We finally arrived at the Durban train station around 4:30 PM, or about 30 minutes behind the quoted arrival time — not that it was a big deal or anything, since that meant we just spent more time on the train. Once there, our bags were delivered out to the pick-up area in front of the train depot where the cars, taxis, and other vehicles could come by. Most of the Rovos Rail staff who had journeyed with us came out to the parking lot and waited with the passengers until they had all left. Sure enough, we were the last ones to be picked up as our taxi didn’t arrive for almost 30 minutes. The pick up had been arranged for us by one of the staff members on the train who had called the hostel we wanted to stay at and also arranged a taxi pick. We said our good-bye’s to the staff members and then left the train station. We would go from a five star accommodation to a two star backpacker lodge in a matter of 60 minutes — nice transition, I must say. I’ll give my overall thoughts about Rovos Rail in my wrap up blog post to South Africa after our trip ends, along with other opinions and observations.

Durban is South Africa’s third biggest city. It has a population of around 3.5 million and is the largest city on the eastern coast of the entire African continent. Furthermore, Durban has the largest concentration of South Asians (India, Pakistan, etc.) anywhere in South Africa and was recommended in the guide book as being a center of Indian culture. Considering that we come from the San Francisco Bay Area which already has a huge Indian/Pakistani population, we were interested in comparing how the Durban South Asian community would stack up to our own.

We were dropped off at the Hippo Hide Backpackers in the Berea neighborhood. This area was higher up in the hills of Durban and was also deemed to be a safer area than down in the city center or around the beaches. Of course, the downside to this is that it is also further away from most of the action and so it can be a quieter and more boring locale. That, of course, turned out to be true once we were told by the manager that the nearest restaurant area was about a 15 minute walk down the hill towards the city center. By this time, the rain was coming down pretty good, but since we were pretty hungry, a quick walk was something we really needed after three days of extravagant living on the train. So, off we went and did find a pretty good sandwich and pizza dive to sink our teeth into. We did find a few people while wandering around. They were South Asian Muslims and one of them owned the restaurant that we were about to eat at. He told us that Durban did have a big Muslim and Hindu population and that has been the case for well over a century. He gave us some more tips about the city and where to go. Finally, he gave us his phone number in case we needed anything during our time here, which was nice of him. His wife, whom we also met, had an art gallery near the beach and she gave us her business card in case we were interested in stopping by.

After dinner, we walked back to the backpackers lodge, and checked in for the night. Each room at this place cost R270 for two people, which was still cheaper than what we paid at Pretoria Backpackers before the Rovos Rail trip.

Tomorrow, we’ll head out into Durban and see what the city has to offer.