Train terror

We all know that life is all about expectations, so I have NO expectations that Indian rails should be running on time. I still had a rough one last night. I arrived at the trainstation around 945pm (a little later than planned since my rickshaw driver just had to stop at this little hole-in-the-wall store that took passport photos and get one taken of the two of us together...), and first waited for the 2220 departure, then the 2235 update, then the 2320 update, then the 2345 update and then eventually boarded at midnight. By then all I could think about was the idea of me being horizontal and hopefully get a few hours of sleep in. However, Mother India had other ideas for me. "My" birch was taken by this guy who was well and truly settled, so I didn't have much choice than hang out and wait for the conductor to arrive, which he did and gave me another seat that I initailly preferred, so that was ok. I made my bed and settled myself in -- only to realise, as soon as the lights went out, that my little "sleeping area" had two little lights, irregularly flashing terribly brightly in yellow and green respectively... right over my head. This, naturally, led to me not being able to sleep (I have NEVER had any difficulties sleeping through something like this before, but the lights were driving me bonkers). My first idea was to flip around, cause it looked darker the other end. This is no easy task at 1am, in a small little compartment, with a (all of a sudden massive) backpack, bedding, blanket, another bag, waterbottle and a bag of bananas to negotiate on the way. Nonetheless, 5 or so minutes (but who's counting) later I was horizontal again... only to notice the flashing light as much as before. But, as we say in Sweden, "Noden ar uppfinningarnas moder", so I started going through what I had in my backpack that was easily accessible and could cover the lights... nothing sprung to mind. However, two minutes later I had tied two socks together and over my eyes (at this point I was pretty much laughing loudly at myself) and 5mins later I was sound asleep. It was great to arrive into Udaipur this morning and I actually managed to sleep most of the 3hr, very bumpy, ride to my final destination... but more of that later. Today's picture is another impressive installment from Jaipur, the world's biggest sundial that can tell the time with an accuracy of 2 secs and supposedly predicts what the upcoming monsoon will be like every May/June. And me in my rickshaw. Actually, the photos will have to come later, the connection is too slow :-).