Monday, May 21, 2007
Most Memorable Trip
We had planned to visit Mussourie for post marriage trip. The trip was well planned and the railfan in me had taken all efforts to select the best route. We were leaving by Mangala Exp to H.Nizamuddin from Kalyan (arrival 14.20). Being the only son I had to leave my mom all alone for the trip. Hence I had to ensure all was perfect at home. There were some last minute purchases made such as medicines etc. It was around 14.00 when we left Ambernath. We hired a direct rickshaw assuming we would reach Kalyan in 20 mins. But lady luck had other ideas. We reached at 14.30 and found that the train had already left. Imagine our plight. What would everyone say. We were being warned by everyone that we should leave early.
The traveller in me took control of the situation and we decided to head for Kasara by bus. This later changed to Nasik. We reached Nasik Rd station around 6 p.m. and came to know that the train had just left. At the same time got a call from my sister enquiring how far had we reached. Our reply was we just crossed Nasik.
We decided to travel by bus to Delhi, not knowing whether there was such a service. Since there was none, the next best was going up north. So we took a bus to Indore. Reaching there first thing we did was book a ticket to Delhi or Dehradun. I don't remember the no. but it was a night train to H.Nizammudin. From there on we booked the New Delhi Dehradun Shatabdi exp at 7 a.m. We left Indore on time but due to some signal issues entered Nizammudin only around 6.30 am. We rushed to the prepaid auto stand and paid for New Delhi station. But noone was ready to come so we requested one of them after explaining our situation. He agreed for a higher fare. All this ended around 6.45. After that we were flying. The roads were empty which helped to ease our worries. Reached the station around 7 a.m. The train was on platform no 11 the last one. In fact there were two on the platform. One was Swarna Shatbdi (not sure about the name) leaving for Amritsar and the second one was Dehradun. A last minute jump helped us to get into our compartments and we thanked the Almighty for every help.
This incident was kept a secret and revealed only on our 5th wedding anniversary.
Have to appreciate my wife for her complete participation in the adventure. We definitely have a interesting tale for our kids.
Regards,N.Subramanian
The traveller in me took control of the situation and we decided to head for Kasara by bus. This later changed to Nasik. We reached Nasik Rd station around 6 p.m. and came to know that the train had just left. At the same time got a call from my sister enquiring how far had we reached. Our reply was we just crossed Nasik.
We decided to travel by bus to Delhi, not knowing whether there was such a service. Since there was none, the next best was going up north. So we took a bus to Indore. Reaching there first thing we did was book a ticket to Delhi or Dehradun. I don't remember the no. but it was a night train to H.Nizammudin. From there on we booked the New Delhi Dehradun Shatabdi exp at 7 a.m. We left Indore on time but due to some signal issues entered Nizammudin only around 6.30 am. We rushed to the prepaid auto stand and paid for New Delhi station. But noone was ready to come so we requested one of them after explaining our situation. He agreed for a higher fare. All this ended around 6.45. After that we were flying. The roads were empty which helped to ease our worries. Reached the station around 7 a.m. The train was on platform no 11 the last one. In fact there were two on the platform. One was Swarna Shatbdi (not sure about the name) leaving for Amritsar and the second one was Dehradun. A last minute jump helped us to get into our compartments and we thanked the Almighty for every help.
This incident was kept a secret and revealed only on our 5th wedding anniversary.
Have to appreciate my wife for her complete participation in the adventure. We definitely have a interesting tale for our kids.
Regards,N.Subramanian
Labels: Ambernath to Mussourie, eventful honeymoon, hotel filigree
