Blogs from Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 160

Despite ye olde bowels still being far from healthy, I managed to down some bananas this morning, which will supposedly assist my recovery. I was also lucky that the hotel (for Rs 100 commission) purchased my onward train ticket for me, which saved me the rickshaw trips to/from the station, plus no doubt a ton of waiting time at Lucknow's notoriously busy reservations counter. With that potential headache resolved, I decided to head out for a spot of sight-seeing. If Westerners know anything about Lucknow, it's that it was the site of a mutiny in 1857, in which 3,000 British and British-sympathisers were put under siege in the Residency building by Indian soldiers - when they were finally relieved, only about 1,000 were still alive. Of course, the other view of this version of events is ... read more

Due to various delays, the train journey stretched by 2 hours to 13.5 hours, which was not welcome in my weakened state. I'd chosen the most luxurious hotel of my trip so far for my stay in Lucknow - the $70 per night Gemini Continental. Though it was in good condition and in some ways bore a resemblance to American motels, it was no better than the place I had stayed in in McLeod Ganj, which had cost less than half the price. Additionally, the restaurant and laundry were both significantly more expensive than anywhere I've stayed. Once more, I was given completely incorrect information about the location of Internet cafes and opticians. I eventually found an area that was crawling with opticians, but it seems as though the only cleaning solution available for gas permeables ... read more

Leaving Varanasi was a little bit more trouble than I would have thought. There was some confusion over my train ticket, and I spent several hours moving from car to car and class to class, before finally ending up with a bunk and a blanket around 1am. Luckily, the train was a little late, so I actually got some sleep! Even more lucky was that in the course of going back and forth and back and forth, I met the nicest family of five from France who were going to Agra too. The Fraval's are visiting India to see their daughter who is studying in Delhi. Off the train in the morning around 9, I managed to find them in the crowd of people getting off the train (a benifit of being a foreigner I guess!). ... read more

Fulfilling the Dream It is really difficult to describe the feeling when you stand in front of the Taj Mahal....maybe it is just me (although all the people I know that have seen it had it too) but it is so magnificent, majestic, beautiful and romantic.... no wonder it is one of the World Wonders....hard to believe it is a tomb.... I have seen it twice and I did it at two different times of a day....First one very early in the morning - it was maybe 6 am when rickshaw driver took us to the river bank and we could see a spectacle of mist falling down and unveiling the majestic building....amazing and even though it was not intentional to go there at that time (it was mostly due to the early arrival of the ... read more

I attended a global peace symposium in Lucknow. The hosts were the venerable institution called CMS or Central Montessori School. Jagdish Gandhi started this institution nearly thirty years ago, with nothing more than a vision and prayer. Five years ago they got into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Montessori school in the world with over 30,000 students. There was a primary conference, where Chief Justices from many countries around the world participated. I met the hoary bearded Chief Justice of Afghanistan, a lovely woman from Timor Leste (probably the newest nation around), from Uzbekistan, Kazhakstan, Bosnia, Nigeria and so on. Absent were the Chief Justices of the US and UK, as well as France and Germany. The Chief Justices were treated each day at the opening to a recitation of demands for ... read more