A foreign traveller’s candid account of a packed and sweaty train ride through Kerala has taken the internet by storm. The woman, who goes by the username
@amina_finds on Instagram, shared a video on October 25 documenting her uncomfortable yet amusing journey from Kochi to Varkala with two of her friends. In the now-viral clip, the trio can be seen squeezed inside a crowded train compartment, right next to the toilet — surrounded by the smell, humidity, and chaos of the journey. Describing her experience, she wrote, "We couldn’t get a seat on the Kochi to Varkala train, so we ended up all squished in… right next to the toilets. The train had come all the way from Delhi, packed to the brim with people and bags, and the smell of sweat hit us the second we got on. It was so hot, so crowded, and so humid that the whole carriage just reeked. The toilet was leaking, the sink was spurting out suspicious water, and there was no air. Just pure, sticky chaos." Despite the discomfort, the traveller managed to find humour in the situation. She added, "After a while, we kind of made friends with everyone around us. People made jokes about the heat, and somehow it turned into this weird little survival bonding moment. I’m still on this train writing this, luckily it’s a bit more spacious (kind of??) but I’m still counting down the stops until Varkala." She concluded her post with a tongue-in-cheek tip for future travellers: "Travel tip: if you’re coming to India — book your train early!!! Unless you want the full ‘sweaty chaos next to the toilet’ experience. The trains here are awesome and I didn’t have this experience in 2023 when I came — it wasn’t busy at all! But I guess because it’s a Saturday, that’s why."
The video has since gone viral across social media platforms and was even reshared multiple times on X, where it quickly began trending. One user, identified as @Ilyas_SK_31, reposted the video, prompting an unexpected response from the official Indian Railways handle @RailwaySewa, which wrote, "We request you to please share your problem in detail with your travel details, train number/event date and mobile number optionally with us."
Meanwhile, the viral post has sparked divided opinions online. While many expressed concern about the condition of Indian trains and overcrowding, others criticized the traveller for “always showing the bad side of India.”
