Africa & India 2006: 13 - Palace on Wheels Train to Chittaurgarh

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Later in the afternoon yesterday we boarded buses for a trip into the Thar Desert, where Marilynn and I boarded a camel named Babalu for a 40-minute ride across the sand dunes. We had a good camel handler who decided we should race everyone else, which proved quite easy as most people were a lot more interested in hanging on for dear life than racing! Previous camel experience helped! As a result we arrived first at an area set up to serve tea and biscuits.

When told we must climb high sand dunes to watch the sunset we had a better idea. We hired a camel for about $10 and rode up the dunes. It was interesting to see our entire complement of passengers sitting in a line along the ridge of sand making them easy targets for the locals, who were attracted like piranhas to raw meat! There were children who sing and dance, women in traditional cloths, musicians with drums or a local flute that sounds much like bagpipes, guys from the camel hire outfit and plain beggars, all asking for money. Our herders would try to chase them off, but to no avail. Fending them off made for a long wait before the sun dropped below the horizon in a riot of red and gold colour!

Last night worked out for internet when we went to the luxurious Fort Rajwada Hotel for dinner. The setting was superb - an outdoor dining area with a stage and dance floor for a performance of traditional music and dancing. Above the entertainers was the bright slice of a new moon. During the entertainment I slipped away to use the hotel internet to get a very fast update and GPS position sent out, making it back just in time to be seated for a buffet dinner.

This morning we awoke in Jodhpur, the main city in the state our saloon carriage is named after. We were thrown around somewhat last night as the train travelled over uneven tracks - the train travels both main and secondary lines to arrive at our destinations and the secondary lines are not always smooth.

It was a comfortable 9 AM departure to visit the cremation site of the maharajas, a beautifully ornate carved marble building called "Jaswant Thada", built on the crest of a hill overlooking the city of Jodhpur. From the hill it was possible to see some of the extensive, high 16th century city walls, which permit entrance through seven stone gates.

At 1.5 million people Jodhpur, founded in 1459, is the second largest city in Rajasthan. In April and May the city temperature soars to over 50 C, and in winter it can go to 0 C. Today was warm enough at 36 C. Rainfall is 10 to 15 inches per year. At various places throughout the city groups of men were seen standing around. The guide explained that these are labourers wanting to work. If someone needs workers, they stop with a truck and hire as many as they need. A skilled worker will receive 400 rupees ($US 9.75) and an unskilled worker 200 rupees ($ 4.58) per day.

The most imposing structure in the city is the massive Mehrangarh Fort, which is still owned by the maharaja and administered by a trust he organized. There are five palaces within the huge structure, started in 1408. A modern addition, an elevator built for 6 or 7 people to ride in comfortably, hauled about 12 of us at a time up the equivalent of 14 stories to the roof of the fort. Marilynn refused to get in the crowded lift and walked up instead, hardy soul that she is.

The view of the city from the top was great, however smog limited visibility. Jodhpur is nicknamed the blue city for the large number of robins egg blue houses in evidence in the bright sunlight. The inside of the palaces have been maintained in excellent condition, and the displays of royal seats for elephants, armaments and other historic paraphernalia were interesting. A demonstration of turban tying showed there is more to putting on one of these 9 meter long cloths than meets the eye, but apparently they are useful for a number of things, including keeping warm at night.

The extensive tour took some hours, and when we reached the gift shop I abandoned ship to find my way down steep streets, returning to the bus. It is always necessary to dodge the inevitable swarms of people trying whatever they can to attract a few rupees.

Once our group were assembled aboard the bus we drove to the Umaid Bhawan Palace. The extravagant palace was built between 1928 and 1943, and the builder's grandson, the current maharaja, still lives in one wing with his family. The rest of the structure is a hotel operated by Taj Hotels. The sheer size of the place takes ones breath away! We enjoyed a buffet lunch during the allotted 2 ½ hours, then strolled the gardens and basically killed time until we were taken back to the train. This seems the standard allotment of time for a hotel lunch, but no one can figure out why so long!

The train left around 3 PM, headed for Sawai Madhopur. Dinner has been reduced to one sitting at 7:30 PM due to 15 people having left the train. This should be a lot more comfortable, as there should be time to finish dinner and conversations before being evicted from the dining car. Although the Delhi-to-Delhi trip takes 7 days, it is possible to buy segments for as many or as few days as desired, so the people who left would have purchased only three nights.

We pass a lot of local trains, which appear to be basic but well used, often many carriages in length. As I am writing a local train is loading across the platform from us, and the place is a colourful hive of activity, with the multi-coloured saris and traditional dress. The less expensive carriages are crammed full of people.

We also passed a troop train carrying heavy artillery and the trucks to tow it, with the gun crews living on the flat deck cars under makeshift tents created by draping canvas over the gun barrels. We are not a long way from Pakistan, so there is a big military presence. Earlier this morning we passed about a dozen tanks with their crews camped in the desert.

Sunday, March 5, 2006

It was an early start today in Sawai Madhopur- up at 4:30 AM for a departure at 5:30. Keith, our car attendant (called a "Kidmargar") had tea, coffee and biscuits ready in our lounge area, and boxes with sandwiches and fruit for breakfast on the go. We were picked up in open, converted Tata military vehicles, with 19 seats per vehicle, and driven to 392 sq. km. Ranthambhore National Park. There are currently 26 tigers resident in the park, which can comfortably support 35 of the animals. They are left completely on their own; there are no breeding programs, but there is no shortage of food as the park has large populations of deer, antelope and wild boars.

The area was populated and defended in the 10th century. At one location in our drive we were able to see the enormous old fort and its adjoining buildings stretched along the top of a high ridge. To enter the park we drove through a narrow canyon with a fortified wall across it, part of the original fort. Our vehicle could just fit through the narrow entrance.

The park is dry forest with four small lakes. On our game drive we saw a number of spotted deer (which have beautiful antlers), sambar deer, ibis, wild boar and some crocodiles in the water holes. There were a lot of fawns with the deer.

There are reputedly 300 species of bird, including a lot of wild peacocks and storks. The park is alive with the same type of languor monkeys that we saw in Bhutan last fall. They put on a great performance for us at various places, including one large male who leapt up onto the vehicle and perched on the windshield until the driver shooed it away. We did not see the famous tigers, but the guide assured us we should have been there yesterday when everyone saw tigers in both the morning and afternoon game drives! Right!!

Marilynn got some great reflection photos at one of the lakes, where storks, kingfishers, crocodiles and deer were either around the edge of the water, or actually in it. We had pulled up beside another similar vehicle right on the edge of the lake. When we wanted to back up to leave, there were rows of parked vehicles behind us all facing the lake. A lawyer from the Cayman Islands who was sitting behind me commented, "It looks like a drive in cinema!"

Back at the train our kidmargar, Keith, had tea and coffee ready. We relaxed and chatted with our saloon mates for a while, then I retreated to our compartment to do some writing as the train headed for Chittaurgarh. Of the 7 others living in our saloon two are from Holland, two are from Canada but stationed in Brussels with NATO and one is from Adelaide, Australia.