Day 3 - To the train - Delhi, India

This morning I woke at 3am after 9 ½ hours of glorious sleep. My stomach felt better and I knew that it would be a great day. I was soooo ready to travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal! While eating breakfast in my room I heard a catchy tune on the television and then proceeded right into a solo dance party with a few Matisyahu tunes.

At 5am the taxi driver, Sansar, picked me up from the hotel and we headed to the train station.

I got out of the car and weaved through the mass of people, stepping over the many who were sleeping on the floor. Train stations are a breeding ground for criminals, but I had my important documents and money stuffed in my socks and under my clothes, so I wasn't too worried. My backpack was turned around to the front and held it tightly. I left 1 credit card and a few hundred Rupee in my wallet because no criminal would believe that I didn't bring any money with me.

While queuing at the security check-point a gentleman in a blue uniform informed me that my e-ticket printed from the computer was not valid, and that I needed a paper ticket. He told me to go upstairs to the tourist office to get my ticket reissued. So, I headed up the dark stairway, past the two men huddled in fabric and sleeping on the floor.

Once I reached the second floor it was evident that the offices were not yet open. In the hall I saw another man in the same uniform as the guy downstairs. He was talking to another tourist. Standing next to the other tourist, I listened to what the man was telling him and likely to tell me in a few minutes. He informed us that our train was cancelled and that because the tourist office did not open until 8am, we had to take a taxi to the nearby 24 hour office to buy tickets for the 7:10am train. He even had a taxi waiting....how convenient.

I asked the other tourist if he wanted me to call my taxi driver and we could share the fare to the ticket office. At this, the man in uniform said, 'No, the office will only help people who arrive in our taxis and there can only be 1 passenger per taxi. You will have to take separate taxis.'

The other tourist and I looked at each other like, 'yeah freakin' right...that sounds like the worst idea EVER.' But, to appease the guy we agreed and practically ran out of the station. Once outside I immediately called Sansar and asked him to return to the station because we needed his help. He let me know that he was on his way.

Now that some of the crazy had subsided I turned to introduce myself to my fellow tourist. My new friend's name is Gene. He's from Malaysia and is in Delhi for a conference. He's a student of architecture but also focuses a lot on environmental issues because that is his personal passion.

Gene let me know that he had seen a general ticket booth for the locals in a different section of the station. We headed over there and saw that there was another security check-point, mostly abandoned. We went right through the security and found a nice Indian woman with a small child to ask about the train. It turns out that she didn't know much about the trains because she was actually from Canada (hahaha). This was her son's first time to India and he was ADORABLE!

It turns out that our train was not cancelled and that the guys dressed in uniforms were trying to scam us.

Gene and I were safe on the train and on our way to see the Taj Mahal! Woohoo!