Photo Travelogue :
Read first part - Here!
As we were leaving Chennai, we waited in the dark platform for the train to arrive, all baggages in tow. It was past 9.30 when the train began moving, with all of us inside. In our rush, we had only 1 bottle of Bisleri water to share amongst us ( mine ). I remember, earlier the female blogger refusing water bottles, saying we'll manage while we were at the restaurant. Manage?? that too 4 people and the entire night? Not to mention the spicy food too, that we had for dinner. And when something is scarce, we remember that thing more - I dunno why, but I kept feeling very thirsty throughout the night. Lesson, never refuse to carry extra water in a long journey, especially in group travel.
The other bloggers knew how to play 'chess', so they got immersed in the game, while I tried to peep outside the window - out in the dark. It was then, one man got talking with us. He proved to be very helpful, drawing charts and all, to explain the location we were headed. He was joined by another man - and soon everyone was talking. We found the local co-passengers to be quite helpful. They, infact, also mentioned the existing north-south divide; how politicians were the main problem, and tried to keep both sides apart ~ while the natives didn't have any problem embracing 'hindi'. That was some interesting conversations there, including serious stuff like LTTE, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening what all they had to say. We had some of the yummy food, we brought along, and went to sleep afterwards. I took the top-most berth.
Early next morning, I woke to the chatter below. Everyone was up already and some were again deeply immersed in their game of 'chess' ( the female blogger won the game ultimately ), while the others chatted with the local co-passengers. One of them lent their 'lungi', and thus, our lungi-dance task on train was completed. I soon came down, just in time to learn another lesson. While travelling in a group, never ever wake-up late - else, you'll get only the remaining crumbs for breakfast. Sigh! In between stations, most of the remaining set of tasks were completed.
In pictures, more views of the compartment and passengers from my top berth; the remaining crumbs I had for breakfast; lungis; and also the few odd stations where the train halted briefly :-) In the pictures, the kid ( you see ) was with his father who was chatting with us. The little boy was just too fidgety/restless and I asked him sternly to stay quiet with finger on his lips - you can see the result. Whole time he remained that way. Who says kids can't be disciplined? ;-)
We had heard lots about the famous old Pamban bridge, so prepared ourselves to click lots of pictures. Do read the Pamban post - Here! The landscape changed drastically as we were leaving the mainland and entering the island. Pamban connects the two, and runs over the sea itself. It was quite enthralling, and I jumped from one side of the compartment to the other, to get the clicks. Some of the bloggers went to the compartment door itself, to get a better view. Alas, I was guarding the luggages, so had to make do with views from my window. They were awesome!
In pictures, views of Rameshwaram railway station. So, finally after travelling the night, we reached Rameshwaram. It took roughly 13-14 hours. It was hot outside and though we felt a bit uncomfortable, we were glad that the cab-driver this time, was in time to pick us up. We spotted a police chowki here too, albeit an empty one - and got clicking pictures immediately. The journey to our hotel took about 15-20 minutes. We enjoyed the hustle-bustle of this small temple town.
Read next part - Here! Stay tuned for all my road, rail, flight, cruise & walk trips.
( Images - ©Mine. All rights reserved. )
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