We are getting too comfortable in the Ivy House. Slouch down to breakfast in our nightclothes again, two orders of aloo paranthas today. As you might expect there is a plan. It has become traditional for us to take a local train outing during our Kolkata stays and this year is no exception. Train 34522 to Canning is our target, departing Sealdah Station at 10.24. Canning is considered the Gateway to the Sundarbans (see Radinja 2) but we are just going for the 44km train ride First we need to get to Sealdah so we take the 200 yard walk to Gariahat Tram Depot. A number 25 tram is poised and an inquiry elicits the response that it will be leaving in five minutes. D bags the front left seat for a view ahead. Once under way we make good progress through the light Sunday morning traffic. It is easy to see how a bit of tweaking of the traffic lights would make these trams absolute winners but the Philistines who run the system here seem determined to run it into the ground. There is o...
Bed tea arrives at 06.30 and is welcome. D has been awake for a while and notes that we leave the last scheduled stop, Kanpur, 45 minutes late. They day is another grey one but it is not raining. Even D realises that photos of IRCTC meal trays can become less than enthralling so here is the last one. Note the smiling features of the steward. That is the smile of a shark. Unlike South Western Railway, who operate the Rajdhani that we took from Bangalore to Nagpur, Northern Railway do not decorate the coaches and staff uniforms with exhortations not to tip. When the steward makes a final appearance with a tray and some breath freshener he is not too happy with D's offering and hustles for a bit more. Cheeky sod. We accept that he works hard for long hours but we haven't asked him to do anything that isn't part of the job. Perhaps it's something to do with being closer to Delhi. A great effort is made to catch up the lost minutes but all is for nothing when w...
R is determined to get the table under the fan for breakfast, so much so that we arrive before any of the tables have been set. Breakfast is the same again and still good, accompanied by copious quantities of tea. We pack at leisure and await our driver who manages to get lost, eventually arriving 15 minutes. Good practice for Indian Time. We are given the option of paying 200 rupees extra to use the Expressway and opt in. This gives us 30 minutes of hassle free motoring until we reach the cones that steer us off. The road ahead looks to be 99.9% finished but the latest forecast opening is April. That would have cut today's journey down to under 2 hours. They are also building a railway out towards and beyond our destination. We saw no evidence on our trip today. There is lots to look at including some very ropey driving practices. R gets to see lots of birds. We arrive at Tissamaharama just after lunch time and check in to the Blue Turtle Hotel. Our room is on the first floo...
hallelujah
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