Upper bunk on overnight train to Agra

Upper bunk on overnight train to Agra
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

India has the largest rail network in the world (and happens to be the largest employer in the world with over a million employees). Oddly enough, the trains are not in the best condition. I slept in the 2nd class sleeper bunk which didn't come with bedding unlike in Vietnam or China. Theft is such a problem that you are encouraged to chain your belongings to bars or cables and there are armed guards that patrol the cars through the night (with huge automatic rifles). No one tells you when your stop has arrived, so you have to guess. In both Vietnam and China, someone came to wake you up before your stop.
Interestingly, it was on the train that I realized (having some GI distress after that bad meal) that I actually preferred a squatter toilet over a sit toilet because you don't have to strain your quad muscles hovering. I think I came to this conclusion unconsciously at the Yak Hotel in Lhasa when the Tibetans were crapping all over the toilets.