Looking at Lucknow

 After the Taj Mahal early morning, we returned to the hotel for breakfast before climbing into our trusty bus with Hamlal Ji at the wheel.   I am always surprised how people gravitate to the same seat…we now have our places!  

First stop was a rug making facility that Intrepid sponsor.  Apparently it is a dying art.  We saw workers at looms and there was a very in-depth explanation of the process before the hard sell set in.  The weavers earn 2250 Rupies per square foot.  We saw one group of three working on a carpet about 8x6 ft and they were about 1/3 of the way through….it had taken them 4 months to that point!  

 I manage to extricate myself as the Delhi Belly has zapped all my energy, however I watched from a distance!  One of our group purchased a carpet and it will be posted for free to arrive in 15 days to the USA!   The rugs were beautiful and felt gorgeous under foot however I can’t imagine on at the farm any time soon.  

It was back on the bus, after our beautiful tour leader Avdesh Ji purchased more hydro lite for me!  It was a long trip to Lucknow and we didn’t arrive until 6ish.  I managed to have a fresh coconut at one of our TnT (toilet and tea) stops - beautiful Sam on our trip is a nurse clinician and recommended it as good source of potassium which might help!

We all remarked at the changing landscape - Rajasthan was very dry - the fields looked dry and there were what we thing many small fields surround by low mounding walls (we think to keep moisture from runoff) where as in Uttar Pradesh it appear much more fertile - lots more green rattan than beige wheat.  Crops of potatoes; millet; mustard, wheat, some form of pea were evident.  More people were seen in fields and more and larger trees were growing.  

Coming into Lucknow we instantly went from fields to roadside stalls selling all kinds of things. In the outskirts there were small housing compounds lining the road where there were rows and stacks of cow/buffalo dung patties.  These are used for fuel!  We were driving past this very simple and basic lifestyle on a six lane overpass!  The contrast was staggering.  

Before we knew it we were in the city proper - lots of large art deco colonial buildings - Legislative Assemblies; military compounds, public offices with imposing facades, large trees, lots of green.  The traffic then became as it has in every other town/city we have been in - very busy, noisy and chaotic!

Dinner for the group was a Sheroes - a cafe that supports survivors of Acid Attack.  Again unfortunately the DB got the better of me and I had dry biscuits and hydro lite and an early night and given it was day 4, some antibiotics!

We assembled at a leisurely time this morning, having had a breakfast in the hotel buffet area (me with toast only!) and then jumped into the bus with Hamlal Ji and a new guide Anil to visit some of the sighs of Lucknow.    During morning traffic, I was again struck by the contrasts and cleanliness of this city.  While you do not see the rubbish piling, you do see the poverty of ordinary Lucknowites - you see it in the transport, the road side stalls, the clothes they wear and the areas of the city…from one corner to another at times you seem to span the spectrum.  

We visited what is known as the British Residency Compound….once a 34 acre compound built in the early 1700s by the Newab who moved the capital of the province to Lucknow.  In the mid 1800s it was taken over by the British as part of the East India Company arrangement and housed the execs of that company.   It was the site of the Siege of Lucknow, part of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Lucknow was recaptured by the East India Company in March 1858. The Residency suffered extensive damage during the fighting, and has been in ruins ever since.  We all commented on how nice it was to walk amongst trees and enjoy the peace and quite, not having realised how noisy and busy things had been since arriving in Delhi…one get slightly acclimatised to it and it is only when those stimulations are reduced that you realise …a bit like boiling a frog!

We then went to Bara Imambara - a gathering hall for Shia Muslims and part of the mosque complex. Built in 1784, it is the world's second largest imambara.  It is a single span dome hall that was used as a gathering place…the Newab had a special room at one end, and in the balconies hidden from view above sat his Concubines and Wives who viewed proceedings…a little like a kings audience space.  

In leading to the viewing balconies there is a labyrinth maze…we ascended some very steep steps and walked around what were like tunnels to see the balconies but also to access the roof top.  The views were spectacular!  

  

   

This evening we attended the home of Ishi to experience Awadhi home cooking - it consisted of vegetarian biryanis and other beautiful delicacies…a real taste experience!

Leaving our cooking hosts, we hit the street to get our bus back to the hotel….here is a video of what the street was like…at around 8,30 pm…just organised chaos!