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Villupuram, India
11° 56' N 79° 28' E
Feb 16, 2007 09:02
Distance 38km

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Other entries in Villupuram

Villupuram

Text written in: English (UK)

We went to the train station in Pondicherry to catch a ride to Madurai, only to find out that the one remaining train that day was a slow one, and wouldn't reach Madurai until about 2am. We thought we may have difficulty getting somewhere to stay at that time...

The alternative was to get a bus to Villupuram, a small place close to Pondicherry but on a different train line. Here, we could (in theory) jump on a train going from Chennai to Madurai. So we prepared ourselves for another bus journey, albeit it a short one, with a train journey ahead of it. We headed to Pondicherry bus station and managed to fluke ourselves into being the first people to board the bus. The only seats on these buses that are realistic for us to use with our big bags are the ones at the very back, which have plenty of room underneath them to store things. So we sat at the back. I have read stories about sitting at the back of a bus in India. Stories about how when you go over a bump, you will know about it. I would like to categorically state that those stories are 100% true. When we went over the first bump, i thought "that wasn't so bad", and then i realised that was just the front wheels of the bus. When the back wheels (i.e. right underneath us) went over, we were propelled a good five inches into the air off our seats, crashing back down in considerable pain. It was quite funny at first, but...well...there's a lot of bumps on the roads. Riding a bus here is akin to riding a rollercoaster at Alton Towers, with slightly less safety measures and slightly more pain involved.

We pulled into the station at Villupuram and realised that, basically, it's in the middle of nowhere. With nothing of any interest to see, we got a Boss to take us straight to the train station, where we discovered that we could not actually reserve a seat on the train - we had to book a ticket and wait for the train to arrive. If there was space, we could get on. If there wasn't, we'd have it refunded (minus 10 rupees). I wasn't particularly bothered by the idea of losing a couple of quid on the ticket, but the thought of being stranded in the middle of nowhere overnight didn't exactly fill me with joy. We sat on the train platform in Villupuram for two hours. We started to get hungry so went to the railway station food-hall, and ordered egg biryani. It came in about two minutes - worryingly quickly, particularly for India! We suspected they have a big pile of dishes ready-made to put onto the train when it pulls into the station, and that's what we were given. Hmm. Managed to wash it down with a Pepsi (Appy Fizz for Chris). Then we went and sat on the platform again, watching the clock go by, and watching a small child urinate on a stray dog whilst his family looked on and laughed - charming.

Luckily for us, when the train arrived, there was plenty of space. We got ourselves in a decent sleeper-class compartment, with air conditioning, a bed each, blankets etc. Very nice, but with one problem: we couldn't afford to fall asleep in case we went past Madurai...we knew it would take about six hours...but at least we were comfortable, and were finally on our way. We phoned ahead and booked a hotel, relaxed, listened to our iPods and read for a few hours.

At 12.30am we got our bags together, expecting to arrive at any moment. We went into the corridor of the train and there was another bloke waiting with his suitcase, also waiting for Madurai. He told us it was the next stop, about ten minutes away. One hour, and seven or eight stops later, the train pulled into Madurai station...we got ourselves a Boss and finally arrived at the hotel around 2am - the same time we would have done if we'd just waited for the train in Pondicherry. It's amazing, the trains here always seem to leave on time - to the minute - but they always seem to arrive at least an hour late. I'm sure there's some kind of philosophical quandary there somewhere but i can't quite get my head round it.