Landing into Delhi, we had a few hours to kill before the overnight train to Jaisalmer – time to explore! Surely Delhi has some cool sights to see. Without a map or a real idea of what to do, we grab some lunch and fruitlessly search for Wifi – how did humanity survive without Tripadvisor?!?!
We eventually checked out the Red Fort and a couple of markets before making our way back to the train station. What a better way to introduce ourselves to India than to get on a train and live life like the locals! Jaisalmer was a mere 18 hours away and this would give us ample time to embed ourselves in the local culture and hopefully make a friend or two in the meantime.
By chance (or good luck?) we were assigned the top bunks in our section, and although it was stifling hot up there, it proved to be a blessing as the train filled up beyond capacity by the second stop. Hiding away on our top bunks we witnessed the mayhem below us and fruitlessly attempted to catch up on sleep. Being woken at 4am to the cheerful sounds of the chai man advertising his wares is a novel way to kick off the day and not something I’ll forget in a hurry.
Watching the sun rise as I lean out the door of the train slowly making it’s way across the Indian countryside, most definitely something I won’t forget any time soon.
Seeing Nick hop off at one stop to quickly buy some breakfast snacks and then miss the train as it departed, only to jump into the last carriage as it passed him by and then to finally reappear in our section a few hours later.. I’ll never forget that. Hahaha maybe it was lack of sleep, but that was the funniest thing I’d witnessed in a while.
We’ve now arrived into Jaisalmer and found our hostel. You can definitely sense the desert nearby. The heat, the sand, the architecture. Time to explore. Time to find where the rest of the Rickshaw crews are and get introduced to our beautiful Sheniqua.
