Agra to Varanasi - slow Train and fast Autorickshaw

We went to the train station at 8 p.m. on the 29th to catch the 9 p.m. train, which was late and didn't leave until 1:00 a.m. on the 30th. I slept on the train until about 7 a.m. when the others woke. We were in the same room as three Indian girls and a Canadian lady. The three Indian girls were very friendly and hospitable, sharing tea and food with us. They were on their way to attend a law school in Lucknow, India. One of the girls said the train was always late and predicted that the train would be delayed more on route and would probably arrive in Varanasi about 4 p.m.

I started a conversation with the lady from Canada, Susan, and we ended up talking for hours. She was facinating to talk with, which helped, since the train took 23-hours to arrive in Varanasi instead of 12, finally pulling into the station at 7 p.m. in the evening.

The train station at Varanasi seemed like a war zone with incredible amounts of noise, traffic, people, intense smog and touts hounding us for business. We checked a hotel and didn't like it, so we took an autorickshaw to another hotel. The traffic was incredibly snarled, so the kama kazi driver took us on a route through very narrow alleys between buildings that are supposed to be off limits to these vehicles. The ride was a like a chase scene from a Bond movie. The ten inch wheels of the autorickshaw bounding over half foot high bricks and rocks and bashing into potholes.