who knew that millions of college students were going back to school at the same time we wanted to train it up to mumbai?

not sure where to begin this one. i suppose it started when i created the itinerary for the trip: an overnight train ride to mumbai. a long train ride is essential for the full experience of the motherland, and so when i got here i went to the train station to book our tickets well in advance. but not far enough in advance, as the train station manager jollily laughed in my face. 'oh, all the tickets to mumbai have been booked since 90 days. waiting list? oh yes, 127 people on waiting list.' not what i would label as 'good news'.

he advised me to try for a tatkal ticket. tatkal loosely translates to a 'hail mary' - you go to the ticket counter 2 days before the train that you want, and if you're one of the first people, you can get it. but not one of the first people in line, one of the first people IN INDIA, to get there. he advised going to the train station at 4:30am so we'd be one of the first 8 people in line in order to get the ticket.

dutifully, naveen and i arose at 430 and made our way to the train station in the dark. 35 people sat on the steps of the railway station. it didn't open for another 3 hours. at 7am, one hour before the ticket windows opened, i went to recharge my cell phone, and got a call from naveen: 'heether, come quick! they're giving out tokens for places in line.' got a nice little cardio, and a number: 39.

we went over our plans b, c, and d while waiting. when our numbers were called we plowed through the crowd [a half hour before they opened, i saw someone pull the number 169. hoy.] the first train i requested had a wait list of 17 - still too many to take that chance. just as the irate lady was telling me to shove off, naveen yelled to me to go for the last train on our list - and i did, and we got it! we got confirmed seats on this baby.

which means we get to stay and enjoy cochin, before hopping on a train for 24 hours up to mumbai. the train ride promises to be even more of an adventure than procuring the tickets, or let's at least hope so ;)