.
- Happy Holi. Spring in India. « ⠁⠁⠁ I love light. I love air.
- Last Stop Paradise: Meghalaya, India « ⠁⠁⠁ I love light. I love air.
- EU Bans Sale of Death Penalty Drug to US as by Today « ⠁⠁⠁ I love light. I love air.
- Rattata~Rattata~Rattata~Rattata « ⠁⠁⠁ I love light. I love air.
There is no understanding the Indian Train System. It is what it is and it is that because that is what it is and anything that happens on or around it happens because that is what happens. As long as you realize that, everything will be ok.
John
When I saw the piles of forms and books already filled in or to be filled in I was astonished, having been under a lifelong incomprehension that actually Germany would be the most bureaucratic country on this planet. After reporting back to my Indian neighbour in Munich – I mean: “Who will ever read all this?” – he answered: “Believe it or not, at least 15 people will read through each book and each form you see piled up in those offices.”
So I can only agree upon your very true statement:
“It is what it is and it is that because that is what it is” Yep.
And I feel the way you are embracing it might be just the right way to go with it, too.
It is.
No other way to explain it …and remember, this is the worlds “next superpower”.
I don’t know what made you think that Germany is regulated
Read here:
“India is most over-regulated country in the world: Survey”
Haha! Thanks for sharing! Great article!
And your friend was right – atleast 15 or even more people will read those papers.