Almost Missed It

At our first major stop (pics below) on our train trip, Erin and I almost missed the train. We stopped and they told us the train would leave in 45 minutes. We left maybe ten minutes before the train was to depart. But we got turned around. We alternated leading and walking briskly down various streets but nothing was looking familiar. Erin finally asked a policeman who was also walking briskly beside us. He spoke little English as we pumped him urgently for directions. He was pointing opposite from the direction we were heading. We had 8 minutes. Turn around, run (95 F, 85% humidity). Grab cab and jump in. We explain to can driver "train! Train!" six minutes! He understood what we were saying and groaned at the impossibility of it. But he took off. Made a few turns, raced across intersections and got hung up in walking traffic. We tossed him a large bill and jumped out of the cab, running to the station. Station Master blowing whistle, sees us and motions hurry. We make it, near death, but on the train with just about one minute to spare.