One of the facilities offered by Indian Railways is the Retiring Room. We have not tried these on previous trips but this year have booked one for later in the itinerary as our train arrives at around 4.15 a.m. Today's arrival at Mysore is amost as bad at 5.15 but for some reason the Retiring Rooms at Mysore have been privatised and are not available on the IRCTC system. We manage not to sleep in and miss our stop but these dark hours disembarkations at non terminus stations are quite fraught affairs. R says that she did not sleep well on the train and D, wishing to avoid a grumpy R, offers to go to see if we can spot book a room.
The retiring rooms are at the far end of the platform. The door is open and the man asleep behind the counter stirs as D enters. "Do you have a room available for two people?" There is and he is happy to show the room. We go upstairs and along an airy balcony, stopping outside Room 101. He opens the door on a a room dominated by a large circular bed but also containing a three piece suite and a large flat screen TV. The price is pretty steep at Rs 1200 but it is worth it just for the photos. The normal price for a double is Rs 250. The inevitable paperwork is completed and D goes to collect R and the luggage, grabbing a couple of chais en route.
R is not quite as enchanted by the room but welcomes the chance to get some shuteye in a bed that does not sway. We collapse into bed just as the Indian night sound repertoire kicks off. Howling dogs, honking cars, train hooters and loudest of all what sounds like the destruction testing of a multi cylinder diesel engine right outside our door. Sleep does not thrive in such conditions and after a couple of hours of fitful dozing D decides it is time to get up. There is hot water but no towels so a body wash and flannel dry will have to suffice for now.
Eventually R gives in to the inevitable and gets up to discover that there is no longer any hot water. D goes in search of chai but is intercepted by the reception man and his favoured rickshaw man who have our time in Mysore planned out until the last second. Another lacky is despatched to fetch chai while these two pile on the hard sell. D is shameless. "My wife is unwell. When she is ready we will take an auto to our hotel. No tourism today". After chai D takes a stroll around the station. The good news is that there has been a shift change and Mr Pushy has gone home.
We decide to make a break for it but the rickshaw henchman is lying in wait. "Your hotel is 5km. I take you for 80 rupees" doesn't sound too bad but it turns out to be significantly closer. At the end of the trip he plays the no change card and then suggests that we pay him tomorrow after he has taken us on a tour of the city. Sorry mate. Your patter is rotten and you just blew it.
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