India! The night bus from Nong Khai to Bangkok, a plane from Bangkok to buzzing Mumbai dodging the thick black clouds of the monsoon. From Mumbai, I took a bus to Pune to visit my cousin. After a great stay, I fought for a day to get a train ticket for the sleeper class to Delhi (I wanted to get north). I got my ticket and boarded a train next morning.
Travelling from Pune to Delhi in the cheap sleeper class was one of the best things I’ve done lately. A group of young muslim boys travelling from the very south to Delhi for 2 days took me in, shared their food, prayed and studied by my side and curiously observed everything I was doing. Being the only foreigner I enjoyed plenty of attention (apparently all foreigners book the AC train), but only of the good kind. I felt safe and looked after. After hearing some stories mentioning unfriendly people in India, this experience warmed my little traveller heart and prepared me for what was next. I managed to get some good shots of this special world on a train during my 27 hours on rails. A curious and mind-boggling fact: It is said that every day around 17,5 million people travel by train in India.
