Border Towns, Crooks and Transport

A 9 hour bus journey took us to the border with India, which we crossed in rickshaw without any problem. A little bit on the tired side and guards down we were then sitting ducks. After buying our bus ticket for the onward leg we then took up the offer of booking tickets the night train to Varanasi from Gorakpur. Looking back, we probably ended up paying 4 times more than needed but we only twigged after the money had changed hands and from that point there was no going back even though it then took someone 15 minutes to arrive with the printed e-ticket. We were then followed onto the bus by a nasty piece of work who demanded an extra extortionate government and baggage fee and became very aggressive when we refused, continually pushing me and jabbing at my arm. Quite how he would have carried out any of the threats, including keeping our luggage, I don't know but with the driver and a bus full of locals looking on passively it was easier to pay what amounted to around 10 quid than risk any escalation. The bus journey was then spent fuming at both the thieving robbing bastards but also at myself for getting drawn in to what was an eminently avoidable situation. Still, it was our first incident to date and you have to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth, especially when any monetary loss is fairly insignificant (though a little goes a very long way). It also did little to lessen my general hatred of border towns. Arriving at Gorakpur station we thankfully found out that our ticket was valid (otherwise would have added insult to injury) and after a tasty local thali we proceeded to wait for 3 hours on the platform, insects swarming around every light making it anything but pleasant. The train, 2nd class sleeper, was surprisingly pleasant allowing a much needed sleep after traveling for 18 hour though it was delayed by an hour before leaving and then arrived the following morning 4 hours late in what should have been a 7 hour journey. We had however arrived in Varanasi.