Night Mail to Ernakulam

Around five years ago when I was working with an online auction company I had an opportunity to visit Ernakulam. No one else in the company wanted to visit Ernakulam on official duty so I was sent. I was asked to accompany one of my colleagues to Coimbatore to learn the nuances of auctioning and then proceed to Ernakulam and conduct the auction myself.
Since I had been to Coimbatore many times it was easy to choose which train to book. However traveling from Coimbatore to Enakaulam was new to me. Using the Railway time table I booked myself in a night mail. The train originated from Tiruchi and was touching Ernakulam.
After learning how to conduct online auctions at Coimbatore I prepared to travel to Ernakulam. On checking the ticket I concluded that the train was leaving Coimbatore at 1.45 in the night. I settled down in my room and spent my time watching TV.
At around 10.30 I decided to have my dinner. As an afterthought I decided to check the ticket and found that the train was leaving Ernakulam at 1.45 PM. After a lot of thinking I found that it was not a night mail but a day mail. The train had already left Coimbatore and would have probably reached Ernalkulam.
Totally flustered I rushed down to the hotel reception and extended my stay by a few hours. I decided that the best way to reach Ernakulam was to travel by bus.
At around 3.30 AM I checked out of my hotel and proceeded to the bus stand. There I was told to go to another bus stand for outstation travel. After going to the new bus stand I started searching for a bus to Ernakulam.
Seeing my predicament a kindly bus conductor volunteered to help me. He suggested that since all the buses to Ernakulam had already left it was better to travel to Palghat and then chance my luck there. Fortunately he was the bus conductor for the bus to Palghat.
The trip to Palghat at around 5 AM was simply heavenly. It was simply beautiful the hills on both sides of the road and the scenery was lush green. Truly I was in God’s own country. At the end of the journey the bus conductor pointed to me where I would get the bus to Ernakulam.
There was no bus to Ernakulam but a bus to Trichur was there. I got into the bus and preparing to travel to Trichur. To my surprise the conductor advised me that a direct bus to Ernakulam had just arrived. He also helped me locate the bus. The journey to Ernalkulam was also breathtaking.
During the journey the person in the seat next to me advised as to where to stay in Ernakulam. As we got down at Ernakulam he flasgged down an auto and indicated to the driver the hotel to which he should take me. The hotel was vegetarian and moderate. The hotel booking clerk suggested me a suitable room for me to stay which was well within my budget.
I will always remember the journey not only for the missed mail but also for the breathtaking scenery. The dessert was the voluntary help I got from the bus conductors and the kindly neighbor to ensure that I had a comfortable journey and had a comfortable hotel to stay.
In addition to God’s own country the residents were heavenly people. Ready to help strangers. No wonder Kerala is the tourist paradise of India.