Thursday 29th - Pt 2 A Dinner Date

Our train rattles northwards along the Kerala coast at a speed more like a Shatabdi than a humble Express. D clocks the speed at over 100 kph using the km markers on the trackside. There are notices on the end of our coach saying Maximum Speed 110 kph so we are pretty close. We stop at a few major stations and there are a few more travellers in AC but the coach is nowhere near full. It looks as though we could be getting into Mangalore Central early! These hopes are dashed as we come to a stand and wait for 20 minutes outside the city. Eventually we pull in more or less on schedule. The train halts here for two hours.

We load up our luggage and head for the exit where we are due to meet P, an IndiaMiker and food connoisseur who lives in Mangalore. She will be our guide tonight as we try for some good food in our short window of opportunity. P has persuaded her dad to act as chauffeur* which is a big plus as the city's autos are on strike.

* Note from D - this seems familiar somehow.

Navigating the roads in Mangalore city centre seems like a bit of a nightmare with lots of double backs and U turns but we get to P's recommended venue The Ocean Pearl. This is a rather splendid spot with a wide ranging menu and properly trained staff who clearly take a pride in doing things well. Guided by P we have Kingfish, Mutton Biryani, Ghee Roast Chicken and Spinach with Mushrooms and Corn. It is a feast! We learn quite a bit about food and some local general knowledge as we chat but we are up against the clock. All too soon it is time to head back to the station to get our train onward to Mysore. P's dad is a total star. He collects us and weaves his way through the obstacle course to Mangalore Central. We had a great meal and a lovely evening.  Thank you P. 

Our train is being announced as we enter the station so we walk along the platform, cross the footbridge and do two lengths of the other platform without finding our coach. Starting to worry we ask a chap who looks like a TTE and he tells us to go back to the far end of the platform where we see that more coaches are being added to the train. Our short train has been coupled onto one from Karwar, much further north, and the combined train will go on to Mysore and eventually Bangalore. Coach AB1 is now quite full but our berths are free and we settle in. We leave promptly at 20.55 and shortly people start to get their berths ready for sleeping.  We follow suit.