Even though the walk was only about five minutes it was already hot and sweat was dripping down my back as we entered the station. We immediately spotted a sign for the ‘Shatbati express’ leading towards the platform in front of us. We headed that way after confirming with a nearby porter that this was the right train and settled down on the platform to relax. We congratulated ourselves that we had found our way so easily.

It was an early start. Due to still being traumatised by my previous walk down the main road from the station to the hostel, I insisted on getting an auto rickshaw. After a minimal amount of bargaining we secured the rickshaw at an inflated tourist rate. We had only been driving for about two minutes before a massive traffic jam loomed ahead. Apparently everybody in Delhi was going to the station at 6am that morning. The driver shrugged and sighed theatrically. Ahead we could see passengers descending from cars and other auto rickshaws carrying their baggage with them. It was clear that we would have to do the same. To be fair to Tim he refrained from saying, ‘I told you so.’

About fifteen minutes later, the train pulled in at the platform and we got on We still had about twenty minutes to go until departure time. Just then a couple of men entered our area of the carriage and asked to see our tickets. ‘This train is going to Bhopal,’ they explained, kindly. We were sitting in their seats. Apparently there are lots of Shatbati expresses going to different locations in India. Who would have known? We started running up and down the crowded station, laden down with our bags, desperate not to miss our train.

‘But that porter pointed out the platform to us,’ said Tim. ‘I gave him twenty rupees.’

‘He probably couldn’t even read,’ I replied.

Clearly the porters at Delhi station are unreliable in terms of train location. Finally we found the correct platform. As we ran onto it the train pulled away. My heart sank. I knew what this meant. A day trekking across Delhi to the bus station and then a sick making bus journey that would arrive in Haridwar late in the evening. Not the trip we had planned at all.

But all was not lost. A kind man noticed our frazzled state. He was heading back to his home village, having been working out in Brazil in the oil industry. He explained that we had not in fact missed our train at all and it was due at the platform in the next fifteen minutes. I felt like hugging him. We had time for some further conversation about Brazil and a chai before our actual train pulled in.

The journey to Haridwar was uneventful after that. The carriages were comfortable and air conditioned and we got served breakfast. I had started to experience some slight stomach cramps, which I ignored.

At Haridwar we managed to get straight on a local bus to Riskikesh; the bus stand was right next to the train station. It was a cramped and bumpy ride but the windows were open so the wind was cooling us down and it was interesting watching the local scene and the Ganges as we headed up the valley towards Rishikesh. In Rishikesh further transport was needed to reach the area where we had booked our hotel – Laxshman Jula. We had been told the Laxshman Jula bridge was being repaired so we would have to get a boat over the river. However when we reached the crossing point, we were told that the ferry wasn’t running due to the high level of the water post monsoon. There was another route we could have taken, but we were not keen to hire another rickshaw and retrace our steps. As we were sitting on the ghats, wondering what to do, we started chatting to a dynamic young couple who explained that they wanted to get across to Lakshman Jula as well and that it was possible to hire a private boat. We agreed to go halves with them and the cost turned out to be not much more than the ferry would have been – probably because the couple, who were Indian, took care of the negotiations with the boat keeper.

Exhausted, we finally found our hotel in the maze of the Lakshman Jula backstreets. It seemed great. Our room was large with a fairly clean attached bathroom. However we noticed that the outside seating area was rather dusty with a few clothes scattered around…but more of that in the next post…