What India's got

I'll be going to India beginning of next month and am investigating overland routes. This description of a retired American couple's first visit to an Indian train station made me laugh out loud. Maybe it will do the same for you.

We reached the Gorakhpur train station about 9:30 PM. We have read lots of accounts of travelers in India and their descriptions of the horrors of the train stations. So, on the abstract level, we were prepared. But on the physical visceral level the only thing that could prepare one for this experience is perhaps being dropped into a brimming septic tank. The train station is a large affair with people sleeping with their possessions on just about every available space. What isn't covered with bodies is covered with feces and urine. Then there are the beggars. Our noses burn, our stomachs tighten and we grit our teeth as we steel our senses to make our way through this real life Dante's Inferno. This is the quintessential Indian train station. This is a nation that has nuclear weapons!

You can read more of their adventures here.

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