Rarely but mostly that is also because of choice. One reason is that I hate traveling by train. Indian railways are all about the smell and stink of the trains, unless you want to pay through your nose and upgrade to first class. I hate traveling by train and avoid it unless there is no other option but to travel. I have only traveled for work 3 times in my life. The first time was back in 2001 when me & other guy from our marketing company were sent to Kanoor to meet the client and undergo a day long training under them. It was 7 hours of sitting in a train to the city, reaching in time for a 2 hour rest at the hotel (also owned by the client), an early morning hot shower and a large breakfast. Then the 4 hour training followed by their generously large portions of almost everything on their menu for our huge lunch followed by a 2 hour nap! More training in the evening after which me & the other guy walked around the nearby city area for 3 hours followed by a nice big dinner. Then 7 hours sitting in a tightly packed train general compartment, not willing to even get up to take a leak as you will lose your seat.
The other two times I have traveled for work are already well documented in my blog, a 2 day trip to Trichy in Tamil Nadu and a 3 day workshop in Bangalore. Both times I had a lot of fun and the trip to Bangalore was by bus which, although the buses were crappy with seats that had long passed their sell by date, were still comfortable. Luckily for me I never had any issues during those trips and had good, fun stories to share when I came back.
Other than that I haven’t really traveled much except to Calicut, to where I moved briefly for work back in 2002 till early 2003. I later went for a 3 day visit back in 2005 for a wedding, reception and then visiting with friends from that brief stint of living in that city. We had a nice day, which was also a harthal day, but we managed to get a couple of bottles of vodka, some eggs ala omelets, egg burgi & egg curry, some beef roast and plenty of bread & porottas. We had a drinking session that started at 2pm and ended at 9 pm. I was so satisfied and full and drunk silly. Needless to say I slept for 12 hours after that!
I don’t like to travel either.
I prefer to drive or fly, although the Aussie rail network is pretty good too. I would love to travel around the US in a Winnebago. It is one of my dreams!
Yeah Selma I think I’d like Australian trains. The best kind of trains I’ve seen are the ones that they advertise in Canada – from BC to Alberta I think. They go via a scenic route (I forgot the name of that railways) with viewing lounges and comfortable compartments. I’d love to do that kinda of traveling.