Day 7 – Agra and the Taj Mahal

Posted on October 17, 2014 by herktrav

Agra, India

Our final day on-board the RROW takes us to one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World – the Taj Mahal. But first, we will see the Red Fort and have a nice lunch.

We load up the bus and start our day at the Agra Fort. The fort was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1565 and contains numerous palaces and a white marble mosque. It was a quite impressive structure.

In his later years, Shah Jahan was “imprisoned” here by one of his sons who took over the rule from his father. As the one responsible for the building of the Taj Mahal, it was sad that Shah Jahan could see the Taj from the fort, but not visit his masterpiece.

Upon leaving the fort, we went for a final lunch at a luxury hotel. Our last greeting with flower leis.

After lunch we headed to the Taj Mahal. It was exciting knowing that we would be seeing it in person. We would catch glimpses of it as we traveled nearer. We had to park down the road a bit as they try to keep the exhaust and noise away from the building. We didn’t have to walk though as the RROW provided us with electric vehicles to take us to the gates.

Entering through security, there are many items that you can not take into the area. Apparently, people have tried to chip off pieces of the marble and extract some of the gem stones. Then, the really dumb ones have tried to scratch or carve their names into the marble. Personally, I think they should have stupid detectors instead of metal detectors.

Once through security, you walk down past some guest houses to get to the main square. We were entering through the western gate, which is the main gate. As soon as you get close you can see the Taj through the opening and after passing through – there it is in all its glory.

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Words can not describe it and pictures do not do it justice. It is such a beautiful building. There is a feeling that comes over you that is hard to describe, but it is a very good feeling. Our guide reminds us that this is a building built by love.

The structure was ordered built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. It took some 20,000 laborers 22 years to build the Taj, and every detail is beautiful: the gardens, the reflecting pool, the elaborate patterns of semi-precious stones decorating the white marble, the carvings.

But despite all that, there is a simplistic beauty that is striking.

The Taj Mahal is so important that more than 200 factories in the area have been shut down to prevent air pollution from discoloring the marble. To walk on and through the building you must remove your shoes or wear shoe booties to prevent extra wear on the floor and steps.

Our feeling was that it was at its most beautiful when gazed at from a distance. In that way you get the full magical effect.

The RROW arranged for a photographer to be available to take individual pictures and also a group shot. The pictures were taken sitting on the Princess Diana bench, which was the bench from which she had her photo taken when she visited.

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It was a fitting finale to what has been a great week aboard the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels.

Headed back to the train for our final dinner and to say our goodbyes. We’ll be leaving a little earlier then some others so we wanted to make sure to catch up with everyone.

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Day 6 – Varanasi and the Ganges River

Posted on October 16, 2014 by herktrav

Varanasi, India

Today we will be visiting Varanasi, the oldest living city in India, if not the world, and the holiest city for the Hindu religion. Located on the Ganges River, it is a pilgrimage site for the Hindu faithful. Cleansing one’s self in the waters is to cleanse the spirit of sins and negativity. Being cremated and having your ashes scattered in the river ensures passage to Heaven.

I started the morning with a bit of a belly ache. Not full blown Delhi belly, but rather an upset tummy from last night’s Chinese food. Unfortunately, they still use a lot of MSG here and we think that was the culprit. The good news is, with dry toast and ginger ale, I recovered quick enough to be able to go on the tour. Unfortunately, we have five or six people on-board who are down with stomach issues and can’t go out today.

Our first stop is a short distance from Varanasi in the city of Sarnath. It is here that Gautana Buddha is said to have first taught about the dharma after attaining enlightenment. There is a Buddhist Stupa and temple located in the area where Buddha first preached and lived.. They are located in the same area as one that was previously destroyed by a Mughal ruler who believed that great treasure was hidden inside – there was no treasure.

Also located in Sarnath is an 80ft tall statue of a standing Buddha. It is the result of a joint Thai-Indo effort that it was created. It was built between 1997 and 2011 and is located in the middle of a beautiful garden setting. It is interesting to note that there are no actual pictures or paintings of Buddha.  All the statues, carvings and T-Shirts only reflect the artist’s impression.

Continuing our drive to Varanasi, we made a stop at a temple to Mother India. Our guide was telling us that Hindus worship many gods, in fact there are over 30 million gods that they worship. Different groups will worship different gods for different reasons. The three main gods Vishnu, Shiva and Ram are the only ones that everybody worships.

We came across a snake charmer outside of the temple.  Not exactly as I remember being mesmerized as a kid watching movies, but still interesting to see.

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On the way back to Varanasi, we stopped at a silk weaving mill for today’s shopping adventure. We stayed on the bus with a few others who were also shopped out. Ended up watching a group of young workers carrying brick up at a construction site.

Lunch was next on the agenda and it was a good one. All of our lunches and dinners off the train have been good. Nice variety of food and the locations have all been at luxury hotels.

Since we ended up eating lunch a little later, we headed to the Ganges for our boat ride. We will take a ride on the river up to the site of the evening Aarti and then head back to the train for a late dinner.

The bus ride through town to get to the Ganges was somewhat shocking. The chaos and poverty were overwhelming and quite disconcerting. Having said that, once we were on the boat there was a whole different feeling. It was calming and spiritual.

We made our way up the river with the sun setting and had a chance to see people going through their daily activities. We stopped near to the Cremation Ghat and while it may seem shocking, it was really peaceful. We then made our way up to the temple area where the Aarti is held.

The Aarti is a nightly ceremony performed by priests to worship and ask Mother Ganges for blessings. People cram into the area, including tourists and many boats float nearby to watch. It all seems very chaotic and noisy. Not something that would help one to pray and ask for blessings.

We moved up river a little ways and participated as a group in our own way.

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Day 5 – Temples of Khajuraho

Posted on October 15, 2014 by herktrav

Khajuraho, India

After yesterday’s busy schedule, we were able to sleep in this morning. The journey from Jaipur to Khajuraho is a long one, so we had some time to just relax this morning en route.

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The town of Khajuraho is a small farming community of 15,000, yet they have an airport and a train station. Driving into the town, you can see more modern looking dwellings and signs of construction and infrastructure work. There are also five top notch hotels, all to support the tourism related to the temples. Quite impressive!

Khajuraho is a town famous for it’s many Hindu and Jain temples. Many people have only heard about the one temple with the Kama Sutra type images, but there are many more. The temple area is divided into two sections – east and west. There were once 85 temples that stood here; today, there are 25. Time and nature have taken away the others, but the remaining temples are gorgeous.

We are to start with the eastern temples. There are six temples located in this section. It is not a UNESCO World Heritage site like the western section we will see later. The path from the bus to the temples is a gauntlet of “friends” trying to sell souvenirs. It’s not an easy navigation, but we make it unscathed. Our guide leads us to the temples for our first close up view. First reaction – Wow!

The temples are intricately carved with Gods and Goddesses and life scenes from the Rajas. Though a little different, they remind you of the temples that you see in Cambodia at Ankor Wat and in Mexico. Our guide tells us about their creation and meanings. He is a local and quite passionate about the temples.

After our lunch break we’ll be heading over to the western temples. The western temples have been added to the Unesco World Heritage List and deservedly so.

The western group of temples is a beautiful complex in a park-like setting. There is one active temple there (it’s separated from the others) and eighteen others. They were all built before the 12th Century, probably between 900 AD and 1070 AD.

We walk around and talk about them a bit before heading over to the Temple with the Kama Sutra carvings. There is much more to the carvings then the eroticism. The detail allows the sculptor to express emotions with body language and subtle gestures. But, when all is said and done, he was all about the treble – no bass!

After walking around the temple, we had the opportunity to go inside. The steps leading up are steep and tall. We had two people who started to enter without removing their shoes and people stopped them quickly. Inside, there is not much. It is a solemn space to pray to the Gods.

We were then given about a hour to wander and take photos around the grounds. Sue and I wandered around and then found a place to sit for a bit. The security guy started chatting with us and helped pass some time. He was very nice, probably in his 20’s and interesting.

As the group started to gather at the gate, it was time to head for an afternoon beverage break. The break was at a small handicraft market where once again many people took advantage of the shopping while others just chilled out.

Next came a cultural program featuring a group of young traditional folk dancers. They were very energetic and very entertaining. There dance and music program told a story about Vishnu. Nice job!

After the program it was back to the bus and back to the RROW for dinner.

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Day 4 – PM – Jaipur City Palace

Posted on October 14, 2014 by herktrav

Jaipur, India

Just a short ride back from the Amber Fort to the city of Jaipur. We have two places that we will be visiting.

The Jantar Mantar or city astronomical observatory was first on the agenda. It was constructed between 1727 and 1734 by the Rajput King Jai Singh II. The name actually translates to Calculation Instrument and it is a collection of measuring devices, including two huge sundials that are accurate to within 12 minutes and 2 seconds, respectively. All without electronics of any kind, just precision mathematics. Very cool.

There were five of these observatories built and I believe they said there are still three that remain today.

From the observatory, we walked over to the city palace. The palace includes museums containing artworks and weaponry, in addition to the royal residence. They have two large (900 gallon) silver vessels that were filled with water from the Ganges when the Maharaja visited England. Of course, they were filled high upstream where the water is pure as it melts from the Himilayan Mountains.

It had been a long day and people were getting tired, so we headed for the buses to drive to the hotel where we would be eating dinner. The traffic was incredible. Horns blowing, people weaving in and out of lanes – yikes. Occasionally you would catch the eye of a rickshaw passenger or person on a scooter and inevitably get a smile.

We made a stop so some folks could use an ATM machine and watched as a sidewalk barber worked on a customer. No fancy salon or product, just scissors and a razor. The guy was pretty quick too and the final cost – 200 rupees – $3.00. Michele and Tom – Franchise opportunity?

As we continued up the main road, it actually started to rain and there was lightning in the distance. Since they don’t get much rain, they were happy with it.

Dinner was at the Clark Hotel, a nice hotel in the newer part of the city. They looked a little frantic as we arrived a bit early and they were still finishing their setup. Nobody in our group cared, we were just happy to sit down somewhere cool.

Prior to dinner, some local artisans performed traditional Rajasthani folk music and dances. They even invited members of the group to join in the dance. Many people didn’t want to participate, but not us. I wowed them with my fat old guy moves.

Dinner was good, but everyone was even more tired by now. When we walked upstairs, our bus was missing. Apparently the driver got caught back in traffic on the way to pick us up. Then, when we arrived at the train station, our train had not arrived back yet either. Some were grumbling, but it wasn’t like we would be living on the streets.

When the train did arrive, everyone pretty much packed it in for the night. We both had a good night’s sleep and had visions of our safari still in our heads.

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Day 4 – Mid – Jaipur Fort

Posted on October 14, 2014 by herktrav

Jaipur, India

The train ride to Jaipur was pretty quick or maybe we just thought it was because we were still giddy from our safari sightings. Once we arrived, we went through our reception and then departed for our afternoon and evening in Jaipur.

We will be starting out at the Amber Fort. Along the way to the fort, we pass through the city and see the Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds. It was built in a way that the women could see out through the angled window openings, but they could not be seen by the men below.

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The last portion of our journey to the fort will be by elephant. As our bus arrives, the elephants make a dramatic entrance parading to the embarkment platform.

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We get a helping hand from the handlers to board, a send off picture and then away we go.

It’s a fairly steep, zig-zag climb to the top. Our elephant was a younger one named Carey. At 30 years old, she is considered younger. The elephants work from an age of about 25 to about 65.

Our Carey was a speed demon. We were passing the others and though we left about fifth, we were the second one to reach the departure platform. Personally, I think she rushed just to get us off.

The Amber Fort is a huge complex. There is not only the fort, but also a palace, lake and gardens. The huge walls surrounding the fort look like a smaller version of the great wall of China.

Our guide for the day walked us through, explaining the history of the fort and the Maharajas that lived there. After exploring the fort, we moved on to the palace

How do you get to the Palace? Pillage, invade and conquer. None of that practice stuff!

The living quarters were just the right size for the Maharaja and his 12 wives. Oh, and his 300 concubines. Busy man!

Next stop was lunch. There is a cafe called the 1135 AD Cafe in the fort and we had a very nice lunch.

After lunch, they loaded us into jeeps to head back to the bus. As we had ascended via elephant, there were people taking pictures of us and they showed up as we were leaving to sell you the pictures.

Lots of haggling going on as they were asking 1000 rupees for the set ($15). As the bus was getting ready to pull away, people were getting their photos for as low as 100 rupees.

Our next stop would be the city palace in Jaipur proper.

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Day 4 – AM – Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve

Posted on October 14, 2014 by herktrav

Sawai Madhopur, India

Today is one of the days I’ve been waiting for – Safari Day. Crossing our fingers that we see more than just birds and squirrels.

So we get up at 5:00 am to leave at 6:00 am for our visit to the Ranthambhore National Park and Tiger Reserve. The chances of actually seeing a tiger is low, but that doesn’t keep us from being hopeful.

After passing through the gates and driving for about five minutes into the reserve – Tiger!

Resting not far from the road side is a large tiger. Though we, our sister vehicle and a couple others stop for photos, it stays relatively still for about fifteen minutes – Cool!

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We continue driving through the preserve and see many animals along the way – deer, an eagle, owls, lemurs, chitalls, monkeys, peacocks, peahens and nilgai. There is also a huge old Banyan Tree or Walking Tree as some call them.

The scenery within the reserve is beautiful. Lush grass and trees, a stream and surrounding hills.

As we are continuing, we hear a loud animal call that our ranger says is a warning from one of the animals to the others. Then, our great white huntress – Sue – spots a leopard in the brush.

Our ranger / guide slows down and we watch as it gets nearer, stalking a future meal. Surprisingly, it comes in our direction and crosses within twenty feet of where we were quietly sitting. Talk about luck.

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Everyone was excited, including the ranger, who said he has never seen a leopard come so close ever. We were able to take some great pictures and Sue was the hero for having spotted it. Had she not, we would have driven the opposite direction and missed it completely.

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We finished our journey around 9:00 and as we were passing by the ranger stations, everyone was excited to hear about our leopard spotting. If only they had seen how close the spotting actually was.

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When we returned to the train, our vehicle had bragging rights all during breakfast. They told us that no group has ever seen both a leopard and a tiger, and never has a leopard come so close.

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Day 3 – PM – Chittorgarh Fort

Posted on October 13, 2014 by herktrav

Chittorgarh, India

The second half of our day would be spent in the town of Chittorgarh. Chittorgarh basically means the fort in Chittor. It’s a fortified town that resides high in the hills. It has been invaded and conquered three times in its history. It is also the largest fort complex in all of India.

Upon arrival we are met by two ceremonial guardsmen mounted on horses to welcome us.

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Our guide was a pretty, young woman who is one of the 5,000 residents of the town within the fort. Her name was Parvati and, like our previous guides, was very good. Royal Rajasthan on Wheels (RROW) has thus far been impressive with its choice of guides and Parvati would not be the exception.

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Our time in Chittorgarh was spent touring the fort, including Padmini’s garden, the reflection room, and then the Temple to Shiva.

The story of Padmini, and I’ll paraphrase, is that she was a very beautiful woman and wife of the Raja. Another Raja learned of her beauty and wanted to take her away for himself. Padmini has no interest in him, but agrees to let him see her but only via her reflection. Raja wants more then a peek, so he kidnaps her husband. She comes up with a ploy to get him back by having soldiers dress as ladies in waiting and visit the Raja. When they get there, they spring out and save their Raja through the deceit. Evil Raja is infuriated and chases husband to kill him. Rather than be taken away, Padmini kills herself. It really is much better then my abbreviated version. She is very much beloved to this day.

We walked around the temple to Shiva. Shamefully, fanatics have destroyed some of the beautiful carvings around the outside of the temple.

There is also a 37m tall Tower of Victory that was built in the 1440’s and dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

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We took a break for beverages before attending a sound and light show on the history of Chittorgarh. The show was interesting; it was a bit buggy out, which took away from the show.

It was a long day and everyone was getting tired by the time we boarded the bus and headed back to the train.

Dinner was ready when we arrived, though Sue was ready to crash rather than eat. I went down to dinner myself and sat with Mick and Joanne. They are a nice couple from the UK and he is a heavy object lifter by trade – moving all sorts of heavy or odd shaped items.

Back to the room after eating, as tomorrow is our early day on safari.

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Day 3 – AM – Udaipur

Posted on October 13, 2014 by herktrav

Udaipur, India

Today would be a split day with a visit to the White City of Udaipur in the morning and then the Chittorgarh Fort in the afternoon and early evening. We are having a great time with our friends and many of the others on the train. We’re lucky to have a fun and interesting group of people along for the ride.

The morning starts out with breakfast on-board the train before we load up the bus for some sightseeing in Udaipur.

Udaipur is known for many things – the white color of its homes, the many lakes surrounding the town, the Maharaja who wouldn’t buckle to the Brits and the lake palace which was the exile location of a young Shah Jahan, who would later build the Taj Mahal.

It is another hot, sunny day. Hopefully our boat ride to the Lake Palace will help provide some cool relief. Our guide was another great choice. He was probably in his early 20’s, very knowledgeable about his city and very proud of everything Udaipur. We had fun with him.

Our drive from the train station to the fort and palace was beautiful. There are many man-made lakes around Udaipur that were created by damming the rivers. We stopped along the way for a photo op at one of the lakes before continuing on. The fort and palace are located on Lake Pichholi.

Our first stop was at Sahelion Ke Bari or “Courtyard of the Maidens”. As the story goes, one of the Maharaja’s daughter was upset that she could not feel the rains of the monsoons whenever she wanted. So her father builds this complex of fountains and ponds so she and her friends could feel the water like the waters of the monsoons. Talk about your basic spoiled rich brat. But the place is lovely and lush.

Next would come a tour of the Udaipur Fort. Lots of interesting architecture, views and stories kept us all engrossed. We even had a chance to see the chair famously left empty when the then Maharaja decided not to buckle under pressure from the British King George and skipped an important meeting in order to keep Udaipur free and independent.

After the fort, we headed down to the lake for a boat ride that included a visit to the Lake Palace for beverages and biscuits; with great views around the lake and back to the fort and palace. The boat ride was very pleasant with the water helping make it feel a bit cooler.

Arriving back on dry land, we headed over to the city palace for a tour and then a walk through the Crystal Gallery. The crystal gallery is a collection of furniture made for one of the Maharaja’s – yep, you guessed – out of glass crystal. Chairs, couches, tables even beds. Sadly, he died before they were completed and then when delivered, they were stored away and not used.  They were found in storage and are now on display in the gallery.

Next came lunch at the City Palace restaurant. It was a delicious buffet lunch in a beautifully appointed room. The food was good, mostly Indian, and very tasty.

On the way back to the train, we stopped at an artist’s gallery to see their age old painting techniques. We actually ended up buying a painted silk piece and two scarves. We also reconfirmed that we are not so good at negotiating as others paid less than we did for similar objects. Once we finished, it was time to head back to the train for our next departure.

We had some time back on the train, so I was downloading pictures from the camera and writing the blog entries in a note pad since the wifi on the train only seems to work when we are in one of the bigger stations. Once we are underway, there are few towers to help bounce the signal along. Needless to say, it’s a slight annoyance, but just a slight annoyance.

We chugged along and arrived two hours later at the train station in Chittorgarh.

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Day 2 – Jodhpur

Posted on October 12, 2014 by herktrav

Jodhpur, India

The trip from Delhi to Jodhpur is about 625 Km in length with most of the travel in the overnight hours. The first night of sleep on board the train was interesting. Like a lullaby played at a rock concert, the train made its way through the night to Jodhpur. There was quite a bit of rocking as we sped along. Sue and I had the giggles as we held on for dear life. Maybe not quite that bad, but it sure wasn’t the gentle rocking we were expecting. We didn’t sleep well, but as we would find out later, nor did many others.

After showering and dressing, we headed to the dining car for breakfast. That’s where we heard others laughing about the rocking and rolling last night. The good news is that everyone was smiling and not worried about it.

Breakfast was very good. Lots of choices – all freshly prepared. Sue was able to get her tea in quantity, so she’s raring to go. Just relaxed a bit as we are nearing Jodhpur. We’re a bit behind schedule due to the overnight train traffic. Since we are just a tourist train, the other trains that run on a schedule get top priority so we had to wait at times for them to go by. We were scheduled to arrive in Jodhpur about 9:15, but actually arrived around 10:30.

Once we did arrive, we were met by a reception of live music, marigold garlands, and more dots on our foreheads before loading on to a bus for our excursion.

We started with a visit to the Umaid Bhawan Palace, home to the reigning Maharaja Gaj Singh. It is a beautiful combination palace and museum that was built in 1929 by British architect Henry Lanchester for Maharaja Umaid Singh.

Our next stop was a neighboring location – Jaswant Thada. It is a memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. It was a very peaceful and beautiful setting with all around views from the hilltop location.

Our final visit was to the imposing Mehrangarh Fort. The fort was built back in 1459 by Rao Jodha. It is built of red sandstone with high walls – some of which were actually carved out of the rocky cliff it stands on. It has been open for tourists since the 1970’s.

From the top of the walls, you can see why Jodhpur is called the ‘Blue City”.

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The reason for the blue colorization is two-fold. It started out as a way to identify the religious priests or Brahmin during the war times. The later on, it was adopted by the non-Brahmins and Muslim community. The Muslims believe that the devil fears the color blue.

Our next stop was a luxury hotel in Jodhpur for lunch.It was a nice buffet in beautiful surroundings. The doorman there was a really cool guy. With his uniform and bushy mustache, he reminded me of the characters often seen in the movies. He also didn’t outwardly seem annoyed by all the people pushing cameras in his face.

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Afterwards, we made a stop at a market for some shopping. While I understand the reason, the shopping part we could do without. On the other hand, there are members of the group that absolutely love the shopping. Anybody need a flying carpet?

Our guide for the day was very informative and really tried to provide insightful information about the places we visited. He was also funny, throwing in a couple of anecdotes along the way.

Like the three things you need to drive in India – a car, a horn and luck.

But he also explained a bit about cremations, religion and chakra’s for you yoga folks, as well as history about the area and surroundings.

Jodhpur was an excellent way to start out our exploration of Rajasthan.

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The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels

Posted on October 12, 2014 by herktrav

New Delhi, India

Started off with breakfast before checking out of the hotel. We had a driver to take us around before we head to the train station.

Our first stops of the day were two Hindu temples and a Sikh Temple. The first of the Hindu temples was a smaller temple in the older part of Delhi. It’s a sad world we live in as we had to go through security screening before entering. Inside stations for various gods and goddesses were available for prayer and worship.

One must always remove their shoes before entering a temple.

The second temple was a larger one with a similar set up. There were multiple rooms in the temple for people to worship various gods and goddesses. In addition, there were holy men there to talk about the faith.

Outside, there were many poor people begging for money. Once someone gave them some money, others would flock to the person. It was really difficult to ignore the beggars as they were quite persistent, but you’re told not to give them money as it encourages people to continue and not work.

Our last stop was at a large, ornate Sikh temple. In addition to removing your shoes, you are also required to wear a head covering in the temple. Inside, people were being lead in prayer and worshipping towards an altar.

Once our spiritual journey was completed, the women needed to do some retail worshipping. Our driver took us to several shops to get good deals. The way it works is the drivers are connected to certain shops. They get a tip for bringing people to the stores and extra if people buy things.

We ended up at a jewelry store and two saree stores. The women were not pleased with any of the stores! So no purchases were made. It was a lot of driving around on a hot day with loads of traffic.

With no luck shopping, our next stop was the train station. Though we were early, it was exciting knowing what was to come.

As time went by, others arrived and then so did the train.

Our official welcome was a marking of the forehead and a long flower lei made from marigolds. There was music playing and everyone was excited for the journey.

We were given our car and cabin assignments and then led to our rooms.

We are in the car named the Moti Mahal and our room is the sapphire room. Like a sapphire, our room has a blue decor. There are two single beds, a small desk, a side chair, a locking clothing bureau and a nice sized bathroom. The room is very clean with two big windows to bring in plenty of light if desired.

We have two personal minders to care for our three couples. They make sure we get whatever we need and will make sure we are where we need to be at all times. Their names are Ram and Kesar and both seem very nice.

Once situated in our room, we were called by Prem to join them in the lounge car for a get together. Introductions were made and punch, wine and tea were available. The group is only about 30 people, 8 Malaysians, 8 Brits, 4 Caucasian Americans, 6 Indians and a few people we didn’t meet yet. Interesting mix.

During our little gathering, the train started off right at 5:30 pm. The excitement begins!

Dinner is at 7:30, so we have a little time to rest before being beckoned. The menu consists of many courses – both continental and Indian. The servers bring out each course and you can request it, sample it or pass it by.

Tonight, we started with a Cream of almond soup. Then a variety of salads and the continental choices, which were fish and chips, a pasta and a creamy vegetable casserole. Next came the Indian selections. Butter chicken in a curry, gobi aloo, Palak paneer, dal, naan and tandoori roti. Afterwards, dessert and beverages. It was a very good meal with lots of choices.

After dinner, we decided to call it a night. While we sleep, the train heads to our first destination – Jodhpur.

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