We were sad to farewell our home amongst the tigers, The Ranthambore Regency Hotel. It’s well over a year since we’ve been sad to say goodbye to a hotel and it’s amazing staff - there’s a fair chance we’ll break Tripadvisor with the glowing review we’re leaving for them. But there you have it, within a week they felt like family - the good kind mind that you actually want to stay with and who spoil you rotten!

We spent the morning of the 10th doing the ‘big-bang-in-reverse’ routine and getting everything wrangled back into the bags. Due to the heavenly comfort of our big, squishy king bed, we didn’t even need to get the mattress toppers out - which made packing a 100% easier.

Before we knew it we were farewelling all and sundry and loading the bags into the boot for the short drive to the railway station. Due to many factors which we won’t go into (go on, use your imaginations), the driver waited with us at the correct spot on the platform for the Golden Temple Mail train to pull in at 12.30 pm. This massive train had already come all the way from Mumbai and was going to ‘whisk’ us up and through Delhi and on to the Pubjabi city of Amritsar. Whisk as in haul us creaking and groaning over a fair whack of India.

The train was on time (yippee!) and we found our cabin easily - this time around we were able to secure 2 berths in the 1st class airconditioned sleeper carriage - so it was a huge relief to make our way through the 2nd class sleepers with their grubby curtains and grotty floors and into the ‘luxury’ of 1st class. There were cabins with 4 berths but ours had only 2 which was just wonderful - we locked the door and were much more protected from the world at large and the dodgy food floggers - bliss. Mind you we then had to fend off the carriage attendant - after he’d dropped off our linens we shooed him out as a cabin for 2 gets very crowded with 3 inside. Then it was just a case of declining the sweepy-men periodically. But mainly just keeping the door locked worked a charm.

We’ve developed the mentality here in India that anyone who thinks they’ve not yet been scammed... is not unscathed, they just haven’t noticed yet. For instance, we remained unmolested all the way to Delhi - then there was being a very polite knock on the door - so we looked through the window and there was a nicely dressed man with a list and a harmless looking daughter. He was determined that he had booked our top berth for his daughter. He waved his long list of cabin assignments. We waved our cabin chart confirmation showing clearly that we had both berths confirmed in our names. He pushed. We resisted. He nicked off to ‘check’ with someone. Which we all know is code for, ‘right then - these tourists didn’t come down in the last shower, I’ll go and persuade someone else to give up a berth they paid for so that my ‘daughter’ can invade their space and rifle through their belongings while they sleep’. Fagin - be off with you and your devious, light fingered, twisty little brethren.

First class was mainly ‘first’ because of the lockable door. The berths were a little bit wider, the rock hardness was ever so slightly less rocky than 2nd and we rested up for the 17 hours north to Amritsar. We were actually surprised when we arrived 10 minutes early. The cabin attendant made his 2nd cameo appearance for no reason other than to hold his hand out for a tip - we figured he was dreaming since he hadn’t even bothered to knock on the door and let us know it was in fact our station.

The rep from the tour company came into the carriage and found us and we made it to the hotel in short order - where the gods smiled upon us and they let us check in at 6 am - thank you indeed to the Golden Sarovar Portico in Amritsar. We really hadn’t wanted to be ‘those people’ curled up in a lobby chair waiting patiently for check in time in the mid afternoon. Anyway - one of the reasons we took the tour option in India is simply because it’s warranted - East Africa, Egypt 6 months after the revolution and Jordan - all places that warranted tours. India even more so. After a day out sightseeing in ‘the real world’ of dirt poor with a side helping of dirt and an extra helping of poor - it’s a miracle to be able to return to the haven, the oasis even of a soft bed, copious amounts of hot water, snazzy amenities and hot and cold running staff.

So having emptied the hot water system of the entire hotel and slept for a couple of hours, we trundled down for a nice breakfast buffet and then returned to the room to utilise the very functional wifi and have a rest day/catchup. We only left the hotel for 30 minutes to walk down to the shopping area and find an ATM to stock up on rupees to make our local payment to the tour guide. Back to the hotel and up to the roof top bar for a little dinner and a cocktail before bed (James pictured at the bar). We are very fortunate indeed to have had a down day to prepare for the tour - the rest of the tour group were flyng into Delhi at various times during the day then had a 6 hour train ride up to Amritsar. As it turned out their train was running late and they didn’t get to the hotel until 11.30 pm. Going to be a few tiredys on the first day of the tour proper.

Manana? The highlights of Amritsar - The Golden Temple (with actual gold - centre of the world for the Sikh religion, The Jallianwala Bagh Garden - a memorial to a massacre of the local Indian populace by the British in 1919 and then an afternoon excursion to the border with Pakistan to see the Wagah border closing ceremony. Big day ahead. Big indeed.