Hey there,
Well my 30th birthday is one I will definitely never forget. The original plan was to spend it on the luscious beaches of the Andaman Islands snorkeling, tanning and having a few cocktails however flight cancellations and lack of available accommodation had made it impossible so we took on plan B..head to the mountains of Darjeerling.
Two hours out from Kolkata our train stopped and all the passengers from our carriage were told to move into the next carriage. There were quite a few police with torches the size of watermelons and others with large guns searching just our carriage however at this stage we were unsure of for what. We watched on concerned and confused for sometime until I overheard a conversation with two guys in Hindi the only word I recognized was "bomb". I took a few minutes to process this then asked him to clarify. He told me it was dangerous and we shouldn't be on the train at all as someone had phoned the police and told them there was a bomb in our carriage...WTF!!!
Turns out the guy was traveling with his band and two of the guys could speak English. We stood on the platform in the cold (I was only wearing a t-shirt and obviously couldn't go back for a sweater) with spots of rain for nearly 4 hours until 2am. During this time the police brought in dogs from the bomb squad and searched the entire train while we made friends with the band. The situation would have been a lot worse if we didn't have anyone to translate for us so we were lucky in that respect. Although the Indian police did their job as I am still alive to tell the tale, their work was seriously sloppy. They didn't evacuate the train or close down the station and other trains continued to pass and even stop. We were not told to keep a distance from the train (we did though as we actually have common sense!) and other passengers gathered around the train watching the dogs in action while others returned to sleep in the suspected carriage. No one was searched when the green light was given for the train to continue to it's destination although the dogs had been walked through the crowds of people (this provided me with some comfort) but if someone was carrying a bomb on them they could have easily avoided the police. Before I would reenter the train I made the police inspector promise the train was safe and I wouldn't be dying on this train...All the Indians were pretty amused by this!!
After a few hours sleep (somehow) we were confronted with another interesting situation. A transvestite boarded the train and was threatening men in our cabin to expose themselves (which is extremely embarrassing to the Indians) if they didn't give 'it' money. Of course the men obliged rather than facing the embarrassment but I was shocked at the lengths people in this country go to to scab money from others. This was then followed by another incident later while we were in a taxi when a crazy lady stood in the middle of the road holding a large piece of wood threatening to smash in the car unless the driver gave her 2 rupees. She made some signals with her hands indicating she was crazy but I was again disgusted at the lengths people go to for money rather than getting out there and finding a proper job.
So I turned 30 while standing on a train platform while my carriage was searched for a bomb!! Who would of ever thought...
So after all the excitement and drama of the day and massive delays we reached Darjeerling six hours late hungry and tired. No thanks to our driver who stopped three times during the three hour journey up the mountain. On the third stop I actually got out and yelled at him that I wasn't paying him to eat I was paying him to drive. Harsh I know but it had been a seriously long 24 hours. Yelling proved to help the situation and we didn't stop again.
Lish shouted me pizza and fries for dinner (which was breakfast and lunch as well) and then we built a fire in our room (so grateful for a room with a fireplace in this weather) and I fell asleep soon after. We decided to celebrate my birthday properly the next day....TO BE CONTINUED!!!
From your happy to be alive however over the hill best friend xx
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