It's the destination NOT the journey!!

Between this trip and the last in 2011, I've endured 3 night trains and 5 overnight buses. 

I always said the journey from Jaisalmer to Jodphur in Rajasthan was the worst bus experience of my life. Largely due to extremes in heat, space and noise. Extreme discomfort would sum it up. So I could say 'I'm never doing that again' and feel quite happy, I can exercise personal choice. Brilliant, never again.

 

How I've ended up doing the same again was down to a tourist agent on Hampi who assured me it would be better than said experience. In doing this he used two words, 'Volvo' and 'AC'. These words mean virtually nothing to me when I think of comfort, so why I agreed I'll never know. 

So you're sitting in your seat which kindly reclines to about 45 degrees. It's 6.30pm and the arrival time is 5.30am. You're given water which you feel reluctant to drink given that there's no toilet. The lights above don't work so doing anything that's not self illuminating is out of the question.

Even at your most knackered you'd have to be heavily sedated to come close to sleeping on these things. I can only describe the ride as similar to being on the back of a quad bike, doing top speed across a fell. It's horrific. And the air con? There is no living human being who would benefit or enjoy having freezing cold, dry, second hand air constantly pumped toward their face.

As if that wasn't bad enough, upon arrival we zombied to the train station and got on a train that would take an hour and a half to reach our final destination. This means you just get an unreserved ticket, sitting anywhere with no AC, more or less. Im not gonna lie, I've not long stopped gagging as I sit here because of the smell of urine and bleurgh. 

What can you or I learn from this though?! As I've said in a previous post 'it's about the journey not the destination'  well that's bollocks, some journeys are ALL about the destination, so what Kerala has to offer had better be worth it! 

My advice, which i don't heed myself at times would be, book trains in advance for seats in the best class (and even then, lower your expectations and then lower them again) and just avoid, totally and utterly avoid night buses unless you're a) skint and/or b) a goon.