Aboard the Mandvi Express

I digress. Let's get back to Mandvi Express (which, incidentally, is pulled by a diesel locomotive that belongs to Krishnarajapuram shed, near Bangalore).

After leaving Diva Junction, the landscape also changes considerably. From here onwards, until Goa, Nature rules.

The railway line is just a thin line of resistance against the monsoon-powered greenery.

Just a month before I set out, a landslide had knocked a train, the Netravati Express, off the tracks. In that sense, it is an impossible terrain.

Soon after Panvel, you enter the first tunnel, the Bhise Tunnel.

You can hear the collective screams of the all the excited children in the coach as you enter it. Soon, you realise there's a tunnel every 10 minutes!

And if it isn't the tunnels, it's the bridges -- don't even think of counting the number of tunnels and bridges that will span your journey.

Just relax, have a stiff swig. It is illegal, but it will make your journey even more interesting.