we have spent two and a half weeks here in India we elected just to do the golden triangle
we also found that the best way to do that is by catching the train so we thought since we're doing
the golden triangle three different routes why don't we try three different classes and see how
they stack up against each other we did struggle a little bit with the national Indian railways
website some payment issues happened so we ended up just booking through 12go Asia for pretty much
all of them which is great because they gave us tips about scammers and what sort of scams to
avoid and also pretty detailed instructions to get to the train and how to board and everything like
that so the first trip we did was Delhi to Agra and that was executive AC seating class i think
it's called from the nizamuddin train station all the way into Agra cantt on the Gatimann express it
was called when we arrived at the station it was pretty busy so there were mobs of people that were
obviously getting off their train getting on a new train as soon as we pushed through those crowds we
ended up being by ourselves almost on the platform we did get there super early especially for that
first one just because we weren't sure on how everything worked to be completely honest and it
gives us a bit of anxiety like imagine stuffing something up I would say maybe get there 15-20
minutes early like aim to be there early because they are prompt so when the train finally pulled
up we found our carriage because it was listed perfectly and our seats were listed perfectly as
well first thing we noticed when we got on there was the difference it was almost like a barrier
of air conditioning it was incredible when you first walk on there so the ac seating class is
i think it's three by two and then all above the seats is the bag space where you can put your bags
and all your luggage the chairs are really really comfortable you could recline on the chairs we
also had little reading lights and charging ports the service was comparable to an airline like we
got drinks as soon as we got on there like cold waters people had food delivered we didn't want to
have any just because we weren't too sure about it we still get a bit nervous about Delhi belly yeah
then they went through with like tea and coffee and then went through and picked it all up it's
literally exactly like a flight except newspapers as well they give you yeah they gave out
newspapers too which was a nice little touch we really really liked it AC seating class yeah would
highly recommend highly recommend we got into the train station at Agra it was like any other train
station here in India pretty packed lots of people wanting to give you rides and we just walked a
little bit out of the station and were able to order an uber and then after a few days we made
our way back to Agra Cantt for our second class sleeper experience yeah this one was a little
bit different than our first one we did expect a bit of an upgrade because we're going from
seating class to sleeper class we ran into a few dramas you just log in you put in your PNR and it
tells you what seats you're meant to be in we've done that this time but they're not confirmed
and it's not really telling us what we think it should be telling us that definitely should have
been a red flag but we ignored it when the train pulled up we got on it was a bit of a shemozil
we got there a day early we left Agra a day early yeah so we booked the right train we just
booked it for the next day but ticket inspector eventually came around and said what are you
doing here they said look you're on you're on the wrong day uh you have to book today so it was a
little fine it wasn't too much and then we had to rebook the same tickets that we originally booked
at the 12Go Asia price so there's a very expensive mistake luckily we had the cash on us and then
we're on the trade do not make our mistake it is now double the price all this to say though that
self-induced stress added to our experience so when we say that like second class was like ah
take that all into account but uh we got on so second class is a four bed cabin and it's a cabin
but it's a curtain yeah just as the train's going slides open so like it's not a cabin it's just the
entire carriage is a cabin i will say we were by ourselves in our cabin we were by ourselves
and when we got in it was dirty sheets on all four beds as expected because we weren't supposed to be
on that train but someone did come around with a brown paper bag that had your own bedding and and
sheets in there if we wanted to to make up the bed and actually go to sleep and we converted
the bottom bunk to a seat so we could just both sit together there wasn't any food didn't get any
waters you did have someone going up and down the aisles selling people chai tea but that was it for
any food i don't know whether it was just our leg that we were on or if that's normal but again the
cabin had space for bags outlets clean sheets that came around a pillow each reading light it had the
things you need we just weren't there under the best circumstances we weren't worried about them
we were worried about being on the train legally yeah so after that whole Schomozel we made sure
to triple check our dates for our first class training because that left Jaipur station at
4:10 in the morning so we organized a transfer to the train station which i'm so glad we did
because we got there beautifully timed nice and comfortable Jaipur station was still quite busy
even though it was three in the morning yeah it really was people everywhere people sleeping
waiting for their trains because we were in first class we did get access to this little
first and second class lounge area it was pretty much an air-conditioned room one thing that i
think was at all of the stations you can log in and put in your PNR and it tells you what
carriage number you're going to be on and then along the station it actually has that number so
you know where to stand and when the train stops your carriage is right in front of you it makes it
so easy to know where you've got to go and know where you're gonna hop on so we went down there
but then when the train pulled up we went straight into our carriage and into our first class cabin
this one's an actual cabin because there's a door we had two cabin mates so on the trains we believe
you can have a Cabin of four and you can get a cabin of two it's just quite rare we had a cabin
at four but it was fine like everyone was quiet getting in at four in the morning obviously is a
challenge because there was people that were just fast asleep you could tell it was just slept in my
bedding did have a wet mark on it but i didn't intend to use it anyway so i just push it under
the bed and we didn't actually get any bedding replaced we don't know if it's request based or
anything but on second class they they were just giving out the spare sheets so we did expect that
we would get the spare sheets too but we weren't going to use them so i probably would have i was
freezing up there in the cabins if you're on the top bunk it is freezing because you've got the
aircon blasting which is lovely but it's blasting on you like literally my nails were blue by the
time we hopped off i was that cold i was okay bottom bunk's fine difference between second
class and first class your cabin is slightly more spacious and it has a proper door which
makes it feel a lot more secure helps a lot with the sound too so in first class it is like second
class you have four beds you've got all the same amenities too so there's a table to work on you've
got a power point bedding obviously hopefully it's clean reading light again and a nice big window do
you think the mattress was better the mattress mattress was thicker yes i inspected it yeah we
probably had the best experience in the executive sitting class it was just so comfortable and easy
and we got food and water and i would put that at number one if it was overnight i would spring for
first class like it is quite a good difference between first and second plus just the security
of having the door means you'd actually probably be able to sleep a little bit and like you said
it's a bit quieter as well that's our little wrap-up of the trains it definitely is like an
easy way to get around India and we say obviously 12go Asia puts their little extra charge on but
it's still not crazy expensive trains are great in India um and that's the three that we took
so this one's a squatty potty
i want to get out of here before it starts moving you