An Unpleasant Experience

The 26-hour train ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg ended up being 29 hours...and the Shosholoza Meyl's slogan "A pleasant experience" wasn't such a valid statement for me. First off, I never left my compartment because I was unable to lock it from the outside, so when I went to the restroom, I took my purse with me and locked my other two bags shut and together with about five different chain and pad locks. So there was no way I was going to venture out to see the rest of train for fear of someone rummaging through my things. Thank goodness I had my own car. Also, the train attendant would come by every few hours taking orders for food or drink and the first time he came by I told him I had no cash, so wouldn't be able to buy anything. I guess he forgot that so continued to knock on my compartment door every time he took orders, and thus I had to repeat my situation every time...it was frustrating.

Far more unpleasant was the temperature at night. It was by far the coldest night I have ever experienced. At the start of the ride, I chose not to rent the bedding, because I had two sarongs and thought they would keep me plenty warm...plus as I said earlier, I had no cash so couldn't have bought it if I wanted to. I was able to fall asleep initially but woke up every hour shivering and unable to stay asleep. The first time I woke up I added extra layers, but even with all of my clothes, my toes and fingers were numb and it took until noon to get feeling back. I was wondering how everyone else felt that night, and maybe thought that even after extensive searching of my compartment, I missed some heater switch that would have warmed up my space.

As much as I am stating the negatives of the train ride, including the difficulty in orchestrating my cab pick-up due to my uncertainty of arrival time, there were some positives. The views that I was able to see were really magnificent and I love the fact that I was able to cover so much ground and go through so many towns. It was definitely a neat way to travel and I would do it again....only I would prefer a nicer train, one complete with heat and outside compartment locks.