Palace on wheels

machadinha

Heheh. Well I think my particular boat is flowing slowly-slowly down the Ganga at Rs. 45 a night. But then others tell me I'm mad. (OK, I'll concur it may be 90 today. You know what? Flowing down the Ganga was never easy. Let's just forget it. The fishermen I talked to in a very different Indian location never asked for a price anyway, but expected me to come along just like that. I just reconsidered, maybe stupidly or wisely so.)

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brishti

sunday ramblings, eh mach?


:brishti

machadinha

Hm? Yes certainly (and always sorry lord/ess for all this our useless rambling).

The rains have set in. My countrymen will complain* but the garden's doing well.

* About the fact that it's no longer 27C. The average for this time of year seems to be 17 anyway.

camelgirl

Reminder...$800 is in Summer! It's $1,080 during the regular season!

Oh, and as if that isn't surprising enough, check out this train offering 2 weeks (1/2 luxury hotels; 1/2 luxury train from Mumbai to Darjeeling to Calcutta) at an ASTOUNDING $22,800 or for a "better room " $34,400, for TWO people who don't know what to do with their money

http://palacetours.net/tourView.aspx?tag=t4&tid=32

Now that just showing off for your friends!! NOTHING on earth could make it worth that much unless perhaps the price includes someone to wipe your ass with 24 Kt gold toilet paper (ouch!) And you get to keep an entire Indian family to wait on your for the next two years

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Evany

Well, I am just back this week from a trip on the Palace on Wheels and I can tell you it didn't cost $800 a day. It cost me approximately $350 a day for accommodation, all meals, all entrance and guide fees, all transportation and first class service. It was worth every penny to me.

Can you do this more cheaply? Of course you can, that goes without saying, but I've done the back-packing and the budget travelling all over the world and was looking for something with more comfort level. I got it.

This kind of trip is obviously not for everyone both from an income and an interest point of view but it is the way to go for some and they don't deserve to be ridiculed anymore than some backpacker, locking his pack to the second class train compartment seat so it isn't stolen, does.

As for making fun of the people who work on the train, that's just uncalled for. These are hard working people in the Indian tourist industry and are just trying to make a living. They were wonderful to us.

The only bad part of the trip was listening to a couple of whiners and whingers like the one who posted that last review on the mouthshut site. That person says it all when the first comment out of their mouth is that the train isn't up to western standards. This is the kind of person who should stay at home and gripe. It might save them some money. They can complain about what they're familiar with.

Killerwhale, if you're looking for a wonderful trip as a treat for your mother, a trip on the Palace on Wheels will fit the bill. The accommodation is great, the food is wonderful, the sights to be seen are terrific and the service is superb.

camelgirl

Holy Moly! What's going on here??? No one has made fun of anyone for wanting to do this trip.

I guess I also missed the people on the train being made fun of. That's absolutely ridiculous. Anyone in India working on a luxury train will be wonderful.

We went on the very short but interesting steam train "The Fairy Queen" http://www.indianholiday.com/luxury-...ueen-tour.html (Delhi, Sariska overnight, Alwar & back to Delhi) and the people who worked on it were excellent.

Here is a current list of prices from tThe Palace On Wheels website: I took the prices and doubled them for two people and then divided by 7 (days). http://palacetours.net/tourView.aspx?tag=t4&tid=2

If I could get that trip for $350 a day for two people, I'd book it immediately. It's always been a dream of mine.. On the other hand, if it's for one person, then your price is almost the same as mine $700 a day for two people.

I would never tell someone not to take it. I would, however, make suggestions, based on my own knowlege and experiences that I think they would find helpful in making that decision.

Evany

Perhaps I misunderstood but when peole say things like .....

.... it seems to me that folks who took this trip are being ridculed as having their heads somewhere in the days of the Raj.

And when a poster says .....

..... it doesn't take a huge leap to assume that the workers on the train are being ridiculed. BTW, the men who worked on our carriage were both born in Rajasthan and live in Jaipur.

As for the cost, I didn't pay for my travel companions trip so I paid $350 a day. If I had gone as a single on the same departure date it would have cost me $475 a day. In either case, it wouldn't have cost anywhere near $800 a day.

This is not a budget way to travel. I'm not trying to suggest that but, the tone of some of these posts are that folks who take this trip have more money than brains and really don't have a clue about seeing India. My point is that people's travel interests and needs are different and may change from time to time. No one should be mocked on a travel experience sharing site like this one. We all are trying to contribute information to what others may be looking for or interested in.

zoltan

Damn... you beat me to it camelgirl.

Well... here's the pertinent item that I was going to post:

For a 7 night/8 day tour it costs (S D T):
Deluxe $5,390.00 $3,780.00 $3,115.00

This works out to be US$673; US$472; US$389 per day.

And even US$389 per day for a triple berth, is to my mind, an obscene amount to spend to ride on a train.

Also, there are the following exclusions (so there's additional costs over and above the charges for the tour) - per the website:

Tariff does NOT include liquor, soft drinks, juices, wine or beer; laundry services; additional toiletries; camera fees at monuments; sightseeing, transfers, or other services in Delhi; gratuities; souvenirs; other items of a personal nature; hotel accommodations in Delhi;

I still think that for the 70-year old and her daughter, hotels; an AC car + driver would work out signficantly cheaper than the POW.

Cheers
Zoltan

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Evany

Zoltan, you've quoted the top of the season tariffs. If you look at the same sight you took the above from, you can travel on the train for as little as I quoted above. As I said, I just am back this week from a journey on the train and am fully aware of what it costs, and what is included and not included. BTW,laundry and drinks, and the things you've mentioned in your post are almost never included in any hotel stay so there is not reason they'd be included on the train either. Of course, if you think the cost is obscene, then don't travel that way. No one is asking you to do so. Others may have a different view.

And let me tell you, if and think that travelling in a car with a driver and staying in $60 a night hotels is equivalent to the train journey, I'm afraid you are mistaken. As for staying in heritage hotels, the average cost of a standard, not a deluxe room, in a heritage hotel in Rajasthan is a minimum of $375-$450 dollars a day. Deluxe rooms in those establishments are even more expensive - significantly more expensive. I know this because some of the meals on the Palace on Wheels are taken in heritage hotels through Rajasthan and we asked for the hotel tarrifs when we were there.

Once again, I just think that people's diffences and needs should be respected. The Palace on Wheels is a wonderful way for middle-aged people, with more financial resources than students or young tourists, to travel in India.

zoltan

OK... another look at the same location:

$3,535.00 $2,695.00 $2,135.00, which equates to:
US$441 US$336 US$266

All of which I still think is obscenely excessive.

I've just done a google search for Heritage Hotels + Rajasthan + Tarrif.

For Jaipur, the average rates for double, deluxe rooms is rp2,500 per night.

For Jaisalmer, the average is rp3,000

And Udaipur, from US$90 (dbl) for a historic suite, superior deluxe suite) US$180 (dbl).

Of course, it's possible that you were taken to the extremes of luxury and of course, the prices quoted would be on the higher side of the scale.

I don't doubt this. I've travelled in SL; AC Chair; 3rd class; 3A; 2A and 1A. And I've enjoyed most of the travel I've done in the trains.

I'm a middle aged traveller with reasonable finances but I still think the pouring so much money into a train ride is obscene. I would rather see my money go to smaller hotel owners who are trying to make an honest living, rather than patronising people who are already infintely wealthier than their counterparts.

And I do respect your choice of going on the POW but I think a truly balanced series of comments are justified so tha the OP and her mother can make a decision for their holiday based on multiple inputs.

Cheers
Zoltan

snowcrab

Seems like this is one of those upper class treats where if you have to ask the price you can't afford it. Conspicuous consumption is more about ego than pleasure. Depends where mother is at, some people like others knowing that what they enjoy costs more, not that it is worth more. Why would anyone in their right mind buy a Ferrari, but people do.

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vandy

You only live once, and your wonderfull gesture to
your mother is Highly Commendable.

I wish I could afford a Similar gesture for my
Wonderfull Wife of 30 years.

I say Go for the Palace on Wheels.

Evany,Happy you enjoyed whats sounds like a Superb
Experience.

vandy

PeakXV

Take the train for comfort definitely. Which one is entirely up to your 'pamper preference' & budget. Don't know too many 70 year olds who would really enjoy the vibrations & pothole shock therapy courtesy of the great Indian road system .... especially if they have any rheumatism or weak bowel issues.

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

capt_mahajan

Agree with evany including on this:


But, can we have some non-mocking fun instead?


As in:

800 USD

(I know, it may be 350)

camelgirl

Yipes!! I'm happy you enjoyed it. I would also....I keep saying that...I mean it. BUT Just because you don't pay for your companions in the same room doesn't mean it cost $350!!!! It may cost YOU $350 (though my math still doesn't come to that but it's close enough) but that is not what it costs for two people!!! In fact, a single traveler pays more than $350. It $3535 for a week for a single traveler, that's over $500 a day!!


Presumably, the OP & his mother will not be paying separately.

My husband and I pay out of the same checkbook and it would cost US $800 and day for the POW.

Why do you jump from $800 ($350) to $60???? There are plenty of accommodations in-between.

Why are we defending ourselves to you anyway. We've made some excellent suggestions to the OP!!! Hope he comes back and reads them.

There's lots of us old former backpacker geezers here on IM and no one is judging you. You seem to be doing that without our help. It's about making suggestions to the OP. If money is no object, good for him. He should take his mother and have a grand time!!!