The Kerala Express

It’s early morning on the Kerala Express and the train is just starting to come to life. I can hear people around me stirring from their bunks and the chaiwala has already been past twice softly calling ‘chai, chai,’. Later in the day this will become a shout, along with the shouts from all the food sellers walking the train. I think I will stop him on his next pass for a cup. I’m not a tea drinker at home but chai here in India is delicious. Steaming hot, sweet and fragrant. I love the way they do it on the street corners. The steaming hot milk gets ladled into a jug, a bit of the boiling spiced tea is added, sugar is added to the glass and then the mixture is poured from jug to glass, glass to jug a few times in a very flamboyant way to mix everything up and take a bit of the heat out so that you can hold it. A bit of showmanship and a nice hot cup of chai all for the equivalent of about $0.20.

It’s not quite like that on the train obviously. It comes pre mixed in an urn and the chaiwala gives it to you in a paper cup. Some things have changed since I was last in India. It used to be a clay cup that you tossed out the window when you finished. Perhaps paper is more environmentally friendly but considering the meals still come in foil dishes that get tossed out the window I am guessing that a little paper cup is cheaper than a clay one.

Last nights meal was awesome. For 100 rupees each (abut $2.00), we got rice, dhal, veggie curry, paneer, a couple of parottas, mango pickle and fresh yoghurt. Hot and tasty. I hope breakfast is as good but I doubt that they can do a dosa anywhere near as nice as some we have had for breakfast in Kerala. It is actually pretty impressive what does come out of the buffet car on the trains though. On this one you can actually walk past the open kitchen and see it all going on. Everything is made from scratch and you have to step over bags of potatoes, rice and other provisions to get to the next car. They need a lot of stuff to keep everyone fed and watered. This train has 24 carriages, all sleepers, and takes more than two days and two nights days to get from source to destination.

The Kerala Express runs from Thiruvananthapuram all the way to New Delhi in northern India (and vice versa). A journey of some 3,028 kilometres taking over 50 hours. Thiruvananthapuram, fortunately also known as Trivandrum (I can’t even say Thiruvananthapuram), is pretty much right on the southern tip of India in the beautiful state of Kerala, which the Indians like to call ‘ Gods own country’. This could be slightly confusing in a country with multiple gods, but you get the idea. The scenery is different to the rest of India. Kerala has beautiful palm fringed beaches, mountains, national parks harbouring tigers and elephants and beautiful backwaters that stretch for a few hundred kilometres.

We took a break from trains and buses to travel from Kollam to Alleppey by boat along the backwaters. An eight hour journey covering about 100ks which was far more relaxing than any bus in India could possibly be, although you do start to get used to the latest Bollywood tunes distortedly blaring from crappy speakers whilst sitting on an uncomfortable seat in 35 degree heat with no aircon. Still, what do you expect for the equivalent of about $3.00 for an eight hour bus ride through the winding roads of the Western Ghats? That was almost as beautiful as the scenery on the backwaters boat trip, a far more relaxed side of India that you don’t see in the north. And you don’t get to see ducks being herded everyday. I kid you not, duck herding. Photographic evidence to prove it.

Back to the Kerala express. Ali has now stirred and risen from her lower bunk, so I have been able to climb down from the top to sit with her. For such a long trip we decided to travel in ‘luxury’, and went for the ‘AC 2 tier sleeper’ option. This means that we have our own little area that we can pull a curtain across for some privacy. There is a top bunk and a bottom bunk which doubles as our seat during the day. The other options were the slightly cheaper AC 3 tier sleepers, the much cheaper non aircon 3 tier sleepers (been there, done that, not doing it again), which makes up the majority of the train or the dirt cheap two unreserved carriages. These are still sleeper cars but you don’t get an allocation. First in best dressed with the floor as a second option. These cars are locked off from the rest of the train to prevent the ‘overflow’ spilling into the ‘luxury’ carriages.

Just had breakfast and a second cup of chai now. Chilli omelette from me and Ali had some iddlys and a vada with curry sauce. Not as good as dinner but for less than $1.00 each you can’t expect gourmet. We have gone vego whilst in southern India. Not for any noble reason really but simply because vegetarian food here is more abundant, tastier, safer and cheaper, and I always believe that eating like the locals do is the way to go when travelling. With a few sensible precautions of course, such as avoiding the tap water and anything that isn’t freshly prepared or served nice and hot. I think my favourite dining experience so far is when we found where the locals eat whilst passing through a little village on a rented scooter. We went in, got served a ‘South Indian meal’ on a banana leaf, got treated like celebrities including having to do selfies with the locals, and got charged 50 rupees ($1) for a full belly and a wonderful experience.

Back on the Kerala express, only another 28 hours to Delhi. We boarded yesterday afternoon at Kochi which is a few hours north of Trivandrum, so for us the trip is only about 45 hours. The first nights sleep was actually pretty good. Much more restful than my previous experiences on the top bunk of a non air con 3 tier sleeper with the fans clattering away a few inches from my face. I was younger then though and I’m far too old for that now. Not that I would describe our current accomodation as first class but it is the highest class on offer on this train and so far, so good.

Getting on towards lunchtime now on day 2 and we are a fair way up the country already. We have travelled out of Kerala, across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and we are just coming into Telangana, with the sights, sounds and smells of India passing by the window.

India really is a beautiful place. Sure it has its not so pretty side such as the poverty that can still be found quite easily despite India being quite modern and developed in some ways. The rubbish is also still quite disturbing and cows and dogs can still be found wandering many city streets foraging through the rubbish and leaving their mess behind for the unwary walker to step in. But the colours of India are still as vibrant as ever and despite the western influences that are clearly visible (such as McDonalds and KFC, although they are very few and far between), the women still mostly dress traditionally in beautiful colourful saris and other traditional styles of dress. Brightly painted Hindu temples still abound, even in Kerala which is highly Christianised due to the Portuguese and Dutch influences. The smells of spices and incense mostly overpower that of rubbish and cow crap (not always though), and did I mention the food? It’s very easy to see why the British adopted Indian cuisine so readily. And life on the train is just as colourful and full of wonderful smells.

Its my second morning on the train now. Day three in fact as we boarded on Sunday and today is Tuesday. Just got my first chai of the day and we are coming into a station so I will get off and have a wander along the platform while we are stopped. Its a good way to have a stretch and there is usually something interesting going on. Not too far from Delhi now. We are due in at about 2pm so only another 7 hours to go. Should have time for a few more chais.

I have actually been pretty impressed with Indian railways. They have a handy little app that you can use to make your bookings with. You can then track the progress of your train with it and can even order food from your seat with it. The food has been awesome so far, we certainly haven’t gone hungry. The bedding on our bunks is clean and pressed and yesterday morning at one of the longer stops the whole train got a thorough clean, inside and out.

I just had a near miss! I got off the train for a wander and saw there was a guy making fresh omelettes so I ordered one and give him 200 rupees to change. I wasn’t really paying attention and after a couple of minutes just happened to look round and see the train leaving. No time to get my omelette or my change and I actuality had to run to get on the train and even then I only managed to get in the last door before the unreserved carriage at the back. I think I might stay put now until we get to Delhi.