I bought my train ticket from Mumbai in Jodhpur.
To buy Indian Rail tickets on-line you are required to have an account. I was led to believe that to open an account you have to have an Indian phone number and an Indian credit card. If you don’t have an account, you have to use travel agents to buy tickets on your behalf.
Given the above, I have been using travel agents to buy tickets. This involves the payment of a commission. It also means that you are beholden to them with respect to class and seat selection. More particularly it makes it difficult to buy tickets in advance.
My ticket from Mumbai to Gao was in AC 3. This is an Air Conditioned 3rd Class Sleeper. The agent in Jodhpur had told me that all the ist and 2nd Class tickets were sold and typically they are booked months in advance. The train was scheduled to leave at 7.10 from the main railway station which used to be called Victoria Station. It now has an Indian name, but is still known as Victoria Station.
I took a taxi from the hotel to the station. There doesn’t appear to be a correlation between the distance travelled and the fare in Indian taxis unless you use Uber of Ola. Maybe there is reason that Indian Taxis and Tuk Tuk drivers are running a campaign against these online booking services.
English Girl Cracks the System
It is said that Victoria Station is the busiest railway station in the world. I suspect whoever says that is probably right.
I found my train fairly easily. I then found my carriage. There was a sheet of paper pasted to the side of the train detailing the names of the passengers and our seats.
It was a while before the train we due to leave. I went for a walk up platform. I got into a conversation with an English family from Essex (“you know what I mean”). They were mum and dad and son with his girlfriend. The girlfriend, I guessed to be 21 years old at most, had organised the holiday for the family.
They were travelling 1st Class. I asked her how she booked that tickets. She told me that bought them on line over two months ago in England. I asked her how she opened an Indian Rail Account. She told me that she just made up an Indian Mobile phone number and used her UK credit card.
The benefit of being young and assuming that you can everything on line.
The Train Journey
The train line initially heads north as you leave Mumbai. It is a seriously big city. There are a lot of slums on the side of the track. I guess this one of the few places where land is available.
As the track turns south the you are in the countryside. It is lush, a stark contrast to Rajasthan where I had come from 3 days ago.
I had heard that this is one of the great rail journeys. It is interesting, however I would not give it that description. The carriage was very cold at some times in the trip. At one point I was forced to huddle under a blanket. It was a bit surreal get that it was at least 30c outside.
There was a constant parade of vendors selling food and drinks on the train.
It also noticed that when we stopped, vendors appeared on the platforms with fruit and other food and drinks. They seemed to be heading for other carriages that I assumed to be the ‘non air conditioned’ carriages.
The World’s Worst Hotel
The train stopped in Mandgoan. This is about 30 klms from Panjim which was my final destination in Goa.
I had thought that the train may be delayed and I was not keen on trying to take a bus of taxis the last few kilometers at mid night or later. Given that, I booked a hotel using Expedia.
The Hotel was called ‘Grand Liz’. This is a highly evocative name with lots of promise. The description sounded good on the site and it wasn’t cheap.
When I got out of the station I went to the tax booth and ordered a taxi for the short ride to the hotel. When I said I want to go to the ‘Grand Liz’ the bloked looked at me as if to say “are you sure?”.
The address of the hotel was ‘Old Main Road’. This turned out be a dodgy back street. The taxis driver had to show me the entrance to the hotel. It was very poorly lit. I missed the lift and walked up the step to the second floor.
There was a woman sitting at the reception desk. I told her that I had a reservation. She appeared not to understand what I was saying. In fact, she seemed to be disabled in some way. That is sad but she should be in this role.
After a minute or so a young bloke arrived. He was looking intently at his phone. He then asked me if I was “Mr Thomas”. I said I was. He showed me what appeared to my reservation on his phone. I asked him where the manager was. He told me “my owner is in Mumbai”.
Clearly the owner is trying the run this place remotely.
I had had visions of being able to watch the Rugby World Cup while having a beer. What a joke that turned out to be. My expectations were now to sleep at that was all. I got the final score via Facebook using my phone and the Indian SIM I bought in Jodhpur.
The sheets were dirty, the mattress was as hard as a rock. There was no hot water. In short, the place was just a shocker.
I left the hotel with 10 minutes of waking up in the morning. I was so put off that I forgot to take a photograph.
Taxis to Panjim
I thought about taking a local bus to Panjim. As I walked to the bus station I was accosted by the usual procession of taxis drivers. In the end I relented at look a taxis.
It was a quick drive into Panjim. I ended up navigating to the Old Quarter Hostel using my mobile phone.
The hostel is really good.
Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHskk52vjm
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