It was quite busy when we got into Margao Railway Station, we looked around, there were a few shops selling curries, peanuts, biscuits etc but not a lot to do. We managed to get a seat and then everyone started arriving. And I mean everyone. The Mumbai Express was due in an hour's time and before you knew it, mats were being thrown on the floor and in a matter of 10 minutes we were surrounded by a sea of Sari's. All different colours, it was quite spectacular and livened up this drab station. The sound of everyone shouting at each other became deafening and there was never a dull moment as everywhere you looked, there was a minor drama going on......kids banging their parents heads with empty bottles, people haggling, arguing, removing their clothes and resetting themselves or nutters trying to talk to you. They probably werent nutters but I'd said to Grant dont even bother with them and if you ignored them they went away. We also watched the many interesting railway engines coming in, they were huge and I must try to find out where they were built, probably India but possibly could have been Russian....once again, I'll have to find out. We also watched as fully loaded huge lorries on transporter carriages went by. Their drivers eating and drinking in their cabs as the trains went through. it gives you an idea as to the enormity of India, that it's more economical to stick your lorry on a train rather than drive it.

As the hours wore on more and people got on board their trains, always with an excellent bunfight to get on. They all seemed to settle down quite quickly though and you could see people shaking hands with fellow passengers and having a chinwag. Probably the best thing to do if you're going to be close proximity neighbours for the next 12 hours. Eventually we found ourselves in a lonely place. The train was now late and the deranged and dispossesed started moving in. One mad man went through the bins and found discarded curries and began offering them to the packs of stray dogs that were always wandering around. The dogs didnt want the curries after sticking their noses in it. So he sat down and began to chow down. We watched the many rats running along the tracks and found ourselves being looked at. As it was past midnight and the imagination was running riot it just didnt seem like a good place to be. People seemed to be spitting by us as they passed. Eventually salvation arrived at 12.20am in the form of the 16345 Express Train from Delhi to Trivandrum. Our bacon had been saved. Or had it?