the POW train

Just got back from a week on the "palace on wheels", a sort of cruise on rails through Rajahstan. Palace might be a bit of an overstatement as the rolling stock is limited in size and showing its 25 or so years, but the service was excellent and it was all very comfortable. It was a bit of a splurge for us (actually a lot of a splurge) but we justified it because the train travels at night, so we got to see a lot more of Rajahstan than we otherwise would have. Sleeping on a rocking train takes a bit of getting used to though (Ambien helps a lot).

Got the full blast of palaces, forts, cenataphs and monuments in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Chittagar and of course finished up in Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Took a little camel ride (now that is an unattractive animal) and an unsuccesful tiger game drive and a more successful birdwatching rickshaw ride as well.

Judging from the palaces we saw, it was good to be the king, or the Maharaja as the case may be. Juding from the rest of what we saw, it really sucks to be poor in India. A couple of enterprising guys set up a shoe shining business and then proceeded to follow the POW train around for about 4-5 days by taking local overnight trains- by day 2 or 3 people figure out that it was the same guys and started giving them business - I think they cleaned up!

Of course, because it was an organized tour, we got a full load of commission generating shopportunities lined up with our sightseeing as well! The tour guides on the whole were excellent and really helped us appreciate the history and architecture of the places and palaces that we saw though. Met some super nice people on the train as well.