The vast landscapes of India drift past the train window. Photo / Getty Images
There is no better way to experience India than by rail. Stephen McClarence picks his favourite trips.
Mid-morning on Indian trains, the carriage attendant checks if you want lunch. He phones ahead to a station two or three stops up the line and the kitchens are alerted. When the train reaches the station, staff swarm aboard with trays laden with plastic bowls of sloppy curries that may look unappetising but generally taste delicious.
They're quickly eaten and passengers settle down on their bunks for an afternoon doze, lulled by the trundling train's der-dum-der-dum rhythm, the sonorous snores of fellow travellers and the trilling of mobile phones somewhere up the carriage.
My wife and I have been eating and dozing on Indian trains for 25 years and I have selected eight of our favourites.
Our longest journey was a 3700km rail-trek — from the most westerly station (Okha in the state of Gujarat) to the most easterly (Ledo in Assam, 32km from the Burmese border).
We stopped at or rumbled through 600 stations.
It was never for a moment dull. At one point, we had a compartment full of people curious to know why we had embarked on such a quixotic journey.
The reason is that we love Indian trains and their sense of time suspended. As vast landscapes drift past the window,
you absorb their beauty: women sashaying along dusty paths as they carry water back to their villages, playing children, old men stretched out in the afternoon heat on their charpoy rope beds. There's time to read and think, before dashing off the train at stations to buy chai poured from a huge and battered tin kettle.
Gradually afternoon merges into evening and it's "cowdust time", the magical half hour of twilight when cows amble back to their villages and newly lit fires send scarves of smoke wreathing low across the fields. Night falls and it's time to settle back on your bunk for another serenade of snoring.
1 VIVEK EXPRESS
India's longest train journey — the weekly Vivek Express — starts at the tea-planting town of Dibrugarh in the far northeast of India, at 11.05pm on Saturdays. It arrives at Kanyakumari at the nation's southern tip at 9.50am on the following Wednesday. This epic 82-hour journey (costing about $80 in two-tier air-conditioned class, otherwise known as 2AC) covers more than 4184km, with 56 stops including coastal towns overlooking the Bay of Bengal. You can make the return trip on the Thursday, but probably wouldn't want to.
2 DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY
The "Toy Train" from Kalka to Shimla — currently marking the 10th anniversary of its Unesco-listed status — gets most attention, but two other great Indian hill-station routes are just as interesting — to Ooty (Udhagamandalam) in the south and to Darjeeling in the north. The
, a World Heritage Site, was built to rescue Victorian plains-dwellers from sweltering summer heat. With no undue haste, it covers 90 ever-cooler kilometres in seven hours, sometimes weaving through village streets, and climbing to more than 2133m, with panoramic views. The basic journey costs about $7 first class, but various packages are available.
3 KONKAN RAILWAY
Linking Mumbai (India at its most hectic) and Goa (India at its most laid-back) and carrying on south almost to Kerala, the Konkan Railway's 724km line hugs the west coast, parallel to the Arabian Sea. It crosses 2000 bridges, including India's highest viaduct. At around $30 in 2AC, the Mandovi Express takes just over 11 hours to reach the attractive Goan town of Madgaon, with its old Portuguese houses. The landscape is lush, particularly in the monsoon season.
4 KANGRA VALLEY RAILWAY
The Kangra Valley Railway is a collector's item and a miser's dream. Tickets for its 160km journey through beautiful northern Indian landscapes cost from about $1. Set aside a day for the full journey, east from Pathankot to the town of Joginder Nagar. It takes 10 hours, though most passengers are locals travelling a few stops (there are 33 all told). The line passes tea gardens and orange groves before glistening mountains loom ahead.
5 DESERT TRAIN
The line from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer links two of Rajasthan's most popular historic cities. The six-hour trip (costing about $15 in 2AC) is an alternative desert safari, replacing traditional camel trains with — well — trains. The expanses of sand offer glimpses of wildlife and scattered settlements. The train starts the previous evening in Delhi and calls at Jaipur, the third Rajasthani "J".
6 GOA EXPRESS
Little-known except to rail connoisseurs — but strongly recommended — the Goa Express travels inland from Goa to Londa, a small town in the state of Karnataka. Costing about $30, the three-hour journey through the Western Ghats crosses lush forests, with glimpses of waterfalls, impressive cliffs and wildlife (ideal for monkey-spotting). It also boasts one of India's characteristically florid train names: the Vasco-da-Gama Nizamuddin Goa Express.
7 PALACE ON WHEELS
The Palace on Wheels, launched in 1982, was the pioneer of luxury Indian rail tours and, repeatedly refurbished, it is still hugely popular. Six nights on board are at the heart of Travel Marvel's 15-day tour, which takes in the golden triangle (Delhi, Jaipur and Agra for the Taj Mahal), Ranthambore National Park, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. It also features three nights in Shimla, with a journey on the Toy Train.
8 DECCAN ODYSSEY
On a seven-night round-trip from Mumbai, the luxury Deccan Odyssey explores Gujarat, India's most western state and as fascinating as neighbouring Rajasthan. It includes visits to Palitana, with its 863 Jain temples, Sasan Gir National Park, home of the Asiatic lion, the Sun Temple at Modhera and the haunting desert landscape of the Little Rann of Kutch with its birds and wild asses.
Hidden Treasures of Gujarat, an 11-day/nine-night Deccan Odyssey tour from
costs from $8720pp, flights excluded.
GETTING THERE
Thai Airways flies from Auckland to New Delhi, via Bangkok.
Some domestic regional flights have been affected.