Copacetic

And, as usual, everything's going to pretty much be OK. Of course, I'm still stuck with two super-long train journeys when one would have been enough. But I have a seat on the train back down to Kolkata tomorrow morning. Which was the main bit of stress. I've also booked a room at a hotel in Varanasi which is supposed to be one of the nicer affordable ones in town, so I should have a pretty soft landing. It's not like I have to traipse through the streets trying to find a place to stay.

In other news, I'm spending the night in the railway station itself, in what's called a "retiring room", which is an extremely basic hotel-type room with a bed and my own bathroom. I'd put it about comparable to staying in a youth hostel - kind of gross, but it does the job.

Indian train stations are basically the opposite of American ones (or American transit points of any stripe). Rather than being a totally shady place where very little is actually available and what is ends up being way overpriced, Indian train stations are actually sort of a respite from the big dark scary world out there. There are good restaurants. A nice place to wait, often with a shower (especially if you are female -- there are special "Ladies' Waiting Rooms" in every station). Bedrooms to sleep in if you have an early train or you get in at like 4AM or something. Stalls selling everything from bottled water to local handicrafts. Usually a bookshop or at least a newsstand with all the big national papers (I've grown partial to the Telegraph, but I'll take the Times of India in a pinch).

Hilariously, people working for the railway and in the stations actually speak better English than most employees of the MTA in New York.