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MAIN PROGRAM
Day 1, Wednesday
Delhi.
Cantonment Station between 1530 and 1600hrs. Departure 1830hrs.
Dinner will be
served on board the train.
Day 2, Thursday
Jaipur.
Arrival 08.30. Breakfast on board. Sightseeing trip round town
followed by lunch in hotel. Cultural show and dinner at
Nahargarh Citadel, a former royal
fort, or in Man-Singh Hotel.
Jaipur, the first stopping place, was built at the beginning of
the 18th century by the Maharajah Jai Singh II. The "pink" city is
surrounded by a town wall with 8 gates. The town palace and the
Sawai-Man-Singh
Museum directly beside it are well worth looking at. The
Jantar-Mantar Observatory still
astonishes with the precision of its layout. The jewel of Jaipur
is the Palace of the Winds, a stone facade with an immense number
of finely sculptured lattice panels.
The festival palace of Amber lies 12 km (7.5 miles) from Jaipur
and is visited on the backs of elephants. Amber’s rooms are famous
for the variety of their decoration and the beautiful Hall of
Mirrors.
Day 03, Friday
Arrival
Jaisalmer at 0615. Breakfast on board,
followed by sightseeing in town. Lunch on train or in tourist
bungalow. Visit to the cenotaphs of famous heroes and rulers which
are beautifully decorated with fine stonemasons’ work. Camel rides
to experience the real desert. Dinner at the
Moomal Tourist Bungalow, then on with the train to Jodhpur.
Jaisalmer, a fairy-tale town in the
Thar
desert was founded about 800 years ago by Rajah
Jaisal. The town is surrounded by
mighty walls which seem to grow up out of
sunbleached desert sands. In the town
centre the buildings provide evidence of the Indian
stonemasons’ unsurpassed art. In narrow, twisting streets you can
visit havelis, the houses of rich
merchants with their finely carved filigree facades.
Day 4, Saturday
Jodhpur.
Arrival 08.00. Breakfast on board. Sightseeing in town. Lunch at
Umaid Bhawan
Palace Hotel, originally the Royal Palace of the Maharajas of
Jodhpur. Evening tea and dinner on board.
Jodhpur, the
southernmost of the legendary cities of the desert, was built by
Rao Jodha
in 1459 on the advice of a hermit. The high walls of the massive
fort form a delightful contrast to the elegant sandstone facades
with their fine carvings inside the palace. Opposite the fort lies
Jaswant Thada,
a memorial made of white marble which was
errected in 1899 to the memory of
Jaswant Singh I. Departure 17.00.
Day 5,
Sunday
Sawai
Madhopur (Ranthambor).
Arrival in Sawai
Madhopur at 0400. Travel to Ranthambor
(14 km - 9 miles) to the well-known game park with its tigers and
leopards. With any luck you might see a tiger in its natural
surroundings. Many other animals such as crocodiles, deer,
gazelles, nilgais and hyenas live
here. Depart at 12.00. Ranthambor lies
132 km (82 miles) from Jaipur. The area is 392 sq. km (150 sq.
miles) and lies between the Aravali
and Vindhya mountains. The best time
for seeing many animals is between October and April.
Departure for Chittaurgarh at 11.00
hrs. Lunch on Board at 13.00. Arrival
Chittaurgarh at 15.30 hrs. Sightseeing of
Chittorgarh Fort.
Chittorgarh Fort on a 180 m high
hill, was the strongest of the
Rajput forts. The tall and finely
chiseled Victory Tower and the Tower of Fame are undamaged and
reach up into the sky from the surrounding ruins. Dinner on Board
20.00 hrs.
Day 6, Monday
Chittorgarh/Udaipur.
Arrival 07.30. Breakfast on board. Drive by bus journey to
Udaipur
to the Lake Palace Hotel on Lake
Pichola,
originally the summer palace of the Maharana
of Udaipur. Boot trip followed by
lunch at the Lake Palace Hotel. Sightseeing in
Udaipur.
Evening meal on board train.
Udaipur
was founded in 1559 on the banks of Lake
Pichola
by the Maharana
Udai Singh. The town palace is raised high above the lake
and contains among others a hall of mirrors, a roof garden with a
pond and a peacock court, named after its peacockmosaic.
Sahelion-Ki-bari is a pleasant park
with 4 fountains and colourful flower
beds.
Day 7, Tuesday
Bharatpur
- Fatehpur Sikri
- Agra. Arrival 06.00. Breakfast in Bharatpur
bird sanctuary and boat trip. By coach to
Fatehpur Sikri and Agra. Lunch
at hotel. Sightseeing in Agra and tea at Taj
Restaurant, Agra or on board. Dinner on board.
Bharatpur
is an enormous bird sanctuary. The flat marshes attract resident
and migratory birds in their thousands. More than 500,000 birds of
325 species have been counted in winter. It is possible to travel
by boat to the low trees where the birds assemble.
From
Bharatpur it is 22 km (14 miles) to
Fatehpur Sikri.
The town is still completely preserved. It was built by the Mogul
emperor Akbar in the 16th century but
abandoned a short time later because of an acute lack of water. It
is still possible to see spacious courtyards, an audience hall and
the palace complex, which is made up of apartments.
The
climax of the
journey will surely be the visit to Agra to see the
Taj Mahal, one of the seven modern
wonders of the world. Emperor Shah Jahan
had it built in white marble over a period of twenty years as a
mausoleum and symbol of his love for his favorite wife
Mumtaz Mahal. The massive fort in Agra
encloses in its high walls the Diwan-e-Khas
(private reception hall), Diwan-e-Am
(public reception hall) and other sights worth seeing
Day 8, Wednesday
Delhi.
Breakfast on train and end of journey. Arrive Delhi 7.30
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