We awake at the Claridges. This is not the Imperial (we are so spoiled) or the Oberoi Cecil (I am missing True Love already). This is an excellent hotel with a face lift that means to dazzle you with electronic upgrades. The room card must fit into a special slot or none of the lights or air will work. There is a special console next to the bed that controls everything in the room, including the ability to open and close the drapes as well as dim the lights. Houston, we have a problem. There are so many buttons and so many options that it takes us SEVERAL minutes to learn how to manage the few functions we require. We repack everything again so that we will only be bringing one large suitcase to Rajasthan. The sweaters and heavy shirts will stay here until we return at the end of the week.
It appears to be a sunny-smoggy day in Delhi and we have to go in search of a liquor store. We came prepared from Hawaii, but our stock is gone. The price of a mixed drink in any hotel in India is astronomical. We've read that it is super out-of-sight on the luxury train we'll be boarding later today. We will learn later that this was, indeed, a wise move.
We were picked up at the hotel by our driver at 4:30 and are waiting just inside the station until he can get us our "official" boarding pass. A few yards away, seated on a platform, are three men playing a rousing welcome tune that must have been the fanfare used to greet the maharajahs when they entered town. Drums, cymbals, a sitar and a whiny pipe. Beautiful Indian women in saris are placing marigold necklaces around the necks of the guests.
When our ceremonial "tickets" arrive, we venture out onto the platform. The female guests receive a traditional scarf and the male guests are fitted with a turban. Tucker tells them that they will probably not have one to fit his head. In a vain attempt to prove him wrong, the gentleman settles for handing it to Tucker to carry. This pomp and circumstance will be repeated at every city we visit. It seemed a bit tiresome to us after awhile, but each city seemed to be very proud to show off for the rich visitors and we did our part to look appreciative. Anyone in India that found out we were taking the Palace on Wheels was in awe. They consider (or imagine) that this is the most luxurious thing a person could do in their country.
Each of the cars on the train called the Palace on Wheels is given the name of a city in Rajasthan. Ours is Jaipur. We are greeted by our "khidmatgar", Umesh. Umesh is supposed to embody the manservant that would be appointed to make a guest of the court most comfortable. In fact, Umesh was always in complete control of his ducklings. He was soft spoken, kind, handsome and extremely good at his job. We followed along and were happy to do what we were told was "best". Umesh showed us to our cabin, explained about the locking cabinet, told us about how to "turn on" the heater for hot water 10 minutes before requiring it, suggested the proper way to use the shower due to the limits of water, lent me a hair dryer that would work on the train and demonstrated the function of the five buttons on the wall that would work lights or summon help. Two minutes later, Ram arrived with hot steamy towels to refresh ourselves and a full bucket of ice. Ram is Umesh's assistant. In fact, it became clear as the week progressed that Umesh needed an assistant because he was second in charge of the arrangements for the entire train.
Our train car has four cabins. We are joined by two couples from Milwaukee and a Canadian couple with two small children (2 and 4). Umesh calls a meeting in our small lounge and all things become clear. There are about 100 guests aboard the train. Each evening we will be given a seating time for dinner, each morning we will be awakened to have breakfast in this small lounge and we will be given safe bottled water & umbrellas before getting on the bus. We will always be assigned to the BLUE bus. Our seating time for dinner this evening is 7:00. Tomorrow it will be 8:30. Tucker and I look at each other and know that it is definitely time to break out the Scotch! We were prepared for the fact that this was going to be the "tour" part of our adventure, but this was feeling like Girl Scout camp. Neither one of us is very good with tour groups, but this is the only way to see all of Rajasthan in a week. Travel at night and leave the driving to them.
The bar and the dining cars were over-the-top opulent in the style of the old kingdoms. The menu included some Continental and some Indian dishes. Food was served by white gloved, uniformed wait staff . They visited each table with a tray of one of the menu items. You could take or refuse anything offered. We found the food to be good, but not the outstanding quality of cuisine we were accustomed to at the fine hotels. Eating will be a challenge only because both of us are still recovering from jet lag. An 8:30 dinner will still translate as 2:30 AM, body time. Curried breakfast, basically.
Tucker and I "do the dance" in our wee cabin as we try to undress, brush teeth and pour a "closer" with only two feet separating our beds. We turn out the lights, open the curtains and enjoy India T.V. as the train rumbles through the countryside. We can peek into homes lit by electricity or fire light. Workers traveling home late at night stare back at us when we pass through a station. This is luxurious. And sleeping on the train is delicious.
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