The trains we’ve travelled on in India have been enormous, especially when we are used to only around eight carriages on average in the UK. Here there must be 20+ carriages with all different classes. It does make knowing where to board a bit of a challenge. On most stations they have these very handy electronic screens which say what the train number is, and then which carriage will be stopping at that point on the (very long) platform.

Today we had to change trains and only had a half hour turnaround which made me a bit anxious in case the train ran late. The overnight train from Mumbai arrived bang on time in Jaipur. As soon as we stepped off I was being hassled by men wanting to offer me tuk tuks. I explained I was catching another train, then they wanted to help me with my bags. I had to say no thank you very firmly before they left us alone.

We worked out what platform we needed to be on and arrived there just in time for our next train to pull in early. Unfortunately the screens telling us which carriage would stop where weren’t working. I parked Mike with the bags and walked all the way to one end of the platform to find our carriage, only to realise ours was at the other end. Thankfully because it was early there was plenty of time.

The last part of today’s very long train journey is in a seated carriage. Indian trains are wider than UK ones so the seats are arranged in 2 on one side of the aisle and 3 on the other. We found our reserved seats and settled down. After having separate cabins for our other journeys, it felt very lovely being in a cabin with lots of other passengers. 

They don’t have a buffet car on the trains, but instead you have food and drinks sales people passing along the carriage carrying  baskets of food – crisps and snacks, chocolate, Indian food, pizza and drinks – tea, coffee, chai, fruit juices. We predicted the vegan offering would be poor so stocked up our supplies before boarding. We’re due in at Udaipur at 21.50, then have to get a taxi or tuk tuk to our hotel. It will be nice to get off the train, we’re both a bit jaded and look forward to reaching our lakeside hotel.