“T hat first glimpse of the Taj Mahal never gets old — and I’ve seen it at least 50 times,” says my guide, Mohammed Nadeem Khan, with a glint in his eye. We walk towards the monument for what is my comparably paltry second time in 17 years. This occasion feels a little more special, though, perhaps because I’m here with my husband, Max — but more likely because we’ve arrived in serious style on an opulent new rail journey.
Having grown up and lived in India until the age of 22, travelling across the subcontinent with my family as a child, I’ve endured several exhausting cross-country journeys, once spending 21 hours in a sweaty, basic commuter train between Bangalore and Mumbai. This time, I’m experiencing the Indian rail network in a very different way on board the Deccan Odyssey, a luxury private train that has been in operation since 2003 and is just about the most fabulous way to tour the country in style..