LAST STOP BEFORE THAILAND!!

6th - 16th October

Dehra Dun (should be renamed - Dismal Dung)
6th - 8th October

In order for us to reach Dehra Dun we had to take the morning train from Agra to Delhi then a train from Delhi to Dehra Dun. I can’t say either of us was looking forward to a days travelling on Indian trains! The only train we could get was a slow second class train, now anybody who has travelled in this class of train will understand the perils a journey like this can entail!!! The train finally arrived so we boarded the carriage which we thought had the least amount of people in it, as its unreserved sitting we just grabbed what seats we could and hoped for the best! I was moved on from my first seat and moved down the carriage to a side seat, then had the

pleasure of a group of around 10 Indian men starring at me for the next 10 - 15 minutes! I really don’t get this starring lark, I mean I can understand that people may look twice as we obviously look a lot different but just to stare and stare is a little un-nerving to say the least! I have got to the point now though that I can out-stare the best of them and believe me I have done this on more than one occasion!!!

The train journey wasn’t a pleasant experience, it is quite hard to describe the different emotions you can feel when sitting on a train with nothing else to do but observe your surroundings. There was the usual amount of people selling endless amounts of rubbish, some of which was truly awful! As well as a constant stream of beggars, some of whom were terribly disfigured and disabled, these people really did look like societies forgotten people. It was a very sad sight. You also had