Luxury holidays sometimes divorce travellers from the very place they've supposedly come to see - erecting an artificial barrier that insulates visitors from the visited.
But to board the opulent Palace on Wheels is to journey into the very heart of India. After all, more than 14 million passengers board an Indian Railways train every day; and some 63,000km of track covers the length and breadth of the subcontinent, from Ib to Sri Venkatanarasimharajuvariapeta Halt, respectively the country's shortest and longest station names.
This is, as the writer Paul Theroux termed it, The Great Railway Bazaar, and the Palace on Wheels is the greatest item that's up for sale.
Naturally, the train is rather more pricey than riding in third class on a local train, but - with daily costs starting from HK$1,950 - it's worth every penny, both for the service on board and the experience of travelling like a maharaja in days of old. A century and a half on from when the first train set off in India, and just over 50 years since the railway networks were nationalised, this is one of the most captivating ways to experience the country.
The Palace on Wheels is made up of 14 coaches, each named after one of the former princely states, and each decorated in a style that is more than suggestive of regal accommodation. Udaipur is typical, with a decor that includes elements of the Peacock Court at Udaipur Palace, while the beige of the desert sands that surround the city of Jaisalmer dominates the colour scheme of the coach of the same name.
Each coach contains up to four sleeping compartments, with a shower, toilet, hot and cold running water and an intercom system as well as wall-to-wall carpeting. The saloon acts as a communal meeting place, and is where refreshments are served, but the greatest on-board accessory is the kitmagar, or butler, wise in the ways of the Palace on Wheels and the lands it passes through, able to lend a hand with any chores and constantly at passengers' beck and call. Daily newspapers, stationery and other little luxuries are all provided on board, as is an unlimited supply of mineral water.