T-72 on display
With Ashish (Nepal) in front of a T-72
With Rohit at the train station
Lunch at the Officers' Mess
After the firepower demo, we moved on to the Officers' Mess. Little did I know that this meal had a little something extra in it to spice up my IDT experience. After another few hours of meetings, we boarded the buses to head back to the train. As I sat on the bus, I noticed that I wasn't feeling so well. I got back onto the train and laid down on my bunk to see if I would feel any better. I didn't. As the rest of the officers got ready to go see a movie, I decided to just keep laying there and hope to sleep it off. After about two hours, I woke up with a start realizing that it was time for whatever was in my stomach to go. Fortunately, I managed to make it to the bathroom before everything I ate for lunch violently exited my body. On the plus side, I felt about a million times better after my spectacular boot.
I made my way back to my berth and was prepared to sleep as long as I could. One of the bearers in my carriage (basically a local hired to assist officers with menial jobs) noticed that I was sick and decided that he had to take care of me. First he insisted that I have some tea as that would assuredly make me feel better. I told him thanks, but I just need to sleep. Thirty minutes later he woke me up again, insisting that I drink some tea. I said OK, just to get him to let me sleep. Thirty minutes later he woke me up to give me tea. I figured, well at least now he'll leave me alone. Thirty minutes later he woke me up to insist that I needed to put warmer clothing on. Surely it was the cold that had made me sick (even though it was about 70 degrees outside). I wasn't sure how to respond, but within seconds he was going through my clothes and trying to force me to put on jackets and socks. Since he was basically forcing the socks onto me feet, I humored him and put the socks on. At least then he'd let me get some sleep. Thirty minutes later he woke me up to tell me that I needed to talk to the train doctor. I really had no interest because I knew that I had food poisoning and now just needed to sleep. He wouldn't leave me alone though, so I got up and walked with him to the train doctor. I explained to the doctor that I just needed to sleep. The doctor was ready to push some medication on me, but I said I was fine. I just needed to sleep. I wobbled back to my berth and went back to sleep. Thirty minutes later the bearer woke me up again with some other doctor who wanted to diagnose me. This doctor seemed to think I had a fever, even though I told him I didn't. A thermometer soon cleared that up, but the doctor insist I take some medicine from him. He gave me a bunch of pills, though none of them seemed to be marked in packaging so that I could tell what was what. Thirty minutes later, all of the other officers returned from the movie and the train was soon full of noisy Indians enjoying another evening on the train. I finally got to sleep about two hours later...
After the fun of Ahmednagar, it was time to move on to Deolali and the School of Artillery. Our arrival was greeted by an Army band playing at the train station. For some reason, the Indian Army loves their bagpipers...
The first stop was the Army airfield, where got some hands-on time with Indian Army helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
I made my way back to my berth and was prepared to sleep as long as I could. One of the bearers in my carriage (basically a local hired to assist officers with menial jobs) noticed that I was sick and decided that he had to take care of me. First he insisted that I have some tea as that would assuredly make me feel better. I told him thanks, but I just need to sleep. Thirty minutes later he woke me up again, insisting that I drink some tea. I said OK, just to get him to let me sleep. Thirty minutes later he woke me up to give me tea. I figured, well at least now he'll leave me alone. Thirty minutes later he woke me up to insist that I needed to put warmer clothing on. Surely it was the cold that had made me sick (even though it was about 70 degrees outside). I wasn't sure how to respond, but within seconds he was going through my clothes and trying to force me to put on jackets and socks. Since he was basically forcing the socks onto me feet, I humored him and put the socks on. At least then he'd let me get some sleep. Thirty minutes later he woke me up to tell me that I needed to talk to the train doctor. I really had no interest because I knew that I had food poisoning and now just needed to sleep. He wouldn't leave me alone though, so I got up and walked with him to the train doctor. I explained to the doctor that I just needed to sleep. The doctor was ready to push some medication on me, but I said I was fine. I just needed to sleep. I wobbled back to my berth and went back to sleep. Thirty minutes later the bearer woke me up again with some other doctor who wanted to diagnose me. This doctor seemed to think I had a fever, even though I told him I didn't. A thermometer soon cleared that up, but the doctor insist I take some medicine from him. He gave me a bunch of pills, though none of them seemed to be marked in packaging so that I could tell what was what. Thirty minutes later, all of the other officers returned from the movie and the train was soon full of noisy Indians enjoying another evening on the train. I finally got to sleep about two hours later...
After the fun of Ahmednagar, it was time to move on to Deolali and the School of Artillery. Our arrival was greeted by an Army band playing at the train station. For some reason, the Indian Army loves their bagpipers...
Searcher UAV
With Mohammed (Egypt) and Dung (Vietnam) on a Cheetah
With my sponsor student Gangs in front of a Mi-8
Artillery crews at work
Mortar crew
Observation helicopter
With my sponsor student Gangs in front of a Mi-8
We then had an artillery demonstration where we watched various Indian artillery crews fire downrange onto area targets.
Artillery crews at work
Mortar crew
Observation helicopter
Me and Tim (UK, far right) with a gun crew
Tim, Jeff, me, Mohammed and Ali (Oman) with an Indian rocket vehicle
Overall, our time in Ahmednagar and Deolali was well spent (minus the food poisoning) watching some impressive demonstartions of Indian firepower. Our next stop would be in Pune, where we looked forward to two nights off the train staying in a hotel...
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