It was quite an experience, taking the sleeper train to Varanasi. There are quite a few classes on these long distance trains- the non-reserved class (seating and standing only), the reserved seats, sleeper class (non airconditioned), A/C 3 (like sleeper but with A/C, 3 tiered bunks) and A/C 2 (2 tiered bunks). I guess on posher trains there's first class as well, but not on the one I took. In sleeper, there are 6 bunks facing each other, a little corridor along the side, and 2 or 3 tiered beds along the side of the corridor, parallel to the trains length. I was along the side, on top:
And this is Baba Kumar, a 62 year old retired civil servant who was leaving Kolkata for Varanasi after visiting his son's family there. I'd swapped berths with him as he had been allocated the one on top which can be a little hard to get up on if you're over the age of 28. Bless him, he even offered to sort me out on a motorcycle in Varanasi as his other son works at Yamaha motorcycles there.
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