This New Year’s eve found me in a railway compartment. Don’t commiserate. Instead, exercise control over your envy. The compartment was on the Golden Chariot; and being there is not exactly the unfortunate equivalent of being caught on the Virar fast in Mumbai or at Kalighat on the Kolkata Metro or the Rajdhani.
This was a swishy railway coach that, barely 24 hours earlier, had been fitted out as a full-fledged bar, where I had picked up a dram of smoky, malty Bowmore and settled down for a masterclass by executive chef Deepak Chaubey. Chaubey taught us to effortlessly turn out a killer Kundapur Koli Saaru (Kundapur Chicken Curry; see Masterclass). And now, the same coach had a DJ rocking—and literally rolling—us into 2012.
Welcome aboard: Traditional musicians welcome guests on the Golden Chariot at Yesvantpur station in Bangalore. Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP.
The 75 guests on the Golden Chariot were somewhere between Badami and Goa. But if you had asked them, each would have claimed to be in some delightful part of seventh heaven.
The Golden Chariot, a cousin of the much venerated Palace on Wheels, is a luxury train in south India that covers Bangalore, Mysore, Kabini, Hassan, Halebid, Sravanabelagola, Hampi, Pattadakal, Badami and Goa. It recasts the idea of luxury tourism, combining it with slow, unhurried travel. Over its eight-day journey it stops by little towns where the largest auto showrooms display half a dozen tractors and where pushing the dirt below your feet could uncover the remains of forgotten 14th century temples. In contrast, the train has two dining cars with immaculate silver service, butlers, masseurs, a gym, a business centre with Internet connectivity, giant Volvo buses to take you around heritage sites and compact, clean bathrooms attached to each cabin that proudly sport white fluffy bathrobes, bathroom slippers and—you didn’t guess this next one, right?—Mysore Sandal soap.
It’s no surprise that the Golden Chariot train journey is rated as one of the seven best journeys in the world by Vanity Fair magazine. It counts with others like the Eurostar, Rovos Rail between Cape Town and Pretoria, the Trans Siberian Express in Russia, the Orient Express between London and Venice, and the Royal Canadian Pacific between Vancouver and Montreal.
The plush interiors of the coaches. Photo: Courtesy Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation.
Waking up on a double bed with a duvet to keep you warm, the spectacular purple of sunrise bleeding through the horizon as the countryside blurs past, the smell of fresh south Indian coffee delivered to your door, and the newspaper read in the coach lounge are great ways to start the New Year.
There’s no point telling you about the incredible heritage of the country that unfolds on the journey—you can read all of that and more online or in a history book. What none of the descriptions of the journey will tell you is the remarkable warmth of the staff on board.
We—nine in all—had five cabins booked on the Golden Chariot for the New Year. This meant an entire coach, a lounge area and an additional cabin in an adjoining coach was for us. It’s a recipe for disaster, noise, confusion and utter despair for the attending butler. But the 45-strong staff on the train didn’t wince, nor did their smiles wane, even when they were confronted with the three young adults in the family who boarded the train with guitars on their backs. In fact, to help with the private celebrations of a 50th birthday in the family, the train staff went out of their way to set up the lounge area, send along a silver ice pail and champagne flutes, and serve snacks while we popped a bottle of Moet & Chandon Imperial just an hour or so before the New Year.
At about 30 minutes to midnight on New Year’s eve, the general manager of the train, Abhijay Verma, casually informed everyone that the train would make an unscheduled 15-minute halt at the Dudhsagar Falls in the dead of night. The New Year party, now almost at a boil, was brought to a simmer by the DJ, the train came to a halt in the middle of nowhere and the doors were thrown open. Everyone—senior citizens included—was helped off the train into pitch darkness with the spooky thunder of the waterfalls in the background. Halogen lights hooked to the train were switched on and—phew!—suddenly we could see water plummeting more than 1,000ft. Dudhsagar is the fifth tallest waterfall in India and 227th in the world. The falls are located in the watershed of the Mandovi river that begins its journey on the border of Karnataka and Goa, deep in the Western Ghats.
Just as quickly, everyone was back in the train, sipping wine, ready for the countdown to 2012.
When New Year arrived, cocooned in the darkness of the hills, surrounded by the elegant interiors that reflect the royal dynasties of Karnataka, it was easy to get disoriented. I must confess it was a rather charming way to bring in the New Year. I won’t mind staying disoriented for the rest of 2012.
MasterClass
At the bar Madira, executive chef Deepak Chaubey teaches you some local food
Kundapur Koli Saaru
Serves 6
Main ingredients
4 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
10-15 curry leaves
4 tbsp onions, chopped
4 tbsp tomatoes, chopped
1 kg curry-cut chicken
6 tbsp Kundapur paste
Salt to taste
2 cups water
15g tamarind paste
Coriander leaves for garnish
For the Kundapur paste
6-7 cloves
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 cinnamon sticks
2 tbsp coriander seeds
4-5 red chillies (whole)
100g coconut, grated
2 cups of water
Roast and grind to a fine paste
Method
Heat oil in pan. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves, chopped onions and sauté till light brown, then add the tomatoes and sauté. Add chicken, Kundapur paste, tamarind paste, salt, water and stir well. Cover the pan and cook for 15-20 minutes or till the chicken is done. Garnish with coriander. Serve with steamed rice.
Arun Katiyar is a content and communication consultant with a focus on technology companies. He is a published author with HarperCollins and has extensive media experience spanning music, print, radio, the Internet and mobile phones.
Write to lounge@livemint.com
Also See : Trip Planner | Golden Chariot (PDF)