I woke up at 3:30AM so I could catch my 4:05AM train. When I got to the station, I noticed a lot of people sleeping inside. My ticket was for Sleeper Class. This is the lowest class ticket with berths. One interesting fact is there are no doors on the trains in India, or at least they are always open. As the train arrived, you see people jumping off before it even stops. There were a lot of people getting off the train and a lot getting on. When I found my berth, there was one woman sleeping on it and also one man sitting on it. Luckily, I didn’t plan on sleeping.
It was pretty chaotic once I got on, there were some people sleeping, some people sitting, some people standing. It seemed like there were a lot more people on the train compared to the number of berths. I sat down near where I was supposed to be, but I could not sit up all the way since there was a bed just above me. Luckily, a conductor soon paid a visit and I got to at least sit in my spot. But I had to share my spot with two other people. I was thinking how the cheapest sleeper ticket in China is very orderly, you have to have a ticket to get on the train there and everyone is assigned their spot.
It was cold on this early morning train. The windows aren’t sealed very well, and of course all the doors are open. No sheets or blankets are provided in Sleeper Class. Most Indians didn’t have any, but a few brought some blankets. There are sets of eight beds here. Two rows of beds, three levels high perpendicular to the aisle. Then two levels of beds parallel to the aisle. Mine was on the lower parallel to the aisle. That meant I had to deal with all the people walking back and forth. Most of the trip, I took my shoes off and kept my feet up on the bed.
About half way through (5 hours later), a lot of people got off the train and it was getting more comfortable. Around noon, a lot of beggars came around to ask for money. Some other people were selling snacks, so I tried some of that. For a while I thought my shoes were stolen, but before I got off the train I found them swept under another seat.
I arrived at Secunderabad station at 3:00PM. It is a suburb or part of the larger city Hyderabad. Out of the station I noticed a lot of lodges. I was glad since I didn’t want to go too far away from the station. Back in the south of India, it wasn’t too hard to find accommodation again.