For, along with the restored carriages-some still glowing with their original teakwood panels intact-came liveried attendants, royal repasts from the attached kitchen, a lounge and a dining car. A tour was built as part of the fixed itinerary.
The journey began and ended in Delhi. En route, the train halted at Agra, and then travelled through princely Rajasthan, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur being its principal highlights. Each morning, guests woke to bed tea and breakfast on board, perhaps a hot water bath, and then a visit to the town the train had halted in, to see the sights and colours of Rajasthan. The forts and palaces and temples, the bazaars thronging with people, the incredible, amazing celebration of colour. By night visitors slept in their own palace, even if it was a palace on wheels, and by day they visited the very sites that had made these palaces possible. It was an experience not to be missed.
Of course, there was some discomfort too, for the carriages were not vestibules (the train links were intended for meter-gauge coaches). People who wished to commute between the carriages could only do it at stations where the train halted. Often necessitating quick jumps on to dark platforms at night, and a dash to the carriage to be boarded, with attendant in attendance. True, though that was no guarantee against mistakes, especially when the visitors spoke in languages alien to the land. The carriages too were old, and could not carry on rolling forever.
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