Bhopal

Bhopal, Dec 23, 2011.

21 km

It got rather cold in Orchha at nights. One day it was foggy and cold up to almost noon. And I was not sure at all if and where I could find accomodation on the way to Bhopal. So started thinking about taking a train to skip a bit South. I logged in to Cleartrip and made a train reservation from Jhansi. Trains were fully booked though and even when choosing a more expensive A/C car I was waitlisted as #8.

Frankly I did not have much hope of getting a reservation, particularly since people on Thorntree said that there are rarely any cancellations in A/C class. So I asked around in Orchha about hotels along the way. Eventually a man in a restaurant told me that there would indeed be some hotel etc. So I decided to cycle. Then on the morning of my leaving, when I checked the mail, I had a positive reply from Cleartrip. I was on.

So I just cycled in to Jhansi, found the train station and went for the Parcel Office, which is where you must go to send luggage. I knew from before that I would have to be there at least one hour before the train left. No problem. I was there by 11 and the train should leave at 1:20 PM.

The actual cost of sending the bike was only 51 Rs. But it must be "packed". In this case that was done by one guy covering my saddle with a piece of jute stitched all around the saddle. And it must have a name tag. The dude found an old name tag made from a tin can. He cleaned away the old name and I got to write mine with a magic marker. That procedure cost me 50 Rs. Then I was told by the man in charge to "Don't Vorry!", as the Indians say. I actually did not worry, having sent my bike twice, another one, on a previous trip, and it had arrived at the other end safe and sound. I did take off the pedals and open the screws to the handle bar. You are supposed to do that when taking a bike on a bus. Maybe less necessary on a train. But it does have the advantage that the bike becomes unridable.

Then the train was delayed three hours on arrival, I think from Delhi. And then at the last minute they changed the platform so I nearly missed getting onboard at all. But eventually I did arrive Bhopal, at 9:30 in the evening. It was of course dark, and I had never been to Bhopal. I had no wish to cycle there in the dark. And I was also concerned about finding a room at such a late hour. So I grabbed a scooter rickshaw and went to Hotel Sonali, a place listed as a step up in the guide book. They gave me a fairly decent room for 500 Rs and were in general very nice to deal with.

Next day I went to collect my bike. It was there, in fine condition. And there was a charge for storing it. The man wanted 240 Rs, saying it was 10 Rs an hour. I objected and said the train had actually arrived only 12 hours before. After some debate behind the counter the fee was amended to 100 Rs. I paid and rode home.