Palace on Wheels; Exploring India Royally

Trip date: October 2024

When two of my friends, who live far away in Australia, and I decided to do a trip to India we were overwhelmed by the options for itineraries. India is quite a large country, about 1/3 of the size of the US, and each state has their own unique cultures. But perhaps the most famous of India's states is Rajasthan; it is here where there is an abundance of historical forts, palaces, and heritage sites. Rajasthan is also home to the Golden Triangle; a tourist hit list of the cities of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. 

In our research we came across The Palace on Wheels, a luxury train that travels throughout Rajasthan over 8 days and provides its guests with tours in each city. The train has been in operation since 1982 and the coaches were originally created for the rulers of Rajasthan. 

We were so excited! Here is a recap of our trip and if traveling like a royal through India sounds like something you want to do there is a special offer from Palace on Wheels at the end of this post!

We all met up in Delhi and were picked up at our hotel and taken to the station for boarding. Immediately, we were treated like royalty. After a ceremony on the platform, we were welcomed on board by our butler Sohan and his assistant, and shown to our rooms where our bags were waiting. My room was beautiful and the bathroom much larger than I had expected!

Once I was settled and unpacked, Sohan offered me a tour around the train. We went past some of the other rooms and into the first dining car, which is absolutely stunning! Pastel shades of blue and intricate mirror work resembling that at the Amber Fort, which we would see the next day, made for a beautiful setting. Red upholstered couches provided space to enjoy drinks before or after dinner from the car's bar. 

We continued on, past the kitchen where teams of chefs were preparing amazing smelling things, to the next dining car which is adorned in gold hues making it feel very regal. At the rear of the car is another bar and more couches, these with tufted seats and throne looking backrests. 

That first evening we were all invited for drinks and appetizers and then were greeted by Bhawani, the Director of Sales and Bhagat Singh Lohagarh, Director of The Palace on Wheels. Each of us were introduced and gifted traditional scarves for women and turbans for the men. 

The train accommodates 104 people but we were just 16! A few days later 16 more, who were on a Nat Geo tour, joined also. I think that because our group was a bit smaller we probably had a bit more personalized service, which was great. 

Each day we had breakfast on the train before disembarking at that day's station. Trays of fresh fruit were passed and then you could order from the breakfast menu; eggs, toast, juice, coffee, etc. It was all very good. One day I was offered an amazing Indian soup with puffy breads. I still have no idea what it was but I loved it so much that the chef offered it on the 2nd to the last day as well.

Sometimes lunch was onboard, other times we ate at places in the towns we were in. It was always included in our tour and always good. Dinners were always onboard and the menu, which changed daily, offered both Western and Indian cuisine. Waiters brought platters of everything on the menu to the table for you to choose, which made it really hard not to overeat! And after the first night we decided that we preferred the Indian food and started asking just for that. Soon the kitchen was sending out thali for us which was great! We drank mainly Indian whisky before dinner or champagne and Indian wines with dinner. I really enjoyed all the food onboard (and all the desserts!!!).

Generally the train traveled during the night to our next destination, and it moved fast! Personally I did find it a bit hard to sleep, as it really rocked from side to side, not everyone felt this way though. Some days we traveled during the day, giving us a chance to just relax and watch the countryside. I absolutely loved this and spent time in my cabin, which had huge windows along one full wall, with my book and the view. 

Our first full day was spent in Jaipur and as we stepped off the train we were greeted with musicians, dancers, and a painted up elephant. We were given a tilak (a dot of red dye placed on the forehead, similar to a bindi) and a garland of marigolds to welcome us. In fact this happened at pretty much every station! 

My friends had booked one of the two "Super Deluxe" cabins on the train which came with a private car and local guide at each destination. And since we were traveling together I was also the lucky recipient of this perk. The others were transported by very nice buses and also had a dedicated local guide and we all met up at group lunches. Whether in a private car or with the group bus, there were always representatives from the train along, and these guides went out of their way all the time to make sure everyone was taken care of!

We were taken to local places for shopping in each city also. This ranged from gemstones, to rugs, to local artwork, etc. Sometimes it was great, sometimes we were tired and just really were ready to get back to the train. At the end of each excursion we were greeted back at the train with cold refreshing towels and a smile. And sometimes a dance party!

Here's a brief layout of our itinerary: 

Day 2: Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, and as its name "The Pink City" hints, most of the buildings are painted pink! It's the largest of the cities (besides Delhi) that we would be visiting. We saw a lot the first day! Highlights included our visit to Albert Hall, Hawa Mahal (a palace with an incredible number of windows for the ladies to look out on the street below), the almost 300 year-old observatory, City Palace, and the incredible Amber Fort.

Day 3: We woke up in Sawai Madhopur, which is home to Ranthambore National Park, where we did a jeep safari and saw a tiger in the wild! Amazing as there are only approximately 88 tigers in the park! We saw lots of other animals on the safari as well, like monkeys, crocodiles, and deer. Our train traveled another 5 hours during the day and we arrived in Chittorgarh in the early evening in order to tour the massive Chittorgarh Fort. The many buildings of the fort were stunning at sunset, and there were more monkeys which were great fun to watch!

Day 4: We woke up in beautiful Udaipur, which sits on multiple man-made lakes. Highlights included a visit to Saheliyon-ki-Bari, lush gardens with gorgeous pools and stunning fountains, that were specifically for the royal women of the nearby palace. Also touring the incredible City Palace, including the Crystal Room, and then a boat ride out to Jagmandir Island for lunch. That evening there was quite the karaoke/dance party onboard the train!

Day 5: Our train traveled for about 16 hours and after breakfast we arrived in Jaisalmer. The Golden City, as it is known, is in the Thar Desert. We spent the morning at Gadsisar Lake and then walked up and toured through Jaisalmer Fort. Our afternoon was spent relaxing onboard before heading out to the desert in the late afternoon for a camel ride on the sand dunes at sunset! The train's kitchen team also came out and served us dinner under the stars while local entertainers sang and danced. It was quite an evening!

Day 6: The city of Jodhpur is known for a few things; it's called the Blue City as many buildings are painted blue, jodhpur pants are an actual style of pant from the city, and the rare breed of horse called Marwari is from here. Highlights of our day included a tour of Jaswant Thada, which is the cremation ground for the royal Rajput family of Marwar and is stunning, a tour of Mehrangarh Fort, standing regally about 400 feet above the city, and the luxurious Umaid Bhawan Palace, which is one of the world's largest private residence as well as a 5-star hotel! 

Day 7: Most of the train rose early in Bharatpur and went on an excursion at a bird sanctuary, but 6am doesn't work for me so I slept in. My friend had a work call she needed to be on so afterwards we met everyone at the Director of The Palace on Wheels palace for breakfast! That was quite a treat and is not always on the itinerary! Then we were back on the train for a bit until we arrived at Agra. We toured Agra Fort before having lunch with everyone at a lovely 5-star hotel. And then we were off to the Taj Mahal! Words can not describe the beauty of this incredible site. We were lucky to be there for sunset as well- icing on the cake! Back onboard for our last night there was more karaoke as well as little gifts handed out by Director Bhagat Singh Lohagarh.

Day 8: We were so sad to leave our Palace on Wheels in Delhi but we weren't quite done just yet. We had arranged for our private ½ day tour to start right when we disembarked (this tour was included in our booking). You'd think we would be "forted-out" but our visit to the Red Fort was excellent and as it was quite early in the morning we were some of the only one's there. We then went on an absolutely awesome rickshaw ride through the Chandni Chowk area, stopping to shop for spices and tea, and whizzing through incredibly narrow lanes. Our last stop was Humayun's Tomb, who was the great-grandfather of Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal. Full circle! 

I still can't believe all the amazing things we saw; India is incredibly beautiful and has a complex and rich history. Everywhere we went felt very safe and people were so friendly! Many times I was approached by young school girls who were very curious about where I was from; it was super cute. 

As we know, India also has areas of extreme poverty and pollution and the class system still exists. With so many people, traffic, smells and sounds, it's a full assault of the senses and it spurred a lot of interesting conversations between my friends and I. India is truly not like anywhere I've been before and I'd love to go back and explore other parts of the country. 

Touring with Palace on Wheels was just wonderful and I would highly recommend them! The staff goes above and beyond to make sure your experience is excellent; they are all so incredibly kind, friendly, and hard working. This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and my friends and I had the best time. 

As this is a luxury train (basically The Orient Express of India) it's not an inexpensive excursion. However until April 2025 the fantastic folks at Palace on Wheels are offering a 25% discount on the tour when you book directly thru them and mention Luggage Tag or my name! 

Email Bhawani for upcoming dates and pricing at palaceonwheels.rtdc@rajasthan.gov.in (and tell him Wendy says hi!).

You can also see some great videos and photos on their Instagram here!

My other post from this trip: First & Last Stop, Delhi, India

What Do You Get When You Cross an Elephant With a Rhino?

Elephino!!

(For some of our non-native-English-speaking friends: that's actually a really funny joke. Trust me.)

After far too long of a drive, changing a flat tire, and trading in our car for a new one at the Nelspruit airport, we finally got to the Grand Kruger Lodge, which despite its name is actually located just outside Kruger National Park in the privately-owned Marloth Park. It was dark by the time we arrived, so we really didn't see much. We made the decision to get up pretty early the next morning and hit Kruger itself (entering via the nearby Crocodile Gate) for a few hours, and then planned to come back for lunch and a planning session for how to best spend the next couple of days.

What we had not really conceptualized well was the fact that Kruger is not a zoo. It's not just a simple in-and-out. Within a kilometer of entering the park, we'd already had to inch our way past a giraffe (the handsome fellow pictured at the end of our previous post), had seen some distant, napping lions, and encountered a small herd of zebra complete with recently-born colt. Then we were off on one of the many dirt tracks until we got to a "blind" -- similar to a hunter's blind, except this was for viewing, not shooting. While there, we had a perfect view of a little soap opera playing itself out in a shallow river, as a pod of hippos argued among themselves, while others tried to edge their way past two elephants that were playing affectionately with each other. Turns out hippos and elephants don't really get along, and the elephants are the alpha herbivores in that relationship.

Before we knew it, it was already past noon, and we were barely inside the park. We stopped for lunch at one of the internal lodges, then hit the bushveld again for the rest of the day. By the time we returned to our lodge in the evening, it was dark again; the staff was actually a little worried about us because we'd told them we were only going out for a little while!

A chronological listing of everything we did and saw in the park would be a little tedious, so I'll just say a few things about some of what we observed.

It seems like all the animals had just had babies. We saw extremely young elephants, giraffes, hippos, monkeys, eland, and just about everything else.

The elephants in particular were very protective of their young -- we had one very large mom move herself in front of her calf and stare us down until we moved. Since the elephant outweighed our little Nissan by several tons, we were more than happy to move along!

At our lodge we even had tiny 2-day-old baby warthog living under our porch, along with its protective and very homely mom. We saw a couple of confrontations with a larger and more-fierce warthog when one of the two felt it's territory or youngsters were threatened. The first time we had the two adults start snorting and charging each other, right past our railing, it took us totally by surprise; I've never seen Wendy move so fast!

We were slightly disappointed that we never saw any leopards (the only one of the "Big Five" -- Elephant, White Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard -- that we didn't see), but apparently they're so elusive and so rare that very few people ever catch site of them. Maybe next time.

Did I mention that it was hot? We had at least one day where it reached 40°C (104°F), and most of the other days were only slightly cooler. Christmas Day itself was in the mid-90's, a welcome change from our home in Seattle (or Forest's in Paris), but at the same time we were definitely not very fresh at the end of each day.

We went on a night drive on Christmas Eve. Unlike the self-drives that we did during the day, only park rangers can conduct the night excursions, for the safety of both humans and animals. Although we didn't have anywhere near the quantity and variety of sightings that we'd had during the day, we did get to see am immensely huge herd of mixed herbivores, all visible with glowing eyes from the spotlights that we used, and we drove right next to an adult male lion for a while. He mostly ignored us, and was definitely on the skinny side [though I would not have wanted that cat to decide he wanted to come through the open windows of the Jeep...]. Our guide told us that many of the lions in the park are afflicted with tuberculosis, which they contracted from eating buffalo. The buffalo, in turn, got it from mingling with domestic livestock across the park boundaries. Although it's unfortunate that Kruger and other parks need to be fenced in, that's just one more reason why it's necessary.
Our full set of Kruger photos can be seen here.

One of these days we'll maybe get back to visit the north end of Kruger, to see "the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees", as Rudyard Kipling described it, or come into the same area through bordering countries now that the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park allows access via Mozambique and Zimbabwe as well as South Africa. However, we really had a fantastic time, and I don't think we could have asked for much more from the experience!