Inês Marques Fotografia: abril 2015

On 28^th of December we arrived in New Delhi Airport, excited, curious and without believing that we were on Indian soil.

That adventure was starting and it was real.

Getting out of the airport we had to reach New Delhi's Railway Station to buy the tickets to North East of India, literally the other side of that country and we only had 3 days before the New Year’s Eve.

Already in the Train Station we asked to the security guy where we could find the Tourist Ticket Counter and he told us that we should take a tuk-tuk to go to the Government Tourist Offic. That was the place that we could get what we wanted. Today, i stil remember that face, a very kind man that was helping and welcome us.

He provided us the tuk-tuk and we went to a small office where we clearly could see that was NOT from the government. But it was India right? We didn't knew how the things worked there and we just wanted to meet with our friends in Assam.

They sat us in a small room and given us Chai (the typical drink from India – tea with milk and spices) while we waited for Sasha, the man that was going to help us.

The trains were full, we didn't had space in any train and the man started to be upset and nervous, we noticed that something changed in that room and we didn’t knew what it was.

He started to talk in other possibilities, like "go by flight" but it was very expensive and we didn’t wanted it. «So, we have to wait in Delhi until we have a train to Assam and spend there the New Year’s Eve?»

As we called to our Indian friend to explain the situation and asked what we should do, the man was in and out of the room and no longer wanted to help us. In the phone we heard:

- «That is fake, get out!».

We looked to each other and we thanked the guy for his time but at this point he just doesn’t care. For sure that wasn't a Government Tourist Office! We left and caught the tuk-tuk and the driver asked us:

- «What are you doing in that place? That one is a fake government, they just want to sell you the tickets and they charge more for that! If you want to buy train tickets I take you to the right place.»

We were annoyed with that situation and at the same time shocked. As the tuk-tuk stopped and the driver said that that was the place we immediately noticed that was another fake government house because it had the same letters: I.T.D.E.

We got in without saying nothing to the driver that we knew that was the same place and there they started with the same attitude, rude and aggressive. They just wanted to sell it too hard and take our money but we said that we would come back the next day to see if we already had trains available.

Let’s face it, we have been cheated!

We decided to go immediately back to the Paharganj Train Station and since that moment we decided not to trust anyone, no more!

We started to look for the Foreign Tourist Reservation Counter by ourselves but the train station was SO big and we couldn't see the indication to that Counter. One Indian guide offers to help us and we just accepted it because he was with tourists and he seems truthful. We found it, finally. After one day flying and going crazy from one side to another we were very tired and the last thing that we wanted to hear was that we had a train to Assam.
- «YES, you have a train in the next morning at 06:45 AM.» he said.

We couldn't believe it; we were going to Assam and reach there before New Year’s Eve!

To catch this train we had to go to Anand Vihar Railway Station but before that we wanted to see something in New Delhi and nearby there was a market street. We went there to spend some of the hours that we had left until our train but immediately we gave up and went away. Because we were full of bags, a lot of people came to speak with us trying to sell things, asking if we needed hotel, where we were from and so and so.. Very annoying and this is the last thing that we wanted to finish that long journey.

The train station was full of people, it was about 10:00 PM and the floor was full of people sleeping with big blankets and bags around. We did the same, we had plenty of hours left and we were very tired. The floor was cold, the silence was annoying and the train got late 3 times because of the fog.

At 18:00 PM from the next day (29^th of December) we finally did it. We were already on our way to meet our friends.

This is India..