Leaning In: Goa-ing by train

What could be more exciting than a train ride in India? Not much...but the 5 hour drive to the coast to get to the station comes in at a close second. Weaving through the mountains and roads is thrilling enough as it is. Add some serious language barriers, a few completely atypical episodes of sheets of rain pouring down into the countryside in February, the necessary coffee/ chai stop no matter the time and 'schedule' we were on to try and catch/ stay on schedule with our train, and things get really interesting.

Riding the train is a complete thrill! Easily one of the greatest experiences of my life. If you're into color, scenery, wind, speed and even a little bit of the feeling of being rocked to sleep, this is for you. Somehow the train ticket purchasing process was the most challenging part of my trip and I'm really not sure whether I could do it again with such success, but it's worth every bit of the struggle.

It's the best way to meet people, to gaze at the countryside and marvel at small villages, at fisherman and sunsets, hills and mountains and fields of green. Standing in the doorway and feeling the breeze, sometimes wind, move through you is a feeling like none other. I must have stood there for a combined total of 3 hours...I was completely addicted. Speaking of addictions, the chai was pretty bad ass too. I should know. I drank about 5 cups of it!

I can't say that riding in excess of 10, 13, even 26 hours (as most city to city travel requires) is necessarily for me...but I easily sustained 6.5 hours and wasn't quite ready to get off. Though the young child whose only reliable source of entertainment was a toy that played 'Oh, Susannah!' over and over and over again while her extended family who traveled alongside us oohed and aaahed over her every move helped to get me off just that much faster when my stop arrived!

Oh, but I digress. Some snapshots along the journey perhaps?

Ticket collector. Antiquated system, but it works.

A/C 3 tier...the way to travel

Sardine over rice with SPICY fish sauce. Not bad. I was hungry.

As the picture says, Mangalore Junction station. My starting point.

Sleeper cars. Not sure why they're called this since they have no A/C and smaller berths. Seems sleeping would be tough.Go figure. #India.

Side berth. Next time I book one of these bad boys.

This gentleman showed me how to properly stand in the doorway of a moving train (put your back into it) so you don't get thrown off by the wind. Danny Devito should have just turned his momma the wrong way...