TRANSPORTATION OVERLOAD

This is of those experiences where people say "you had to be there"! We started out early for the Delhi Train station, to take an early am train to Ajmer. It was a Sunday and we made it thru traffic easily and got to the train station. After  a half hour wait on the semi dark platform with rats crawling between the tracks, and many people sleeping on the platform, our train came. We didn't have assigned seats, but we were ball in the same car. First thing my seat was wet! Wet enough to get my jeans damp. No Likie!

After the train started to move, I saw a space empty by Jill and moved there. Wet seat! In fact most of the seats were wet and we never did find out why. It is an old train. More people are employed by the train system in India than anywhere else. There are a lot of people riding the trains. Ours was NOT delux in any sense of the word, but it was adequate. They Immediately served a box breakfast of some sort, which I waved off. A mistake, because I forgot to pack my snacks, and after a 6 1/2 hour ride, I was HUNGRY. Indian People are nice, they are kind, they don't get upset when some western person sits in their seat. They just find another. No big deal.

Arriving in Ajmer was chaotic. This was the India you see on travel shows. Now, we're talking! Someone, we made it OUT Side, where we were met my many Indian men with cars.so far , so good. Car was clean, and had A/C. Out here they don't speak as much English. We commenced on what I can only describe at a "death ride" thru this bustling town. I could not find seat belts, but it wouldn't have mattered. I have been thru city traffic in crowded countries. Guatemala, Cairo, Istanbul, Kampala, Paris, Beijing.....piece of cake, calm compared to what we went thru. And this is the part of India where cows, goats, and whatever animal decides to cross the road has the right away.  Humans...no.

Basically we played "chicken" all the way to our hotel with a young driver we didnt swerve, slow down, or show any signs he wanted to live another day. The worst and wildest ride I have ever been on. EVER!

We couldn't wait to see what the camel fair was all about, so after  lunch, our bus driver took us to a dusty field to meet up with some tuk tuks, because the roads are too small and congested for anything larger than a small auto. Soooooooo...... Repeat "chicken dance", except with a tuk-tuk! The way to really see a camel fair of this size, was in a "camel cart". Duh. Well, guess what, camel carts in India can play "chicken too! Plus, there is nothing to hold on to and it is very bumpy and very dusty. By then I was pretty exhausted by all the various modes of transportation and the chicken dance on all but the train.  And we still had to repeat it going back to the hotel.