'Coming down', wasn't nearly as fun as 'going up'. Partly due to the driving - the car horn was not working and the driver seemed bent on impressing me with his handling of downhill racing - we were clocking up 80 mph on hairpin bends, above dizzyingly high ravines and he was overtaking goods trucks and buses on blind curves, as we flew down the mountain passes from Mcleodganj, retreat of the Dalai Lama, in the Northern Himalayas....the journey was further complicated by livestock - cows drifted onto the road, then we passed a pack of mules and later dozens of donkeys. Mudslides blocked the path in places - we had to wait as mechanical equipment was used to remove boulders - but at least it slowed up my 'formula one driver' and gave me a couple of minutes to breathe normally and unclench my teeth.
But there at last, was Pathankot and more than that, there was the train station and at 4.45 p.m. I would be on the Muri Express traveling 2AC, to Delhi where I would arrive at 4.30 the next morning - I would be met by a driver who would take me to the airport to catch my plane to Vadodara. We drove up to the entrance with a flourish and spray of gravel, right next to a statue of a grey elephant wearing a small blue cap! I had made it....despite the shocking 3 hour journey in the car. As if summoned, a man came running up to us and tapped on the window.....'it's been cancelled'.... 'what?' ....I looked at him in disbelief ! 'It's been cancelled - your train - go.... cancel your ticket - it's because of the rain last night...there's been flooding' I couldn't take it in....what was I going to do ? 'You can get a train from Amritsar - that's 3 hours away from here by car, or go back to Dharamsala, where you've just come from...also 3 hours and take the luxury bus to Delhi, or take the local bus from here - it's not air conditioned, the seats are'nt padded - it's for local people and will take 12 hours and I can't guarantee safe arrival !'
The horror of these choices presented themselves....each was too awful to contemplate...what was I to do? 'Go and cancel your ticket' the man said. I stepped out the car slowly...like someone going to the guillotine ...now to begin the process of asking how I was to cancel my ticket. Waiting disconsolately at the counter, I was unexpectedly joined by another traveller from Dharamsala, a Frenchman - he and his companion had been to listen to the Dalai Lama teaching and were heading back to Delhi....on the cancelled Muri Express, and on to Paris a couple of days later.
We were passed from one official to the next....everyone shaking their heads. In desperation, I phoned the agent in Delhi...'can you think of any other alternative?' After some even worse solutions, were presented, one of them being to ask my driver to do the 12 hour trip to Delhi - without a horn, driving like a madman, or worse, I could imagine him going to sleep at the wheel, I rejected that idea with contempt. Then she said... ' you could go to Chakki Bank, 4 kms away and take the Jammu Radjhani Express to Delhi - it leaves at 22.00 tonight ?' Bravo! - yes, that was definitely the best idea - waiting 5 hours in a train station at night, was definitely the best option. She offered to fix tickets for the two French Budhists as well, all on trust, as we would have to pay for them when we reached Delhi ! We crammed into a minute taxi with all our luggage balanced on the roof and roared off to find Chakki Bank. It proved to be not much more than 2 platforms in the middle of nowhere.
The Jammu Radjhani Express, did arrive - it was only half-an-hour late....and in the 5 hours wait on a bench on Platform 1, I learned a lot about Buddhism from my companions and watched a near nude Indian Fakir, doing some mighty strange things....! .... We did arrive in Delhi, at 6 o'clock the next morning and I even made it onto the plane !
But there at last, was Pathankot and more than that, there was the train station and at 4.45 p.m. I would be on the Muri Express traveling 2AC, to Delhi where I would arrive at 4.30 the next morning - I would be met by a driver who would take me to the airport to catch my plane to Vadodara. We drove up to the entrance with a flourish and spray of gravel, right next to a statue of a grey elephant wearing a small blue cap! I had made it....despite the shocking 3 hour journey in the car. As if summoned, a man came running up to us and tapped on the window.....'it's been cancelled'.... 'what?' ....I looked at him in disbelief ! 'It's been cancelled - your train - go.... cancel your ticket - it's because of the rain last night...there's been flooding' I couldn't take it in....what was I going to do ? 'You can get a train from Amritsar - that's 3 hours away from here by car, or go back to Dharamsala, where you've just come from...also 3 hours and take the luxury bus to Delhi, or take the local bus from here - it's not air conditioned, the seats are'nt padded - it's for local people and will take 12 hours and I can't guarantee safe arrival !'
The horror of these choices presented themselves....each was too awful to contemplate...what was I to do? 'Go and cancel your ticket' the man said. I stepped out the car slowly...like someone going to the guillotine ...now to begin the process of asking how I was to cancel my ticket. Waiting disconsolately at the counter, I was unexpectedly joined by another traveller from Dharamsala, a Frenchman - he and his companion had been to listen to the Dalai Lama teaching and were heading back to Delhi....on the cancelled Muri Express, and on to Paris a couple of days later.
We were passed from one official to the next....everyone shaking their heads. In desperation, I phoned the agent in Delhi...'can you think of any other alternative?' After some even worse solutions, were presented, one of them being to ask my driver to do the 12 hour trip to Delhi - without a horn, driving like a madman, or worse, I could imagine him going to sleep at the wheel, I rejected that idea with contempt. Then she said... ' you could go to Chakki Bank, 4 kms away and take the Jammu Radjhani Express to Delhi - it leaves at 22.00 tonight ?' Bravo! - yes, that was definitely the best idea - waiting 5 hours in a train station at night, was definitely the best option. She offered to fix tickets for the two French Budhists as well, all on trust, as we would have to pay for them when we reached Delhi ! We crammed into a minute taxi with all our luggage balanced on the roof and roared off to find Chakki Bank. It proved to be not much more than 2 platforms in the middle of nowhere.
The Jammu Radjhani Express, did arrive - it was only half-an-hour late....and in the 5 hours wait on a bench on Platform 1, I learned a lot about Buddhism from my companions and watched a near nude Indian Fakir, doing some mighty strange things....! .... We did arrive in Delhi, at 6 o'clock the next morning and I even made it onto the plane !
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