30 September – Leaving Shimla, train to Delhi, and finally on to Agra

With Shimla offering so little we decided that the Taj Mahal was to be our next stop. That meant three train journeys:
i) The toy train from Shimla to Kalka
ii) The overnight sleeper train from Kalka to Delhi
iii) A three hour journey from Delhi to Agra (the town of the Taj Mahal)

The toy train is called so because its short (probably 6 carriages) and runs on a narrow track to Kalka through the mountains. It also passes through a 103 tunnels on the way and took about six hours. My experience on the toy train is wildly different from Wouter’s (he’ll tell you about it himself) as I travelled in the ladies-only carriage while he had to stand in an overloaded carriage all of the way.

As I settled myself in the ladies-only carriage I was surprised to see boarding the family who took pictures of us. They were so pleased to see me on the train and immediately came to sit next to me. I found out they were the Aku family from Ambala. There was the mom, the 20-year old daughter, the 15 year old sun (Vivek), the nephew and an aunt. They were travelling back to Ambala after a few day’s holiday in Shimla.

Although they did not speak that much English we communicated pretty well and soon I was counting in Hindi (Ek, do, tien..) and learning all the necessary greetings and formal forms. They showed so much interest in South Africa and ended up sharing all their food with me (I loved the martri which is dough with spices baked in small triangles, like tortillas). At some point we were singing our national anthems and the kids were singing all the English songs they knew, attracting other kids in the carriage who came over to ask their own questions about South Africa and what I thought of India.

Later, another young girl, Ambika, used her mother’s video mobile phone to interview me. She recorded for a long time and conducted herself very professionally, asking me about myself and my husband, South Africa, my views of Indian life etc. The video might still make its way onto youtube, who knows! I felt like a celebrity.

The whole train journey was such a positive experience for me and it showed me a different side to the usual Indian reserve. It was informative and I now know that state school fees are about 30 rupees a month (30 pence) whilst private schools cost more than two hundred pounds a month. An absolute fortune for most people.

The rest of the journey from Kalka to Delhi and onwards went without much excitement, although I found sleeping on the train quite comfortable.

Here are some pics of the Aku family...


The train.