After the last morning drive and breakfast back at the resort, we packed our bags, piled into 4 cars and drove to Katni and the train station there to take a sleeper train to Agra. The drive there we not much different that the other drives between national parks; plenty of open space and nature, and a couple of bird sightings if you paid attention. We also got to stop at a place where there were a row of large trees where we could get a clear view of a large group of bats sleeping.
Katni turned out to be a busy city but narrow roads. It wouldn’t have been too bad had it not been due to holidays which resulted in clogged roads and difficulties moving through traffic. We got to the station first, and despite the 4 cars were like stuck together for the entire drive, due to the traffic in Katni it took more than 10 minutes before the next showed up.
We had maybe 1½ hours at the station before our train would arrive. We had already been warned that trains in India can be notoriously late – several hours wasn’t unheard of. And even if it was on time departing lots of things could happen along the way so you would never really know until you arrived at your destination. It turned out that our train was delayed – but only by 10-15 minutes. The trains here are long, so getting ourselves positioned on the platform to be able to enter our carriage we had to go quite far – but as soon as we left the main building things were much less crowded so the situation improved. The general chaos on the platform was not nearly as bad as I had feared. The train rolled into the station. And rolled. And rolled. We were towards the rear of the train so we got to see all the cheap cabins/carriages pass by us (some of them were horribly crowded and made you feel claustrophobic just looking at them) before ours stopped almost right where we were standing. With a good amount of slightly chaotic rushing and piling our bags and ourselves into the train, we were ready to head north towards Agra.
We were placed in a sleeper carriage – a luxurious one, even, as it had AC and you were able to have a bit of privacy behind your curtain and it didn’t feel crowded. I ended up in a bed along one side (opposite a group of 4 beds in a cabin like you’d normally see in a sleeper train) which was definitely made for Indians. It was short enough that I had my feet out the side of the bed but just wide enough that I could be there while also having my camera bag there (it had been recommended to keep all valuables with us in the bed). Despite the not quite comfortable conditions I ended up getting a good night’s sleep on the ride, as opposed to others in the group who apparently struggled to get any sleep at all.
Katni turned out to be a busy city but narrow roads. It wouldn’t have been too bad had it not been due to holidays which resulted in clogged roads and difficulties moving through traffic. We got to the station first, and despite the 4 cars were like stuck together for the entire drive, due to the traffic in Katni it took more than 10 minutes before the next showed up.
We had maybe 1½ hours at the station before our train would arrive. We had already been warned that trains in India can be notoriously late – several hours wasn’t unheard of. And even if it was on time departing lots of things could happen along the way so you would never really know until you arrived at your destination. It turned out that our train was delayed – but only by 10-15 minutes. The trains here are long, so getting ourselves positioned on the platform to be able to enter our carriage we had to go quite far – but as soon as we left the main building things were much less crowded so the situation improved. The general chaos on the platform was not nearly as bad as I had feared. The train rolled into the station. And rolled. And rolled. We were towards the rear of the train so we got to see all the cheap cabins/carriages pass by us (some of them were horribly crowded and made you feel claustrophobic just looking at them) before ours stopped almost right where we were standing. With a good amount of slightly chaotic rushing and piling our bags and ourselves into the train, we were ready to head north towards Agra.
We were placed in a sleeper carriage – a luxurious one, even, as it had AC and you were able to have a bit of privacy behind your curtain and it didn’t feel crowded. I ended up in a bed along one side (opposite a group of 4 beds in a cabin like you’d normally see in a sleeper train) which was definitely made for Indians. It was short enough that I had my feet out the side of the bed but just wide enough that I could be there while also having my camera bag there (it had been recommended to keep all valuables with us in the bed). Despite the not quite comfortable conditions I ended up getting a good night’s sleep on the ride, as opposed to others in the group who apparently struggled to get any sleep at all.
Detailing at the Red Fort.
Arriving in Agra – on time, even – we left for the hotel where we had breakfast and deposited our bags before spending the day touring the Red Fort and Taj Mahal. Not much had changed since my last visit there but it was nice getting a refresher. Having left most of my camera equipment back at the hotel and only bringing my wide lens (recommended doing this due to security at the locations) I realized, standing at Taj Mahal, that the river passing by had amazing bird life going on, and plenty of birds that we hadn’t seen yet on the trip. Had to remind myself we were there for the buildings, not the wildlife.
We spent the night in Agra before getting on a private bus that took us back to Delhi and our hotel. Getting back I was reminded of how far away from cities we had been in the past days and weeks as the traffic chaos that met us reaching Delhi was nothing like what we had seen at all since we left almost 2 weeks ago. Goodbye quiet – hello millions of people trying to get where they need to be, dust and pollution. Returning to the hotel we had a few hours before going out for dinner and some of us ended up on the roof where we had a spectacular view of the thousands of kites in Delhi flying around and coming in to roost for the night. It was crazy seeing so many of this beautiful bird at the same time and a great end to the trip. That night I had a pickup for the airport and with an on-time departure I was homebound, giving enough time to watch Bullet Train and Nope, and still have time for a needed nap. I even had significantly more time during the layover than on the trip out resulting in far less stress.
Black kite.
And with that another amazing trip was concluded. A not so small part of the amazingness was due to the great people I traveled with. Big thanks to our guide Krishna Kumar who at all times did his utmost to get us to see as much as possible, without losing his constant high spirits. Big thanks to Phill, Kristi, Derek, Tim & Tracy, Sharon & Ian, Annette & Alan, Bev & Rod, Pam & Margaret and David & Heather for being a great group of people to travel with. I hope you had just as much fun as I did and that we may one day meet again.
Full album can be seen here.
Full album can be seen here.
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