Welcome all ye sardines

People, masses of people, a vast swarm of brown humanity crowding on to concrete piers waiting for their "ships" of steel to come rolling in. India like i always imagined it would be: turbans and saris, businessman and beggars, huge piles of goods waiting to be pushed and shoved in to any available space on the waiting train, rats dancing on the rails, samosas frying in hot oil, and the smell, ah, the smell, one minute a delight of savoury and spice, the next the stench of the dark water flowing out of a thousand slums. Train after train flows into New Delhi station packed to the brim and somehow more people manage to cram themselves on, a literal sardine factory. I don't know quite what i was thinking, but it was something like, surely our train will be better, everything will be has its been before, nice, orderly, and our seats will be waiting to welcome our tired butts in to them. Ah, the ignorance of Delhi trains. Suz and I pushed and shoved our way on to our carriage only to find 15 people sitting in what normally accomodates 8. Somehow the number swelled when it came time to sleep and i kid you not 21 people were sleeping in, on, and around 8 bunks. Suzie and i slept head to toe and the chain holding our bunk kept digging in to my calf and i tossed and turned all night as people brushed my head as the passed. But God is still good, he stilled suzies stomach so that neither of us had to go for 14 hours. Suz did try once but their were 10 people sitting on the floor outside the toilets. Their were even people sitting in between the carriages on the outside of the train. So if you ever find yourself needing to leave Delhi on a train, pay the money and sit with the other white folks, otherwise, sardine city.
The rest of the journey to the border and on to Royal Chitwan National Park passed with relative ease. The people of Nepal smile more often, are more relaxed and there is just generally more space everywhere, very therapeutic. A lovely guy named Kumar met our bus and whisked us off to a great hotel beside the park.