I woke up in the First Class Waiting Room dormitory and made my way down to the station to make my reservation back to Delhi. One of the great features of the Indrail pass back then (it may be the case now too) was that possession of the Pass meant that there was no need to make a reservation in advance. The Pass guaranteed a seat on any train. There were always a handful of seats kept ready for holders who might turn up on the day. So it was no problem getting a ticket.
I was feeling a little better than I had been on the bus coming down from Srinagar. Obviously being on my way back to Delhi nobody was interested in hijacking me. I had my backpack and a large wicker basket full of stuff. It was very much warmer down in Jammu and one other item I didn't need was the pullover I had borrowed from Bashir. I got talking to some guy at the station and he seemed to be familiar with Srinagar and I asked him if he knew Bashir. He said he did so I asked him if he would return the pullover to him. A lot later on I got a postcard from Bashir asking for the pullover. It just goes to show you can't trust anyone! I suppose what goes around comes around. It's karma. That's what I think. I was still feeling a little bit ripped off.
I boarded the Super Fast train and as it trundled back to Delhi I wrote my series of postcards home read, dozed and relaxed. My notes say that I had lunch, chai and dinner on the train and the food was excellent. First of all I should say that "Super Fast" may have been something of a misnomer. When you think of super fast trains today you might think about the TGV in France or the Bullet Train in Japan both of which achieve speeds of over 125mph. I doubt the super fast train I was on went faster that 40mph. Second, the system for ordering food was terrific. The orders were taken shortly after you boarded, probably (but I can't remember) before the train pulled off. The order was communicated to another station up the line where it was prepared and when the train pulled into that station the meal was loaded on and served. The dishes were collected later and they were taken off the train at its next stop.
I don't recall what time I arrived in Delhi but it was in the evening. I had plenty to carry and a "coolie" stepped in to help. The note says "rip off coolie". I think he demanded something silly for helping me get my backpack and basket of goodies onto a rickshaw. His justification was that he was a "First Class coolie".
I booked back into the Metropolis Tourist Home and this time booked a room of my own.
