After much delay and sleeping on the platform our train to Vasco da Gama, Goa due to depart at 12:30 actually arrived at 3:19 and after usurping some sleeping men from our bunks we slept through the mobile phones that rang or played music (honestly; the 134 to Camden has nothing on the Indians) and the cries of the venders.
My favourite is what can only be described at beginning with "chai" and then sounding much like "hullabaloo", but with 15 extra syllables. This is shouted repeatedly and without pausing for breath imbetween calls, even when a chai is being bought.
After the shakey start to the trip we actually became - and I don't think I'm going too far when I say this - good friends with our travel companions which included the best old man. Ever.
All dressed in white, he lounged proped up by pillows with ghandi-esque glasses and a magnifying glass reading the newspaper that could not have been more than 4cm from his face. We exchanged riddles and discussed English literature - he liked poetry and prose and happily quoted Shakespear and Wordsworth.
Then I left Rob's copy of the Motley Crue's biography 'The Dirt' on my seat and he read a bit of that through his magnifying glass too. It is a sight that I shall never forget.
Team 365 were in transit for (yes we calculated it) just over 46.5 hours from the Bandvangarh National Park to Anjuna Beach in Goa - and actually, we met some great people and even (dare I say it) had fun. Now the 'holiday' leg of the trip begins.
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