Highlights of the Palace on Wheels

The Maharani Experience

As a child, I had traveled more outside of India than I had within India. I moved away from India before seeing many of the famous sights. Along the way, I made friends who expressed interest in visiting India.

I wanted to see India too. In 2012, I organized a trip with ten other ladies. Many were expat women I had met while living in Singapore. I invited my advisor from graduate school too. Most of the women were American, with one British and one South African ranging in ages from 35–65.

The Palace on Wheels

Four ancient forts, four more palaces, a tiger reserve, a bird sanctuary, throw in an elephant ride up a fort, and a camel ride in the Thar desert into the mix and this summarizes just some of the places we visited and the things we did in our 7-day trip to Rajasthan — all thanks to a well put-together itinerary and royal treatment by Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism Board’s joint venture — The Palace on Wheels (POW).

The POW starts in New Delhi, India’s capital city, taking us first to Rajasthan. There is no better way to see the Land of the Maharajas (kings) than traveling 2600 kilometers by rail. The cities covered on this trip are Jaipur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, and Jodhpur with pit-stops at Sawai Madhopur for the Rathambore Tiger Reserve and at the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.

The train ends its journey in New Delhi before a stop in Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, thereby completing the Golden Triangle of India (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra) and then some.

The Highlights

Disclaimer: This was an 8-day journey on a luxury train — a five-star experience. I understand that this may not be affordable to many travelers wanting to see India. I recognize the place of privilege to be able to make this trip. As a kid, I remember learning about it on the travel channel, never once thinking I would experience it one day. Here are some of the trip’s highlights.

Food

If putting on 3 pounds in eight days tells you anything, it would be that I pigged out. Seven lunches and seven dinners on board the train and in five-star locations were more than anybody can be prepared for. A 10+ course meal starting with soup and ending with dessert, including enough choices for Western and Indian palates, for guests who are vegetarian or not.

I looked at each meal as if I had never seen Indian food before! One night of Indian Chinese on the menu was enough to make me a happy customer. As a foodie, when I say the food is good you’ll just have to take my word for it.

What goes in needs to come out. This brings me to the next highlight — the trains and toilets.

Train Journey

Earlier on in my childhood, I traveled only by Non-AC (air-conditioned) II Class on trains during the hot summer months. It was only towards the end of my high-school years that I started to travel by AC-II Class. If you don’t know anything about Indian Railways, you need to know there are different comfort levels based on affordability.

I’ve never traveled in first-class on regular trains so I can’t speak to the conditions, but the common denominator in the trains I’ve traveled on is the horrendous conditions of the toilets. Darren Weir gave me a flashback with his story about his 17-hour train ride.

Sorry, I digress, but that brings me to the toilets on POW. Showering and using ultra-clean toilets on an Indian train was a dream come true for me! It was definitely the exception and a stark reminder that cleanliness and sanitary conditions are reachable goals.

Loco-motion

While my friends had great trouble falling asleep while the train was in motion due to its unique rhythmic rocking, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and slept like a baby. In fact, on the last day when the train arrived in Delhi at midnight, I woke up because it was at a standstill.

If you are looking for Eurorail coaches or Japanese Shinkansen speeds, then POW is not for you. It is a train running on broad-gauge built to give passengers a taste of the bygone era of the Maharajas.

Tours

Once the train reaches a station, guests were welcomed in Indian-style with music, garlands, and kumkum (vermillion) on the forehead — a ritual I entertained on Day 1 but escaped from every other time. Air-conditioned buses were organized to take the passengers to the places of sightseeing. The POW group is given preferential entry/exit in all the places of interest. A one-off lunch or dinner off the board was a buffet of some really good food. Another five-star experience!

The History

One subject I hated in school was history. Thinking back, I believe it had more to do with the way the content was delivered than my actual disinterest in the subject.

India has such a rich history and it was great to relearn some events of the past to serve as a backdrop to many of the forts and palaces. The forts are managed and maintained by their respective royal families who have built trust funds to preserve their histories. I am not so sure the scene would be the same if these places were handed over to the Indian government.

Tigers Up-Close

Day 3 started with an early morning open-jeep ride through the Rathambore Tiger Reserve. Eleven noisy women with a driver, a guide, and a tour escort entered the reserve unarmed — not even a tranquilizer gun.

We rode in the jeep for almost an hour spotting a few monkeys, deer, and birds along the way, but no tiger in sight. Just when we were heading back on the path we first entered, we spotted a tiger about 200 meters away. Wow, we thought!

The tiger decided to turn around and walk towards the jeep. Everybody who moved to the side of the jeep to see the tiger through the bushes found themselves slowly crawling to the back of the jeep. At what point is the driver going to start the jeep and get the heck out of here? — I wondered. The tiger came as close as 6–8 feet from the jeep and just sat down for a good 10 minutes. Unreal! We saw a tiger in its natural habitat at such close quarters.

The tiger’s ears were moving to the flash and shutter sounds from 12 SLR cameras. There he sat, T28 who was a 4-year-old male tiger. There were 32 tigers and 16 cubs in the reserve, and each tiger was numbered T1, T2, T3, etc. The tour escort said that what our group experienced was a truly rare and unique occurrence.

Party Train

Bring 11 women together and POW was up for a culture shock. The train had a bar and lounge area on each train car or bogie. Laughing, talking till late at night, and creating a ruckus were on the agenda every day. We introduced St. Patrick’s Day to folks on POW. By the end of it all, we fondly remember it as the Crazy Train!

A(nother) Trip of a Lifetime

I highly recommend POW for those who want a luxury experience to visit India. It is ideal for solo travelers or couples who can cough up the cost of the trip.

The entire experience is from the vantage point of a small faction of the country’s population that is rich and elite. The tour does shield you from seeing much of the poverty that is prevalent, but if you look closely you will be able to get a glimpse of it.

If you want to backpack through India, then POW is not for you. Of course, there is a list of lowlights as well that warrant a separate post (see below). Until then, hope you enjoy the write-up and the pictures.

Are you intrigued enough to want to travel on the Palace on Wheels?I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments section.