WE BOARDED INDIA’S $28,000 LUXURY TRAIN (Maharajas' Express 7 day journey)
YouTube travel vlog by Kara and Nate documenting a seven-day, all-inclusive journey aboard the Maharajas' Express from Mumbai to Delhi. The episode covers boarding, a detailed tour of their large suite and the train’s cars (23 total, with 88-passenger capacity), interactions with the train chef (Chef John), onboard amenities (private butler, kitchens, bars, massage chairs), and a day visit to Udaipur including Lake Pichola and local markets. The tone is enthusiastic and observational, mixing luxury travel coverage with local cultural experiences (Diwali candle ritual, markets, cows).
Chapters
Today we are boarding India's most luxurious train, the Maharajas Express. Best week ever. Over the next seven days, we're gonna be traveling across this fascinating country from Mumbai to Delhi. Waking up in a new city each day. It's kind of like a cruise ship, but on land. We've ridden trains all over the world and this will be the second longest train trip we've ever taken. This is nuts. Right behind the Trans Siberian Railway that we rode all the way across Russia. So many berries and pigeons. It's also tied with the most expensive train we've ever ridd. The Orient Express we rode earlier this year from Budapest to Paris. Costs $28,000 for only 24 hours. But the difference is $28,000 buys you an entire week on the Maharajas Express. Plus, this trip is all inclusive, from the food to the drinks and the entertainment. So join us for this three part series as we mark this once in a lifetime journey off our bucket.
Good morning, sir. Welcome on board.
And we're off. All right, now that we've settled in, let me show you around our suite. We are Hera number two. There are only four suites on the entire train.
Sorry. One suite takes up half of a train car. These rooms are gigantic. By far the biggest train room we've ever had. As soon as you walk in, there is seating area number one. We have these two comfy chairs right next to the window. We can watch the world go by. On my right we have a desk with two outlets and all these sweet little gifts, including a cookbook. It says in here that we're gonna be trying over 500 local dishes this week. I don't even know how that's possible. But all their favorites are in here in case you wanna make them when you get home. Here we have a little snack corner, including Pringles super American. We have this huge beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome you all esteemed guests on Maharaja Express. Thank you. Follow me into our bedroom. The bed is decently comfortable. All of the light controls are right behind my pillow. But most importantly, back here we have our own personal WI fi router. If I'm being picky, they're lacking in the outlets department by bed, but we can chose. We also have a telephone where we can call the staff if we need anything or we can just WhatsApp our butler. And we also have a remote menu. This one goes to the tv, this one goes to the DVD player. And this is a mystery room. Across from the bed we have another big beautiful window which is no doubt my favorite part of train travel because we'll just get to see so much of India this week. Here we have some storage where we'll probably end up unpacking some of our stuff and hanging up the dress clothes that we didn't bring. We're both wearing the fanciest thing that we packed, which isn't that fancy. Here's where things get a little more exciting. We have our tv. They gave us one DVD to watch. These drawers are filled with amenities. Brush, dental kit, comb, anything you could ever want down here.
We have a hole in the wall.
It's fine. There's not a hole. We have a mini bar packed with sodas and three different kinds of chocolate, including Snickers. Somebody must have told them it's time. Under the bed has quite a lot of storage. We have both of our huge suitcases and both of our backpacks down here, which is nice because they're just. Wait until you see our bathroom. Just keep in mind that we're on a train right now. Check out this space. We have a show sink, another mirror. All of your usual amenities.
Plus.
That was loud. A bathtub. We have definitely never had this on a tram before. But the best part is full size amenities also Rose. Yay. And that does it for our suite tour. We are clearly over the moon. Excited to call us our home for the next week. I'm just so grateful and so excited and hungry. It's lunchtime. For some context, this is not our first trip to India. We actually traveled here back in 2018. But that trip looked very different. We did the traditional backpacker route, rode lots of public trains, and ate all the street food. But on this trip, we're going to be experiencing a very different side of India.
So to go from our room to lunch is only three cars. But depending on where you're going on this train, it could be a very long journey. The train has 23 cars, and from the front to the back, it's almost a half mile long.
My favorite herb is cilantro.
Oh, great.
So if you just want to put cilantro on everything that I eat, map.
Cilantro is the basic garnish of all India food.
Perfect.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Namaste. I love them.
Thank you. Wow. So fancy. Starting with a vegetable soup broth.
There's so much flavor, ma'. Am.
That's because of two main ingredients.
Yeah.
I've used the stalks of all the vegetables, and then I cook them for precisely 45 minutes in boiling water. The Strong flavor is of thy and.
Third ingredient is love.
Thank you.
This is beautiful.
This is going to be the best week ever.
Anything that you understand, you just let me know.
What is in here?
Cashew and tomatoes. Sweetness from the cashews and sourness from the tomatoes. So when it goes onto your tongue, it gives you a sweet and sour.
Yes. Can I book a cooking class with you?
No, ma'.
Am.
Thank you, ma'.
Am. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
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This train ride is unlike any other train we've ever taken. It's so much more than just moving.
From point A to point B.
It's like a cruise ship on land. Every day we'll explore a new city and then each night we'll return to the train to move to the next place. This leg that we're on right now will be the longest journey that we'll take without stopping. It's almost 24 hours from Mumbai to Udaipur. So since we have the rest of the afternoon here on the train, we thought we'd use it to show you around the entire train. Every single Car that we have access.
To, the Maharajas Express, has 23 trains. Train cars. We don't have access to four of them, but we're going to show you the other 18. Starting from the very back and making our way all the way to the front. It's going to take a while, but I have this little map telling me where everything is. Very last car is the generator, then it's the staff quarter. So technically we're in train car number three, which has the junior suites. There are three junior suites per car, so they're a little smaller than the suite we're staying in, but they're still super spacious. The biggest difference is that the junior suites don't have a separated living room or bathtub. Train car number four has the deluxe rooms, which are the cheapest rooms that you can stay in all the train, but still there are only 1, 2, 3, 4 of them that take up an entire train.
Car no. 1 on this train is roughing it.
Cars number 6 and 7 are more rooms. This is car number 8. And this is our suite. And there is one other suite in this car. This is the second suite, but I'm pretty sure nobody's staying in here, which means we have this whole train car to ourselves. Car number nine is very special because it has the Presidential Suite. It is the only room that takes up this whole car and it cost $50,000. And somebody staying in.
Car number 10 is another sweet car, identical to ours. And car number 11 is the first bar car, which is where we picked up Chef John.
Good evening and namaste. Welcome on the Maharaja's Express. This train was built in the year 2010. All the artifacts that you see are all original, including those two pistols right out there. Those are from the Portuguese era, when the Portuguese invaded India. I'll just explain it to you now. You take over, ma'.
Am.
Okay. Because you, you, you've memorized it. You know something? When girls speak, they have a different voice. And that's captivating. All right. I have a voice like a horse. These are hand carved chairs made out of mahogany. These tiles are individual chips baked at 578 degrees centigrade. Now, this is just for your information, so don't record it.
Come here. Come closer. You see the shimmers, the reds, the yellows and the blues on this, Ma', am, this is not color. This is semi precious stones crushed to a powder and embedded. This makes it the most expensive artifact on the plane.
I think we're getting a private tour of John's kitchen.
Welcome to my kitchen. This is an entire one. Coach. My most important and expensive piece of equipment, the combination oven. It does everything from boiling rice to baking bread. All the ingredients are here. The best. The best part about this small little kitchen is if you were a Korean and you wanted Korean food, we could give you Korean food. Similarly, if you from any part of the world, we could do something to satisfy your tummy. These water bottles. I'm not using any outside water. I use potable water for cooking your food.
That is so good to know so.
That nobody falls sick.
You're very talented. You should be an actor, Matt.
I should be, but unfortunately I'm not that tall. I'm not that fair. So I would more or less be a villain rather. This is very, very special and is the epitome of this restaurant. 68 year old gentleman has hand painted it. And these are not oil pastels or watercolors. These are colors made by crushing stones.
The rest of the train from cars 16 to 21 are all rooms for guests. The Maharajas Express can carry up to 88 passengers.
Yes.
She's such a good winner.
Oh, you.
That was my very first one.
This game has an added level of difficulty when we're on a moving train.
Two in a row.
No way.
For the win.
I blew it. Thank you very much.
It's impressive on a moving train.
Wow.
My gosh. This is too much. This plate is like 20 pounds.
I would eat this every day for the rest of my Life. We're officially two for two on 10 out of 10 minutes.
Yes.
I am so full in the best way. Oh my gosh. This is the cutest thing ever. He left his eye mask and earplugs on the bed because, you know, I think the mystery remote is solved. Yes. It's a smart tv. And he put the remote here with all of our bed bedtime gifts, bedtime chocolates. I can't believe this is my life for the next seven days.
What are we gonna watch ourselves in India on YouTube?
I have wanted to reminisce on our first time here.
Good morning. I wish I had better news to report on the sleep. Thought I was gonna be able to say I was rocked like a baby all night. But it was more like one of those weight loss machines from 70s or 80s.
The machines do everything.
I don't feel comfortable with that kind of vibration around my hip. This is kind of what it felt like laying in bed all night last night. So we're both a little tired this morning, but this should bring us back to Life.
Oh, my goodness.
That was hot.
Thank you.
That is why I got a breakfast. This is the first non Indian food that I've had in two days.
We have reached Udaipur, the city of lakes.
Good morning, you, Royal Highness. Did you sleep well?
These are all fresh flower petals.
What is this place?
This is crazy.
Thank you.
What a welcome. I wonder if it's going to be like this every time we get on and off the train.
So the biggest perk of being in one of the four suites after you get off the train is instead of getting on the bus with everybody else, you get your own private driver to and from all of the different places. So from here we are going to the city palace complex.
There are two parts, the museum part and the crystal gallery part. And then we drive around the city.
We started the morning at Lake Catull where we hopped on a boat with some oversized life vests. But it was worth being choked to get to see this beautiful city from the water.
Don't mistake my calm, quiet voice for lack of enthusiasm. And about this place, we're just in a very beautiful palace. Everyone's relaxing. The vibe here is nice and calm. I'm just trying not to disrupt it. But let me tell you a little bit about this lake that we're on. This is called Lake Pochola. And Udapur in general is described as the Venice of the east because the city is super green and there's tons of water. And a lot of the city is actually built around the water. I would say Lake Pochola is probably the most beautiful place we visited in all of India. And it's beautiful in a totally different way. Normally I love the beautiful chaos of India, but this place is calm and serene and there are these incredible palaces just built on the banks of this beautiful lake. And even in the middle of the lake, palaces that are their own island.
Come to a place.
Fresh air.
So according to our guide, that is a chess board in the middle of the floor where the queen used to play chess. And apparently chess and polo both originated here in India.
So the main part of the tour is over. But we asked our guy before we parted ways if we can see the local side of Udapur. So he brought us to the vegetable market. And this is the side of India that I remember and fell in love with the beautiful chaos on the streets. This didn't happen last time we were here, or we didn't understand it, but we're walking through this market and all the ladies are asking if we just got married. And I think it's customary if you just got married that you're supposed to be handing out sweets. So they're all asking for sweets.
I love this so much.
And we asked our guide if we should get some, and he said that would cause a lot of problems. The whole market would be on top of us.
Let's do it.
Oh, wow. This is impressive.
Wow. Magic.
Wow.
Three colors.
How many are you getting?
I don't know.
12.
I have to stop, or otherwise you'll have 30.
I don't know how I'm gonna get these off.
Do you want one of mine? I am so happy right now. We walked by that street stall, and I was like, oh, yeah, I'll buy one. They're made of glass. They're really pretty. I thought it'd be a cute souvenir. Turns out you have to buy them in packs of 50. Gosh, I've missed this.
Okay. We've just parted ways with our tour guide. We have about an hour until the sun sets, so we're gonna spend some time wandering around the old city.
Also booking the suite and having the private driver and the private guide. I did not realize how good that was gonna be. But everyone else on the train went around in a big group on a bus with headsets, and we had a guide. One on one. We got to ask all of our questions. Anytime you come to India, you're gonna see cows roaming the streets. Is it bad to to touch cows?
Hey, buddy.
So learning more about the cows was fascinating to me. Even though they're out roaming the streets, people actually own the cows, and it's good karma to feed the cows. He said, in the Hindu religion, feeding one cow is like feeding 100 humans. So if you want efficient karma, you just go out and you feed a cow.
I'm just looking at the trees.
Totally different Woman just got hit by a motorcycle. It was very softly. Noah is injured.
You literally never know what you're gonna see on the streets here. It was just a kid getting pulled in a golden lion chariot and a whole procession of people singing in front of him and waving flags.
Okay, I'm having a moment right now. We were rounding the corner, and I saw there was no sunset. The clouds were just gray. And I was super bummed because I've been looking forward to this all day. And then we found something way better than a sunset.
All time.
The. These candles are being released into the water. Women are wearing these beautiful dresses, lighting candles on the God. Apparently, today is the last day of Diwali, which is a huge holiday here in India. And the women are lighting candles and sending them out into the water in order for their husbands to live a long life. I'm sure it's more elegant than that, but that's what a local just tried to tell us with their broken English. It's so beautiful. And I'm so happy that we didn't go back to the train with the group.
It's kind of weird that it's hanging out in front of the leather shop.
Wow.
Okay, we're going, we're going. Thank you for the help.
Off we go.
Okay, we're heading back to the train. Going back is a little more exciting than leaving.
I've missed this. Ubers are so boring.
Our guide also told us this morning that honking here means nothing like it does back home.
It just means I'm coming. And sometimes if you don't let people know you're coming, they might be more.
Mad than if you honk. If you don't honk.
All right, thank you so much.
Thank you.
And unnegotiated 15 minute ride to the train station just cost less than $2. Udaipur is the best carrot said about any city in India right now. She's just so excited to be back.
Have you been waiting for us the whole time?
No doubt we're the last ones on the train.
Are we? Last?
Yeah.
Yes. So cheers.
Cheers.
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Thank you. I could have done that.
Oh.
I totally missed these on our tour yesterday when there are two foot massagers in the middle of the train and now we're watching a movie. It doesn't get any better than this. Oh, my gosh, Rohit, this is too much. In the next episode, our train continues to Jodhpur, where we spend the day exploring India's beautiful, beautiful blue city. And then Nate talked me into visiting one of the most unique and somewhat horrifying places I have ever seen. This temple filled with rats. Stay tuned.
