The city itself is very busy and hot - we didn't explore it hugely so I'm sure there's much more to it but we definitely got to know the train station very well.
It was here that we were meant to be catching our train to Goa, where our charity project was based. I had booked the train two months in advance but I told us on the ticket that we were 'waitlisted'... The company that I booked it through said the train company do not prepare the chart until 4 hours before so we shouldn't worry.
We went to an Internet café to check the website, only to find we were still wait listed. We were both still fairly calm at this point as someone on the plane the day before had told us we would be fine, so naturally we believed him.
We went back to our hostel and spoke to the director who went online and called the company and told us that we would not travel. It was at this point Tash started to worry. I still had some sort of feeling we would get on, who knows why. We ate some food and packed and decided we would go to the station and find some way to get on because at this point we didn't think there was another way of getting across the country unless we flew which we most definitely did not have the money for.
When we got there we spoke to the station manager who was incredibly unhelpful and told us that we could not travel.
The train was on the platform early so we trekked up and down trying to find someone who we could ask/bribe to let us on the train for about an hour.
However we soon discovered we would have no money to use to bribe so I ran across the station to an ATM, and being a white blonde girl I stood out like a sore thumb. Only to find that my card was declined... I think it was this point that I started to worry.
I had been about half an hour and Tash was panicking about where I was, I came back to find her half way up a lamp post trying to search for me.
After some profuse sweating, running and heaving lifting as the train was pulling away, we decided it was time to give up.
We had tried our best, Tash even got on the train 2 minutes before it was due to leave to try and find the conductor. We were picturing her having to jump off.
It was all very slumdog millionaire style. In the end Tash decided, after having been on the train, it was probably best we wouldn't be spending 16 hours on it! (If you know what I mean) Stressful day!
We ended up getting a 20 hour bus to Goa the next day which was surprisingly comfortable - we're getting worryingly used to buses.
From two very well travelled girls
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