Delhi to Haridwar Train

So we were up early and off to Delhi railway station, it was very likely to be without event as it was just a short distance away! It was dark as all our cases were loaded into the minibus under watchful eye of Likil, we were given our 'breakfast in a bag' and all seemed quiet. The driver skillfully navigated his way through what was light traffic for Delhi, then curiously a Bhangra beat became louder and louder. closer and closer. Suddenly we came across a large crowd with drums and other musical instruments, they were following a what appeared to be a festooned dustbin truck, we were quite surprised to be encountering such a party on a dark morning at 5am! As we traveled along we began to encounter Policemen stationed at road block after road block, then as we took a right turn to avoid yet another roadblock it became obvious what was happening, a crowd of hundreds of silent runners glided by to the left. It was the day of the Delhi Half Marathon!! This has to be held early in the day, before sunrise, to avoid the heat. How wrong could we have been about this journey, it took lots of twists and turns, but eventually with 20 minutes to spare we arrived, the driver and helper got our cases out and onto a wooden cart for the porters to transport to the platform. Thankfully the platform was very close and the train drew up almost immediately. Likil got us into our seats as the porters hurled our cases into the racks above our seats. Phew we'd made it :) What a relief as we sped along on our journey with another breakfast and lots to see through the windows! Hairy hogs and monkeys :)