The Vizag Novotel has prominently displayed posters inviting one to join the throng on their sun deck to enjoy coffee and sunrise at 5.30 a.m. This morning it was pitch black at 5.30 so I hope the coffee was good. Our priority was to get the show on the road. We had a car booked for 6.00 and presented ourselves for checkout a few minutes earlier. The promised packed breakfast was waiting for us and we were assured that the car was on its way. At 6.15 it had still not appeared so D went back in to request a chase up. At this point the receptionist spotted our credit card still in the terminal. How lucky that the car was late!
The car appeared and our driver took no prisoners on his way to the station where train 58501 to Kirandu was waiting at Platform 5. The First Class coach was handily placed and we were seated in the first cabin. The good news was that there were no other occupants so we bagged the window seats. Even better news was that these were on the right hand side of the train as it travelled, the side recommended for the views. The TTE checks our ticket and tells us that the scenic section will be from about 10.00 a.m.
Any fule no that FC is the way to go on Indian Railways. For the uninitiated these old fashioned coaches are a pure delight. Ceiling fans rather than AC, windows that slide up and can be locked open, loads of space and all for only slightly more than a 3AC ticket. Today's 216 km journey is costing just over £6 for the two of us. R has a less charitable view of the cabins in this category, describing them as "cell like".
We depart on time and make steady progress, retracing a few miles of yesterday's route before diverging onto a single line branch across a flat, agricultural landscape. After about an hour the vegetation closes in and the line begins to climb very noticeably. The vendors appear although on this trip they are mainly female and selling fruit. As we climb the train negotiates a series of short tunnels, each provoking screams from other occupants of the train. Looking across to the other side of the valley the track can be seen cut into the mountain side at a higher level. When it comes to scenic billing this trip certainly lives up to the publicity with forested mountains and valleys on an Alpine scale. The climb is relentlessness and at every crossing loop we pass a descending freight train, each triple headed. 
One young lady, accompanied by a rather reluctant friend, came to sit with us to practice her excellent English. She was on a weekend outing from Vizag with her family and the aforementioned friend and that she hoped to go to university when she finished school where she would study to be a doctor. Every time we passed a track maintenance gang we saw that the majority of the labourers were women so there must be a strong incentive for girls to study. The conversation was rather abruptly cut short when the train arrived at Borraguhalu and her family came to tell her it was time to get off. About half of the other occupants of the train disembarked here as well, presumably visiting the local caves. Our friend brought a whole group to wish us bon voyage from the platform.
Eventually the train reached a summit at around 1000 metres and we start to make our way across a plateau with small villages and lots of agriculture. The train is less that half full by now and there is plenty of opportunity to ride at the open doors. Even R has a go at this. All good things come to an end and our train pulls into Koraput Junction at 13.20, around half an hour late. It is absolutely scorching even at this altitude so we lurk in the shade until we identify our driver.
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