Ven. Pomnyun recently introduced the various classes of Indian trains.
In the May 26 episode of SBS’s ‘Pomnyun Road: Monk and Guest,’ Ven. Pomnyun, Noh Hong-chul, Lee Sang-yoon, Lee Joo-bin, and Lee Ki-taek traveled from Kolkata, India, to Bodh Gaya.
Ven. Pomnyun explained the logistics of getting to Bodh Gaya, saying, “Generally, people take the train to get to Bodh Gaya. The second option is a bus, but you have to charter one. It takes 12 hours by bus and 7 hours by train. People mostly use the train, but getting a ticket isn’t easy.”
He then broke down the different train classes, explaining, “There’s the ‘General’ class with hard seats, and there’s the ‘Sleeper’ class where you can lie down. It’s a three-tier system where you sit during the day and lie down at night. The class for the middle class and above is ‘AC,’ which has air conditioning.” He added a humorous warning: “You wouldn’t be able to stand the Sleeper class because it’s so crowded. In India, there’s a saying that if people in hell do bad things, they’re told to take an Indian train. You can’t even pass through; you end up going over the ceiling.”
When Noh Hong-chul showed interest in the train, Lee Sang-yoon asked, “Are you interested?” and Noh Hong-chul replied that he wanted to ride it. However, securing a ticket was a challenge. Ven. Pomnyun noted, “We usually use AC 3rd class. It’s incredibly hard to get a ticket; they sell out months in advance. Foreigners can buy three or four tickets per person. I bought mine,” and encouraged the group to try getting their own tickets.
Noh Hong-chul, Lee Sang-yoon, Lee Joo-bin, and Lee Ki-taek found themselves in a situation where they would take the train if they could get tickets, otherwise, they’d have to take the bus. Ven. Pomnyun also shared why he now opts for AC class, saying, “At first, I traveled in Sleeper class. But as I started building schools, I had to carry money, which was dangerous, so I upgraded to AC 3rd class.”
