Blogs from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia

Lucky Lucknow -Piprey on wheels Lucknow has a royal feel. It used to be the land of etiquette, poetry and subtle behaviour. Urdu language here is at its finest so much so that two people fighting sounds like music. I had an opportunity to visit my cousin and his family; jumped at it. I was so happy to meet my cousin. The airport was small, clean and tidy. The city was small, more like Delhi but refined with architecture showing loads of arches by the river Gomti. There were fishes carved on the arches as it was considered auspicious (I thought the architect was Bengali). My cousin’s flat was spacious with lots of green plants, song birds and an old dog. After tea, we went to a lovely homely place where I tasted authentic Awash biryani ... read more

‘Lucknow’ is not a destination. It is a journey. From being laid down by Lord Lakshmana to being ruled by Mughal emperors to being the administrative capital during the British Raj to finally being the capital of Uttar Pradesh … “Lucknow” has seen it all … & how!! … & through all of this Lucknow proudly has lived up to its reputation of being a city of culture, gracious living, rich cuisine & beauty. Lucknow comes across as a fairly simple & easy city. Traces of each of the era the city has lived through are sure to be seen & felt quite easily & adequately. The city will happily hold your hand & show you around. It is quite miraculous. Once in Lucknow, celebrations of “Bada Mangal” cannot be missed. It is a festival devoted ... read more

Kathmandu to Dharamsala. Three days in transit. Three buses, two trains, one night in a horrible hotel in India's sex trafficking capital. Hectiness. Heat. Organised chaos. Single very white female walking the streets of India alone with no train ticket. Near breakdown. Somehow amongst the chaos that very alone, very out of place female managed to play the poor innocent white girl card and obtain VIP status for a ticket on what was, at the time, a full train to Lucknow. Western girl in traditional clothing turning up to a Western shopping mall in an Indian city, with the locals wearing western clothes.I think you call that irony. Top bunk in AC3 for an overnight journey with lovely company. Free Indian food from a lovely family and then falling asleep with a blanket on because the ... read more

The night was short and I left Ayodhya on a tempo with a bunch of school girls destination Faizabad to take a bus to Lucknow. The bus itself was a dirty piece of rusty metal. People would wipe the seats with newspapers before sitting down. The ride was shorter than I had anticipated: two and a half hours. It was semi-comfortable as I had to keep my big bag on my lap and there was little legroom. I sat next to an engineering student (everybody I meet seems to be one!) checking his notes on the Leibniz theorem. Another guy tried talking to me but the pan he was chewing and the broken English didn’t make for a very productive conversation. Once in Lucknow I get robbed 50 rupees by a rickshaw to the train station ... read more

So we have reached day 7 and are still trying to settle into India. Is massively overwhelming, loud and bright. We went to the Taj Mahal which was really beautiful. Much larger than we both thought it would be, stunning creamy white, intricately detailed with stars and flowers. It was really busy there, even though we were there really early. Lots of European and Japanese tourists as well as huge numbers of Indian families. We wandered around for a few hours but had to leave as my stomach told me to! We are currently in Lucknow, staying in a home stay which is nice. Is in a quiet suburb so there is much less noise and fuss (and smell). We get a good breakfast too which is useful as we have now started the dreaded malaria ... read more