A French tourist is warning fellow foreign travellers against undertaking long-distance train trips in India unless they are well-prepared or willing to splurge.
In a 43-minute video, YouTuber Victor Blaho says a 46-hour train journey across Mumbai, Varanasi, Agra and New Delhi under a tight budget “broke me”.
Blaho says he took a 25-hour train journey from Mumbai on the west coast to Varanasi in the north, a 15-hour ride from there to Agra, and a further trip to the national capital Delhi.
In an Instagram post reflecting on his experience, Blaho recounts moments of “despair and borderline insanity”.
“If you’ve got the budget, book the highest class possible. Next time I’m back, it’s Maharaja’s Express or nothing,” he advises fellow travellers.
In his video, Blaho narrates the many challenges he faced while travelling in various train classes, from general to sleeper to AC second class. At one point, he’s seen buying food in an AC compartment and asking the vendor to return his change. The seller walks away.
“The train left, and my guy left with the change. I got scammed! Great!” he says, disclosing that he paid Rs 200 for food that cost Rs150. “I was not expecting to get scammed on the train.”
He also highlights the lack of hygiene and overcrowding in the lower classes. “One thing I can say is, it is very, very dirty. And it smells,” he says, covering his mouth in discomfort.
In sleeper class, he recounts how two women took over his seat when he briefly went to the washroom, where the flush had no water.
Sharing footage of filthy conditions inside the train, Blaho shows food waste strewn on the floor, a rat scurrying through the coach, and a cockroach crawling near his seat. “You gotta be f***ing joking, man,” he exclaims.
The video features Blaho’s interaction with a fellow passenger who invites him to a video call with his girlfriend and later reveals he has “one in Mumbai and one in Delhi”.
Although India’s extensive train network is often praised for affordability and reach, it is routinely criticised for a lack of cleanliness and poor timekeeping.
Blaho’s video has reignited conversations around cleanliness, class disparity and travel experiences faced by foreigners on budget trips in India.
The video has garnered thousands of views and mixed reactions, with some praising Blaho’s honesty and others defending the railway network.
“You should also make a video on the bus station in Paris Bercy Seine, show its waiting room and the poorest condition of its washroom,” a social media user wrote to Blaho. “You should also compare underground metros of Paris with that of India’s. I am sure you wouldn’t want to go back. Every country has something good and things which need improvement.”
“A sleeper class train journey in India isn’t for the faint of heart. You, sir, are French,” another user commented under Blaho’s YouTube video.
