A Barb's Life

Passage To India - Palace On Wheels

On Wednesday, December 1 we went to the train station in Delhi to board the Palace On Wheels train for our Week In Wonderland tour of Rajasthan. Our boarding time was scheduled for 4:30 PM. The only problem: the train was not there. The train that was there was the Red Ribbon Express, a special train that had just completed a one-year tour of India to educate people about Aids. A special ceremony was planned for 4:00 (which on "Indian Standard Time" was somewhat closer to 5:00) with dignitaries, speeches and awards. Around 6:30, the ceremony over and the Red Ribbon Express gone, the Palace on Wheels finally pulled into the station. There was supposed to be a welcoming ceremony for us but by now it was dark and everything was confused so we just got on the train. We found out later Mike would have received a turban with a long tail. As it turned out, it wouldn't be the first thing he would miss out on.

Our cabin was similar to a cruise ship cabin although smaller. We had two twin beds, a night table, a tiny closet, a locking cupboard, a couple of shelves and our own bathroom (western style) with shower. The decor was elegant with wood paneled walls, a hand painted ceiling design and tiled bathroom. The door to the room could only be locked when we were inside. There was no outside lock so it was left unlocked while we were out (we never had a problem with theft here or at any time on the trip).

Our car, the Dholpur Saloon, had four cabins but only three were occupied for this trip. We had two dedicated stewards, Nandu (left) and Jai (right) for the six of us. In fact, there were only thirty-seven passengers on our tour (the train can accomodate over 100 people). Our saloon mates were two women from San Franscisco and a couple from Rhode Island, the husband having been born and raised in Kolcutta, India.

Every morning Jai made us a cooked-to-order breakfast in the small lounge area in our car. His omlets were delicious. Americans were by far the largest group traveling with us. We also had passengers from Canada, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hong Kong, South Africa and Oman. Five of the passengers were of Indian nationality but it's been a long time since any of them lived in India. The only passenger who actually lives in India was a Canadian. Coincidently he lives in Nasik, the city where we attended the wedding.

There was a lounge/bar car where we gathered in the evenings and while the train was in transit. There were two dining cars. Since we were a small group we could all eat in one car. They alternated us between the Maharaja dining room and the Maharini dining room. They also had a Spa car where you could get massages, hair cuts, manicures, etc.

After unpacking (our luggage went under the beds) we headed off to dinner. Each night for dinner they had a menu with 3 entrees of Indian food and 3 entrees of another type of food (seafood one night, Chinese another, Italian another and so on). There was also soup, appetizers, side dishes and dessert. You did not order though, they brought all the food around on serving dishes and you could have some of everything. The food was very good and I rarely had something I did not like. The Indians traveling with us said it was lightly seasoned (for the westerners I guess) but they could add seasoning and also custom order food. They seemed pleased with the food, too. It was a lot of food though!
When we arrived in the station we boarded an air-conditioned coach bus (also wood paneled). A local tour guide boarded the bus to tell us about the city we were visiting. We also had a tour manager and an assistant travel with us. The German couple did not speak much English so they had a separate car and tour guide. We were well taken care of!
So off we go on our Week In Wonderland!

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Thursday in Jaipur
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Jaipur is called the pink city because of the terra-cotta color of the stone used to build a lot of the buildings. Jaipur is the captial and largest city in Rajashtan. It was one of my favorite stops on the tour mostly because of the Amber Fort. We rode elephants up to the fort and took jeeps back down. The fort has several beautifully decorated palaces, awesome architecture and great views from the top. We ate lunch in one of the palaces. We made a few stops before arriving at the fort.

First stop was a Hindu temple. The leftmost tower is Indian/Hindu architecture, the middle is Islamic and the small dome on the right is Buddhist.
(Hindus are very inclusive.)

This is the Palace of the Winds. It is actually a facade added onto an apartment building to allow devout Muslim women to look out on the street without being seen. It is an iconic image of Jaipur.

At street level are a lot of shops and street vendors. We saw our first snake charmers here. Mike wanted a photo with them but we did not have time. Turns out he never got another chance.

Jantar Mantar Observatory

Next we went to the City Palace. This complex is still partially occupied by the present day Maharaja (we saw him drive by in his car). Part is residence but the rest has a museum, craft center and an observatory. The observatory was built in the 1700's by a Maharaja who was very interested in and good at astronomy. It contains the world's largest sundial as well as devices to tell time and track the positions of the stars and planets. There are also observation devices associated with the signs of the Zodiac. They said it tells the time to within 2 seconds of accuracy but you have to be an astromoner to read it. Here are more views of the City Palace complex:

Then we rode the elephants up to the Amber Fort. You walked up a flight of stairs in a tower and the elephant (with driver) lined up against the wall.

You turned around and sat down on a seat attached to the top of the elephant.

The ride was slow and you swayed back and forth a lot but it gave you time to enjoy the view. When we got to the fort, they dropped us at a second story platform and we walked up to the palace where we ate lunch.

Here are views of the splendors of the palaces and gardens in the Amber Fort in Jaipur:

Mike making friends

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Friday Morning In Sawai Madhopur
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This was the first of two days where the train made two stops on the same day.

We began the day in Sawai Madhopur, a small town that is home to the largest Bengal Tiger preserve in the world, Ranthambore National Park. We had to be up and out by 6:30 A.M. and it was a tad chilly. Good thing we read the fine print and brought jackets, gloves and ear muffs. They loaded us onto topless lorries and off we went for a very bumby ride. The sun was just beginning to rise but there was still fog in the low areas of the park.

Of course we all came to see tigers. The guide pointed out tiger prints in the road and we followed them but we never did see a tiger. But there were lots of birds and other wildlife to see.

Long Tail Monkeys

The park used to be a hunting ground of the maharaja and their guests. This was one of the the hunting lodges. What a great location for spotting game!

Leopard or Rock?

On our way into the park the guides pointed out the outline of what they said was a leopard on the crest of a hill. It looked like it could be a leopard stalking some prey so we all took pictures. Funny thing, it was still there when we left the park more than an hour later.

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Friday Evening in Chittorgarh

From the park we returned to the train and ate lunch while we traveled to Chittorgarh which has the largest fort in India (and India has a lot of forts). We traveled to this fort just as the sun was beginning to set and stayed until dark to see the Sound and Light show.

There is a very sad story connected with this fort. The ruler in the 12th and 13th century, Rawal Ratan Singh, was married to a very beautiful woman, Rani Padmini. His enemy, Allah-ud-din the Sultanate of Delhi, heard of the woman's beauty and attacked the fort in an effort to capture her but the battle became a stalemate.

Finally the two men came to an agreement: if Singh would let Allah-ud-din see his wife, Allah-ud-din would give up and return to Delhi.

Since it would be a great sin to let another man see her without her veil, Singh came up with a plan. His wife stood on the steps of the lake palace (left) and removed her veil. Allah-ud-din was in the opposite palace watching her in a mirror. After seeing her, he did withdraw while making a careful study of the defenses of the fort. By now he was obsessed with Padmini and before long returned with a larger force and again attacked the fort. Within the fort they realized that it was a losing battle. Padmini and the other women in the fort, in fear of being dishonored by the enemy, committed Jauhar (divine suicide) by jumping into a fire with their children. The men, now with nothing to lose, fought to the death. Upon entering the fort Allah-ud-din found only ashes.

The monkeys were very active at this fort. This monkey seemed to be posing for us although s/he was probably just hoping we would feed it. Anyway it was a great photo op for the people on our train tour.

I snapped this photo of a monkey patrolling the fort at sunset.

The Sound and Light show capped our visit to the Chittorgarh Fort. This was a similar show to the one we saw at Fort Golconda in Hyderabad. It told the history of the fort through an audio program enhanced by dramatic lighting of parts of the fort to make the story come alive.

Saturday In Udaipur

On Friday night after dinner Mike started having intestinal pain. He spent most of the night leaning over the bed because the pain was too intense when he laid down. In the morning when we arrived in Udaipur our stewards brought a doctor on board who gave Mike medicine for constipation. He stayed in (wanting to be close to a bathroom) while I went out touring with the group. It was a shame because Udaipur was by far the prettiest city we visited.

Udaipur is called the Venice of India because it is built around, and in, several lakes. It was a gathering place for the ruling families of Rajashtan who built great palaces and gardens here. The current descendents of the royalty have created a corporation, HRH, that has converted many of the palaces into hotels, restaurants, shops and museums.

First we visited Sahelion ki Bari, the garden of the maidens. It was only for the princess and her attendants. The garden has many water features including a fountain that is activated by clapping your hands (that may not be an original feature) and a number of marble elephants who spray water from their trunks.

The garden is fed by lake water which is forced through pipes to create the necessary pressure.

Our next stop was the City Palace, an immense complex owned by HRH. It included a large museum and some very nice shops. There is a hotel as well. The current Maharaja and his family live in the complex. The title of Maharaja is no longer official. The British never took over Rajasthan but they made a deal with the rulers there to allow them to act as governers and keep a portion of the taxes collected. In return the Maharajas looked out for the people as their families had done before them. Indira Ghandi ended that arrangement when she was prime minister so the Maharajas no longer have any official role. Their influence now is based on their historical role and the goodwill of the people.

Views of the City Palace

We ate lunch in this room which is now part of the hotel. The portraits on the walls surrounding the dinning area are of the Maharajas who lived and ruled there. The upstairs has a gallery of household items used in the palaces over the years including crystal furniture (furniture covered with mirrors).

The City Palace is on Lake Pichola. The shores of the lake are lined with palaces. There are two palaces in the lake:

On the left is a photo of Jag Niwas, the Lake Palace. This is now a Taj hotel and one of the top hotels in the world.

On the right is a photo of Jag Mandir which is famous for it's gardens and the eight marble elephants guarding the entrance. We took a boat tour of the lake and had tea in this restaurant.

View of the City Palace from Jag Mandir

Sunday in Jaisalmer

Mike was still dealing with his intestinal issues so he stayed on the train again (day 2 of his illness).
Pronounced jazz-el-meer, this city is an outpost of the Thar Desert, India's largest desert and the nineth largest in the world.

The city is only about @40 miles from the border with Pakistan. Historically it made its money from trade along the Silk Road and from mining. In the 1990's the city's remote location had little going for it. Then tensions with Pakistan exploded so India rushed to beef up its border defenses, improving roads and services in the region. This gave the city a big boost. Now it has a tourist's delight of new hotels, updated facilities, relatively untouched historic sites and access to the desert.

Jaisalmer is called the Golden City for the rich color of the yellow sandstone used in the buildings. Jaisalmer Fort was unusual for us because it was the first living fort we saw. People still live and work in the fort just as their forebearers did. A lot of the work is related to making and selling items to the tourists but that is not far from its roots on the trade routes.

The fort is also home to many havelis, the homes of well-to-do merchants. Some of the havelis are still inhabited by the families but others have been turned into stores and museums.

The carving on the facades is so intricate that it is hard to remember that it is stone not wood. The yellow sandstone is softer when it is first quarried and then hardens with exposure to the sun. The descendents of these craftsmen still ply this trade to maintain the fort and are in demand throughout the world.

After a return to the train so we could freshen up and change into our desert clothes we headed out of town to the Thar Desert, about a 40 minute ride. There we mounted camels and went out to the dunes to watch the setting sun.

Evidently this was the thing to do because there were hundreds of people doing the same thing.

Yes I actually rode a camel

View from a camel

We had an option of riding in a camel-pulled cart but when I saw that they had little kids leading the camels I thought it couldn't be that bad. It was a lot like riding a horse but there was only a small knob on the saddle to hang on to. I was hanging on for dear life but I did venture to take a few photos. It took about 25 minutes to get to the dunes. Then they gave us tea. I tried walking on the dunes but fell down. Once you fall it is extremly hard to get up because the sand just shifts under your feet. Some of my fellow passengers helped me up or I would still be there.

Sunset over the Thar Desert, Jaisalmer, India

December 5, 2010

That evening they took us to a hotel in the desert for dinner accompanied by music. The musicians were accompained by two dancing girls with an unusal look to them. We speculated all evening about the gender of the dancing "girls". The tour manager later confirmed that they were actually boys as it would be considered unseemly for young women to perform in such a way. They did get us out dancing.

Monday in Jodhpur
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This morning Mike felt well enough to go touring with us. We went to a cenotaph first and then to Mehrangarh Fort. The fort was a lot of walking and stairs. He opted to go back to the train so he could save himself for the Taj Mahal which is on tomorrow's agenda (day 3 of his illness).

Jodhpur is the second largest city in Rajastan (after Jaipur). It's called the Blue City because a lot of the homes are painted blue. We westerners know Jodhpur for the unique pants invented there (wide in the thighs, narrow in the calves). The raj (rulers) of Jodhpur were very good at polo and led several teams to world championships. One Sultan was killed during a polo match in the year 1210.

The Jaswant Thada is a marble cenotaph (memorial or monument) constructed in the 19th century to honor Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, a ruler revered for bringing irrigation to the area.

Since then several other cenotaphs have been added for other members of the ruling family. They told us they also use the buildings to perform cremations but the people are not buried there.

Mehrangarh Fort is on a hill overlooking the city. It was built of sandstone in the 15th century. This is also a living fort having a thriving population living inside the fort.

This is a palanquin (what we might call a sedan chair) used to manually carry the Maharaja and Maharina. They also have versions (though a lot less elaborate) that can be hired to carry tourists up steep steps.

This man was sitting outside the museum using a hookah (presumably with tobacco).

Rooms inside the palaces. The room on the right was used by the Maharaja to relax with his concubines (no wives allowed).

Umaid Bhavan Palace

We ate lunch at a hotel that overlooked a valley where they are building new homes. The developer is a company owned by the Maharaja. Back in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, Maharaja Umaid Singh hired over three thousand people to build a new palace and the family has been in the building business ever since. It now includes a hotel and museum.

Friday Morning in Bharatpur

This morning we had to be up and out at 6 AM to go to Keoladel Ghana National Park, an important bird sanctuary and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of group opted not to go on the tour (only 15 went of the 37 on board) but in my opinion it was well worth the trip.

This time we rode the bus to the park and then went in pairs on a bicycle rickshaw (a much smoother ride). Our driver was also our tour guide and very knowledgable about the birds and the park. I was lucky to share my ride with Glynn (from South Africa) who is an avid birder. This was the coldest morning of the entire trip (we could see our breath). It was very foggy in the park and quiet but for the bird calls.

The sanctuary has seven species of resident storks and more migratory species. The stork in the photo on the right is a Painted Stork. They also have cormorants, kingfishers, egrets and herons in abundance. In all there are at least 375 species of birds found in the park.

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Friday Afternoon in Agra
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After a short train ride we arrived in Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal and the last city on our train tour. They had to save the best for last so we made a number of stops before we went to the Taj. They made arrangements for Mike to meet the tour group at the Taj so he wouldn't be tired out (day 4 of his illness).

Our first stop was Agra Fort. This huge fort is made out of red sandstone and marble. The gates were once covered by tile but only remnants of the tile are left now.

The photo on left is the oldest palace in the fort, Jahangiri Mahal, built in the 1500's. The fort was used until the 20th century and has additions made by the British.

Here are views of the other palaces in the fort:

It was in this fort that Shan Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, was imprisoned by his son after the son killed his brothers and took power. For the last years of his life Shah Jahan could only look across the river to the tomb of his beloved wife (its there in the mist).

From the fort we went to a hotel for lunch and then to a factory that made marble tables inlaid with precious stones including rubies, sapphires and malachite. This is the craft for which Agra is famous and we were to see fine examples of this craft used in the Taj Mahal. They were very expensive and heavy.

At last we arrived at the Taj Mahal complex where Mike was waiting for us. The complex includes three other tombs made from red sandstone and marble. One was the original tomb for Shah Jahan's wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth of their 14th child.

It took 30,000 workers and 14 years to build the Taj Mahal so they needed some place to lay her while the construction was on going. His other two wives did not want to use her old tomb so they each got their own. This is the entrance gate to the complex where you get your first view of the Taj Mahal.

It is every bit as beautiful as the photos one has seen of it. It was surreal to be standing in front of it. Was I really there? Here are the photos to prove it. There is only one room inside (at least only one open to the public).

The tombs there are cenotaphs (empty); the real tombs are in a private room below. The tombs, the screen around them and the walls are all marble inlaid with precious stones. Shah Jahan was also buried in the Taj Mahal after his death. He had plans to build a black marble tomb for himself but his son would not allow it (too bad).