Day 8: Time for good byes again...

We packed halfheartedly in our hostel room; part of me wanted to stay back till the end of pulse and the other, couldn’t wait to get on with the rest of the trip.

We bid goodbyes again; Rashmi M and Div were going home. After saying goodbye to Hassan n Munshidh who had come to see us off, thaana, Chabi n I filed into an auto n headed to the train station. Though traveling to the same destination, our group had split (as planed) in two and it was 24 of us on a train bound to vasco; goa! All eager to see what the land of sun, sea n coconuts wud have in store for us…

We’ve all heard about horrors of the Indian railways, the crawling cockroaches’ n rats and the distasteful food and the weirdoes u meet on the way, Goa express was a far cry! But still we studiously chained our luggage to the bunks and had a spare chain to protect our footwear at night! Well, our Indian friends assure us, it’s a necessity if we don’t wanna walk bear foot!

It wasn’t long before we encountered a hijra (eunuch), making her (?) usual rounds of the train. We’ve read about them, we’ve seem them on TV but coming face to face with one of them was a totally different thing! It was both fascinating n scary…

Time passed quickly and before we knew it, it was the end of another eventful, fun filled day…

it passes all too soon!