Night train

Here we are on the train linking Varanassi and Agra.
I'm on the top bunk bed and Muriel right below. We are on the corridor, the window is not well placed for sightseeing and the glass is tainted and dirty. We feel like we're on a 2nd world war submarine!
Plus it shakes a lot!
It's 9:20pm and we will arrive in Agra at 6am. I got plenty of time.

The excursion from the hotel to the train station in Varanassi was an epic. Short, but still an epic. It was our first ride on a motorized tricycle, nicely called tuc-tuc (or rickshaw). We have used those tuc-tucs in Peru but let me tell you, this has nothing to do with it! There is so much honking, sudden starts followed by screeching stops plus all the sharp turns to pass everything you can, that after only a few minutes you get sick. And then the driver stops and says "it's there". You look at the direction and you see the building indeed. The problem is that you have to cross a road with 10 plus lanes.
The roads are totally choked. All vehicles drive probably no more than 35mph but they are very close to each other, almost bumper to bumper. And then there's the difference of speed between each other. The fastest are the motorbikes, they literally flow between all obstacles at an amazing pace. Then you have the tuc-tucs. They are not the fastest but they still have an engine! The cars and the bicycles go probably at the same speed and they go slightly faster than the tricycles. Did you get the picture? Now add the horse carriages. They're romantic but totally out of place! And to finish, the people. They are the slowest but they make the most dangerous change of directions! Oh! And of course no vehicle has a single passenger, carpooling is taken very seriously over here: 3 adults are commonly seen on a single motorbike, 7(??!!) on a tuc-tuc, etc.
So here we are, Muriel and I, looking at the above described traffic, both ways also.
I think Muriel really got scared. Well, I felt a little bit like at the start of a scary climb: if you think too much you never start it. So I just started walking my direction. I think Muriel grabbed my backpack and just followed.
Of course we made it. And we're proud of it!

The train station is another experience to remember. So many people on the floor waiting for their train: sleeping, eating, resting, kids, families, monks, all kind of people! We kept looking for our train on the big screen but it didn't show up. Luckily we found the Tourist desk which helped us. The train was on time.