India - taking bikes on train?

[tmac100]

Yes, times have certainly changed in India. I first went to India in 1975 and spent 2 months there. Then I retirned again in 2009, and 2010 and the last time was over this past Christmas break.

Besides much higher prices and easier to buy alcohol, the streets are cleaner with fewer cows dropping s**t everywhere, even on the Delhi RR platform - and almost no spitting etc.

Easier travel for the average "non-travel hardened" westerner. Better hygene too - and that means (in my recent experience) less Montezuma's Revenge. YMMV

[toontra]

Well, after taking into consideration the experiences of those who've kindly posted here (especially simonhill, tmac and Eman Resu) I've totally redrawn my 3-week schedule

I've changed the daily routes to avoid where at all possible the "yellow" main roads (not always possible). The knock-on from this is I've had to change all the stop-off points as distances between locations have increased by about 25% due to the circuitous roads.

I'm heading inland rather than following the coast, and going diagonally SW through Tiruchirappalli and Madurai before heading into the hills and Munnar. From there I'll wind down to Kottayam where I'll get the river boat to the coast.

This means missing out on Rameswaram on the east which I was looking forward to, but the mileages just don't make such a detour feasible.

I'm going to try and get the train back to Chennai. If that falls through I have time in hand to get a flight the following day.

Had the last of my vaccination boosters today and getting quite excited now!

[toontra]

Just arrived at the West coast nearing the end of my 3 week tour. It's been fantastic! Just a couple of pointers for anyone planning something similar.

Firstly, I personally think the"yellow" roads (i.e. national highways) are absolutely fine for cycling. Hard shoulder with perfect surface swept clean by scooters and motorbikes, gentle gradients and, away from large cities, not all that busy. The alternative "white" roads can throw up anything, from fine to utterly abysmal. So much so I rerouted my plans after day 3 to stay on the state highways whenever possible.

Secondly, the train ticket fiasco continues! I have the one I bought online but have since decided to change plans and spend more time on the west coast, returning to Chennai a day later. Buying another ticket in Madurai took 2 attempts, as the first time my handwriting on the paper form you have to fill in was misread and I didn't realise until later that day. I then had to cancel and get a partial refund on that before buying another, all of which took multiple form-filling and hours of sweaty anxiety. I'm still not sure if I have the right ticket or if I'll be able to take the bike! I'll find out on Thursday.

[toontra]

Btw, this morning I got the state ferry from Kottayam to Alappuzha. It was one of the highlights of the trip, churning thought the water lilies as the sun rose. My bike was slung on the roof which was rather nerve-racking as the roof sloped and it wasn't secured, despite my suggestions!

The 2.5 hour ride cost 16 Rs - about 18p!

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my SM-G950F using hovercraft full of eels.

[Cyril Haearn]

Hardly matters if one makes the wrong train reservation for 18p, one imagines you can thoyle that
What about food, language, water, weather? Do you get by with English?

[toontra]

The 18p trip was a boat. Train fare from Kochi to Chennai is all of £10 for an air conditioned sleeper berth going several hundred miles!

Language is sometimes a struggle but slow English usually gets by. They are having a heat wave here at the moment & even the locals are complaining. It's in the mid 40's in the afternoon with humidity in the high 90pc.

Generally it's been fantastic. Too many amazing experiences to list. I even made it into the Kerela newspaper. I think the fact that I was cycling more than a few miles a day made it newsworthy!

[toontra]

UPDATE:

I spent literally hours searching Cochin for "strong brown paper" (presumably what would be known in the UK as parcel paper) which is what Indian Railways stipulate on their website. There isn't any there!! I went from shop to paper merchant to DIY store, etc always being told "They will have it" but they never did. If it wasn't for the temperature (<40c) and humidity (<90pc) it would almost have been humorous. I ended up walking over 14 miles and was still empty handed.

On the way to the station the next day I saw some thin white foam sheeting on the pavement so took that with me. Once at Ernakulam Town station I wrapped the frame extensively and then went through the tortuous form-filling ritual I'd gotten used to during my stay in India. Everything done in duplicate with duplicating paper (haven;t seen that in the UK since the 70's) with forms being blown all over the office by the ceiling fan.

Although I'd done all the packing myself I was more or less forced into "tipping" the porter Rs 50 for his "tea money" to make sure it got on the train. I still hovered by the bike until my train was pulling in to make sure the porter would get the correct train and then had to make a dash to the completely opposite end of the train to my 2A carriage. I know from previous trains in Sri Lanka that to try and do this through the train corridors and vestibules carrying 2 heavy bags is nigh-on impossible.

Christ, these trains are long!! Not sure exactly how many carriages the Chennai "Express" had but they seem ed to go on forever. Certainly over 3 times longer than anything in the UK. The journey itself was uneventful. The bunk wasn't as nice as I was expecting compared to Thai trains but the toilet cubicles were clean and efficient.

What awaited me at Chennai was also predictably tortuous. I waited outside my carriage (A1 so nearest the exit) for 20 minutes until the thousands of other passengers disembarked - I couldn't have made it past them in any case. I slowly realised that me bike wouldn't be coming my way anytime soon so I wandered up to the far end of the train where I presumed my bike had been loaded. Sure enough, there is was on the platform. Relief! That's when the fun started!

I showed a porter my receipt and he pointed vaguely across the tracks (still at the "other" end of the platform). I followed other porters manhandling goods and ended up in a parcel-handling area. Finally someone pointed me to an office where there was a lengthy queue. To kill time I started unwrapping my bike but someone shouted at me not to do this. Finally I handed over my receipt. More forms were filled in and I was handed another form (in duplicate). I had no idea what this was for but followed others to another section of the site where there was another queue. Again I started to unwrap the bike only to be told again not to do this!

Finally I handed the second copy of the form in to the office, signed a form and was more or less swept along with the flow out into one of the busiest streets in Chennai, where I had to try and find a few square feet of space (not easy) to unwrap the bike. It was 11.15 am by now (75 minutes since arriving) and it was 40c and sweltering!

Hopefully this will be of help to others. To be perfectly honest it's really put me off ever trying to take my bike on Indian trains again - it's just too stressful. But if I do I certainly won't waste any time looking for "strong brown paper".