After our stop at Boda Gaya we boarded an afternoon train to Varanasi; the journey was long, around 6 hours but train travel in India is more than a little interesting. The first challenge is to get to the right platform, just because the tickets say the train will depart from platform 1 at 3 o'clock, doesn't necessarily mean it will do; our guide Yadu got us all on to the platform with our bags and was constantly checking to make sure we were in the right place. The next challenge is to get on the train, our train was on time, but we only had 5 mins to get to the right carriage, throw the cases on and find our seats; it is at this stage you regret packing all that "just in case stuff" as your case feels heavier with every move; I, of course, am one of the lucky ones with a husband to lift my case for me, a lot of our companions were lone ladies, but not at all feint hearted and took it all in their stride and threw cases around as if they had been training as a station porter all their lives.

Once on the train the next challenge was to get your seat yes seats have been reserved, but that doesn't mean to say that an entire family had decided to sit there. We only had one problem where one gentlemen, quietly tapping in to his phone trying his best to ignore us was in the wrong seat, I think we were so noisy he was pretty glad to move.

It is quite interesting how non Asians are still a bit of a novelty, travelling on the trains we were stared at often, not rudely, more as a curiosity. Those who did speak English would often engage in conversation, "where are you from, where are you going, what do you do.........." then the best bit "try some food". Generous lovely people.

The other highlight of train travel is of course the loos..........to be honest some, not all, are really not that bad, most have western style as well as Asian style on board; to my horror on one journey the Asian toilet was a lot cleaner then the western one!!

A note to the ladies - there is a reason that the Asian ladies wear Saris or trousers with elasticated ankles, do not wear tight trousers unless you want to disrobe entirely just to go for a pee!! Another good reason for loose fitting clothes is that mosquitos find them more challenging.

We arrived at our hotel in Varanasi 2 hrs late, not because of the train, an accident close to a river-bridge caused our coach to make a city-wide tour;- we were all tired and hungry and couldn't wait to get into our hotel.