Palace on Wheels-train trip

We have internet service again! 8 days was a long time to be unplugged, but it felt good!

We have just completed our 8 day Palace Journey and it was unbelievable. We saw so many forts, palaces, countryside, people and life. Sleeping on a train was an experience in itself. Maya had a gang of 9 girls on the train from the age of 7-11(no boys!). They ran yup and down the train and were treated like the Royal Maharani Princesses. The girls were from the USA, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and were mostly ex-pats living abroad.

The whole trip will be a memorable experience for them all.

The train had 2 dining cars, appropriately called Maharani and Maharaja, 2 cars for the kitchen and 3 cars for the Royal Spa! There were 30 cars, each with 4 cabins and a lounge, where breakfast was served.

Here are some pictures of the train and our first day:

We all received garlands and the Bindi(one dot of red!)

 There were professional musicians playing music at the welcome ceremony. They were amazing and really set the mood of the whole trip:

  A marching band walked us to our cabin! That was interesting and loud!

Here I am , a little shell shocked from all the welcoming festivities with our head cabin attendant. His name was Raj and he would do anything and everything for us throughout the trip with another attendant named Maharaj. Maya loved it!

Maya settled right in to the room and tried to do some homework before the train left:

Sleeping on the train took a bit of getting used to. By the second night I actually liked being rocked to sleep and hearing the horns of the speeding trains passing us by. 

Our first stop was Jaipur, the pink city and the elephant ride! Maya and her friends were so excited when they went to bed that first night. More tomorrow.