Shrirangaptna - Bangladesh + India x 2 - CycleBlaze

March 14, 2010

Shrirangaptna

a train ride south

Talk about hot water. Jeez. It's absolutely scalding in my bathroom and it got used it to cleanse some clothes the first night and also scrub my blue saddlebag, which now looks as bright as a new penny. And a new bell is on. 

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All set, it's 10 o'clock and off it is to find the train station to nip south to Mysore and restart my tour there. Thirty kilometres into Bangalore was enough for me - it's the quiet country roads I'm after.

When posed the question of an AC seat it sounds like a good idea to travel in style and the cost won't break the bank. It's two-and-a-half hours for around 200 rupees and the departure is at three o'clock. There's some time to kill.

I ride a little and before turning back and settle on eating a packet of spicy chip fingers and have a refreshing albeit small cup of fresh sugarcane juice bought from a booth in the station's large foyer. Like most railway places, it looks neglected and is a bit of a downer. People are sprawled out on the floor as there are no seats. 

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The helpful guy in the luggage office says the 3:00 pm departure won't have a goods van for my bike and it'd be better if I get the four o'clock 'passenger train' and not the express. This means cancelling my ticket, which means losing half the price of it and at this point I decide to buy one for a place called Shrirangaptna.

Yes, a slight change of plan and I've never heard of it.

This comes about after looking at my map and noticing the place denoted with a star -- meaning it has some interesting sites -- and the Lonely Planet says its worth a look and that there are places to sleep and it's only around 15 km north of Mysore. The three o'clock train skips it but the later one calls there, although it's not clear when It arrives.

The ticket is dirt cheap - just 19 rupees - so my guess is it'll take its time and stop at all the villages between here and there. And one thing is certain -- it'll be dark when I arrive. This day is another write-off.

The train is empty as I'm one of the first to board, sitting near the goods wagon, which is very handy. A man who looks like he's retired and who has a benevolent face comes into the compartment and I take his photo and then a few other passengers join us. 

The bench seat is hard and there are a super-sturdy luggage racks above, where I imagine people lay and sleep and sure enough a 20-something guy clambers up and spreads himself out on the one opposite me and rests his head on his canvas shopping bag.

It fills up quick and there are ten sat on the two seats in the standard compartment, plus a few on each rack above, where my panniers are. People are stood in the aisle, crammed in, and a man says it'll be around eight o'clock by the time we get to the place I can't pronounce that begins with s r i.

The feeling has gone from my bum after a few hours and it gets dark a little later than before as we're now quite south, with around an extra hour or more of daylight now.

Shrirangaptna
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The guidebook mentions a resort and once off the train I get some directions and start pedaling in the darkness and after 15 minutes manage to find it or one very similar. It's on a busy road, but fortunately close to the junction. They start at 1,200 rupees, but come down to 800. Done.

Today's ride: 8 km (5 miles)
Total: 1,718 km (1,067 miles)

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