Actually, it was pretty fantastic.
Desperately needing to head out of Ahmedabad to explore other places in India, we decided to head north to the desert state of Rajasthan. Unfortunately, on such short notice, there weren't any spots on the train, so we decided to spend about $5US and take the sleeper train there. Of course there isn't a street address from where to catch the bus, but fortunately we had the name of where most of the long-distance busses in Ahmedabad depart from, and got there plenty early -- peanut butter and mango jelly sandwiches in hand -- prepared for a long, hot ride.
We purchased sleeper berths, but I, for one, was totally confused about how that would work on a bus. As it turns out, there are normal coach seats, and then above them -- reached by tiny make-shift ladders -- are person-sized cubbies for lying down in. Mine was maybe six-and-a-half feet long, so just large enough to lie down in, and came with a curtain for at least a little privacy (this came in handy as I attempted the difficult task of taking off pants, and putting on shorts, all while traveling 60 kilometers an hour). Though there was no air conditioning, the windows opened which allowed the breeze to circulate a bit, cooling off my sauna of a nook. There are a couple of bars acting as guards on your berth, so that, unless you roll into a ball, and somersault out, there's little chance of an embarrassing bed-to-floor fall.
We spent some time playing cards, until the light forced us to squint just to make out if a card was red or black, and then switched to charades, which, I'm sure must have entertained plenty of Indians on the bus looking at us crazy Americans. At one point, while trying to act out the phrase "gold digger," my friend was standing in the aisle of the bus, pretending to dig with a shovel for a solid minute, while we threw out guesses as to what he might be portraying.
After a brief stop where we had our choice of an outhouse or an open field (I chose the field), we jumped back on the bus, I drew the curtains on my cubby, put on some music, and stared out the window watching the landscapes pass.
Eventually I removed my white earbuds, and went to sleep. The murmur of the Bollywood movie playing on the bus faded into the monotony of the of the din of our bus forging ahead. The cool desert breeze from the open window enveloped my sleeping pod, as my body shifted slightly in concert with the bumps and turns of the road below.
When I awoke, I looked outside and was greeted with a desert landscape -- sand dunes, camels, and bright blue sky -- and knew we were almost there.
My "nook"
Two men and a kid asked me to take their photo while at a rest stop:
The view as I awoke:
Scenes from the bus:
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