Worse Than I Expected

Well, we made it to Hubli. I can say with absolute certainty that third class train travel is a bad idea in India. I wasn't expecting it to be pleasant. But I thought there might but some limit to how many tickets they would sell in third class. There isn't. Nor are refunds available if you can't get on. The only limit to the number of people on a third class coach is the available space. So, on a coach designed for 80 people, people will stop getting on when there are about 170 passengers.
We thought we were being smart by hetting on the train as soon as it stopped and fighting for two of the few individual seats. The train is laid out by compartments, with each one having two benches designed for four and two individual seats. The benches will be seating at least seven by the third stop, so individual seats seemed like a good idea. Of course the individual seats will be seating two by the third stop. It turns out that the best seats are up in the luggage racks. There's not much headroom, but at least you can move around a little bit. If I ever have to endure another third class ride in India, I'll fight for a luggage rack space.

Today, we will get a taxi to Mundgod, where we will stay for four days. It's another refugee camp, but this one requires special permission. It's not clear yet whether I will have it, but there are rumors that, for the next two weeks, it won't be needed. The reason is to make it easier for foreigners to hear the Dalai Lama's speeches. He actually gave the first one today, but we would have needed to get up by 5 AM to get there in time. After that train ride, I wasn't in the mood for getting up early. But there is a speech tomorrow, and there will apparently be a radio broadcast with a simultaneous English translation. It should be interesting. Actually, I don't feel so bad about missing the first speech. There's a Tibetan monk sitting at the computer next to me. I guess he missed it, too.