20/40-1 Passage to Ride: India

According to Sarah, our overnight train was about one hundred million times better than the train we took the other day. I asked her, “are you sure about this number?” and she responded, “Yes. Yes I am sure”.

I had to ask her this because I promised a friend I would write about our India train journey without any hyperbole – “No exaggerations or superfluousness” I told him, that I did. So without any funny business, here is the straight talk: Train Ride to India (within India).

I normally don’t experience motion sickness. In March when I was out on the boat with my aunt and uncle I was fine. The Africa train: didn’t affect me at all. But remember from last night’s post where I said I was up on the top bunk? And do you also remember when I mentioned I stuffed my belly with five naans and six different bowls of chutney right before going to the station? Well it turns out that I made a mistake: they were mostly curries – one hundred percent not chutneys. And also the side-to-side rocking motion of the train had the effect of acting like a force-multiplier on my GI system.

About two hours after going to bed I woke up in a cold sweat. Something was wrong. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

I had a feeling I was about to experience… the dreaded double-ender. We’ve all had those feelings but they mostly happen separately. “My stomach is not feeling fine” you’d say if your stomach were not right. You’d also say the exact same thing if your “other” stomach were acting up. But you’d say it with a bit more urgency so the people around you would be clued in without you having to go into too much detail about what the actual problem is. For me, they were happening simultaneously.

So around 0200 last night I sat up in my bed. It was dark. There were now two extra people in our cabin. I had no idea where the WCs were located in this carriage and I felt like it was going to happen. Then I looked over at Sarah who was sleeping peacefully, like an angel, if angels required sleep (they don’t). Then I remembered that Sarah had almost the exact same meal as I did but she seemed fine.

And then I also remembered that earlier in the day she took a couple of those chewable Pepto-Bismols our doctors suggested we bring. I grab my purse and search frantically for the pills. I found them at the bottom of my bag and I somehow managed rip off the plastic safety packaging! There was no time to read the instructions but then I remembered Anna telling us that Peptol-Bismol is banned in Germany. I defeated the child-proof cap, dropped two tablets into my hand and paused to think:

Why are children and the Germans not allowed to have these? What do they know that the rest of us don’t?

But there was no time to wax philosophical! I could feel the rumblings of a curry volcano building inside me! I popped the two tables in my mouth and I chewed like I never chewed before!

Cherry, nice.

And then things calmed down and I went back to sleep. The end.

…or was it?!???