In the Cities of Majesticity

mousourik

Being forced to live in a city, I was always of the opinion that we should spend our vacations in the lap of nature. However, this time we made a conscious change by traveling to two cities, mostly known for their royal linkage, followed by another which is not really so touristy. So, clubbing these three locations together might have raised some eyebrows, but at the end of the journey, we liked them all. Here is our travelogue on Lucknow-Agra-Kanpur.

Bugged

At first I thought that these must be mosquito bites, but couldn’t spot one with my sleepy eyes. Then it occurred to me that it might be an allergic reaction to the non-veg meal that we had opted for that night. But I was suspicious as I had never experienced this before. Then it was itching everywhere and I was forced to sit up on the bed. I scratched my ear – and there they were ! At least two or three of them fell on the bed, 4-5 millimetre long. I was wondering what they might be. Then came the horrible realization – bedbugs. They were everywhere – in my shirt, within the trousers, below the bedsheet…. We were traveling in the first AC of Howrah-Amritsar mail and the berths were full of them. So it was a sleepless night for us – we were all busy trying to spot and kill as many of them as possible.

Lucknow Day 1

Our first impression of the city was somewhat different from what we had heard from almost everybody – that it’s very dingy. It seemed to be lot greener than Calcutta. Later on we found that almost all the autos had been running on CNG for the last two years ! How could it be when our Cal perhaps can’t do that in next two years ? Is Lucknow devoid of politicians? The number of vehicles plying on road was definitely much less than Cal. One amazing point was that there were not many traffic police there and everybody seemed to move in any direction at his own will. Rickshaws, cars, autos, pedestrians – nobody really cared about others and still none collided with another ! And Lucknow rickshaws – I don’t remember having seen anyone of them having any bells. Their carrying capacity is much more – they have one extra seat in the back and thus accommodate more people. I have seen five-six passengers of various ages going in one rickshaw ! In fact, for one medium sized Indian family, one rickshaw is sufficient.

We checked in hotel Gomti in the afternoon and our first venture was to the famous Sharma Tea Centre in the Lalbagh area. We took samosas followed by tea. It was good, but perhaps nothing out of the world. Then we went to Shahid Smarak to watch the sunset on the river Gomti, but this being on the west bank of the river, we couldn’t really see the setting sun or its reflection in the river. However it is a nice place to spend the evenings.
Our next destination was Residency, very near the Shahid Smarak. The British used to stay here, but later on they deserted it during the troubled days of the Mutiny in 1857. As it was already dark, we decided to watch the light and sound show only that evening. The one-hour show is very well designed and is recommended to every tourist. It focuses on the history of Lucknow and the Residency as well. It helped us a lot in understanding the significance of the buildings and we could relate to them very easily on our second visit there after two days.
Next we went to buy some famous Lucknow chikans. Some of them, priced at around Rs.1.5 lacs, had really marvelous work. It must have taken a couple of years to get the entire piece ready. It may not be possible to make a place for it in the wardrobe, but it’s definitely worth the price tag.
We took our dinner at the Sekhawat, near Gymkhana club. It was a Sunday night and we were too late for the biryani. We tried gelawati kebab instead. Yes, it was good, but we found it to be a little bit spicy. And so on our way back to the hotel, we made a brief stop at Ram Asrey sweets shop.

Gametotravel

This will be a real interesting read like going back in time.All three especially Lucknow and Kanpur real majectic cities of Hindustani Tehzeeb.

livinhimalayas

did you try the kababs at Tunde Mian in Chowk??? He is the best and will tone up or down the spices to suit your palate. his Paranthas are divine!
Chai at Sharma is good but i prefer the samosas of a non-discript samosawala on the corner of a thin lane in Hussainganj.

__________________
He that would live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees. - Benjamin Franklin

mousourik

We knew of Tunde Mian, but I don't know why everybody there advocated Sekhawat and not Tunde. So we decided to go to Sekhawat. Also, time was a constraint.

livinhimalayas

Sekhawat is famous for his biryani only, the rest of his fare is pretty ordinary.

mousourik

Before leaving Cal, I regularly checked Lucknow temperature and it was around 36 degree. But we were fortunate that everywhere we got good weather. There was a chill in the air when we started our day with a visit to the famous architectures – Bara Imambara, Bhulbhulaiya, Water chamber, Asafi Mosque, Rumi Darwaza, Clock Tower, Chhota Imambara. The engineering concepts behind Bhulbhulaiya, particularly the acoustics, are very impressive. It must have been said umpteenth times – but still then, it’s pretty intriguing to find how one can hear the sound of a piece of paper being torn, or a match stick being lit up, standing at the other end of a massive hall. Or the whispering sounds making their way through the labyrinths of the Bhulbhulaiya. The guide did encourage us to lose and find our way, but despite our sincere efforts and even being very close to the exit point, we wouldn’t have been able to come out without his help. Equally beautiful are the chandeliers at the Chhota Imambara.

We made a brief stop at Tilewale Mosque near the Gomti. The other bank of the river seemed to be an washer man’s haven. We saw so many birds on this side – it’s unthinkable in Calcutta.

Our culinary venture in the morning was to Shri Lassi Corner in the Chowk and the lassi there was absolutely brilliant. Although our auto-driver was saying that their quality had now come down and another joint at Kaiserbagh serves better lassi, we liked it nevertheless.

Our last stop in the morning was at the Shahid Smarak, where we got down mainly to get some snaps.

We took our lunch at a dhaba opposite Sharma Tea in Lalbagh that we had seen in the previous afternoon. The food at hotel Gomti seemed to be over-priced and hence we went there. The rickshaw pullers were only interested in taking us to the “market”, and not any eatery. After much dissuasion, we finally managed to have our lunch.

mousourik

In the afternoon, we first went to Baradari, then Raja-ka-maqbara (Saddat Ali Khan's tomb) and Rani-ki-maqbara. From there we saw Lohia park. In fact we went by lot of parks, but didn’t enter them. We liked Kudia park the most. It’s just on the bank of the Gomti and well maintained. Unfortunately the condition of the river is not that good. Then we decided to go to the other bank to watch the sunset, but it was not very impressive.

We went to Sekhawat little bit early and ordered mutton biryani. This dish was really good. There is a marked difference from the biryani served at Calcutta. Here an egg is always served with the biryani, but we didn’t find that there. And the Sekhawat variation was dry.

Day 3 – The Tiger Pounded on Us

We used to take only the breakfast at the hotel. On the previous morning we took two plates of puri-bhaji which was sufficient for the three of us. This morning also we ordered the same, but found that the puris had become smaller. When we brought this to notice of the people, they smiled and said that it was our mistake! The overall service at the hotel was not upto the mark.

We first visited two spots not so well known – Shah Najaf Imambara and Butler’s palace. In between we went to Hanuman temple. Our next destination was the zoo. Again, we found it to be greener and more sprawling than Alipore zoo in Calcutta. There were two tigers in open areas. One of them was somewhat restless and when my son tried to mimic the tiger’s growl, it turned back, roared, came running towards us, jumped and rammed into the iron bars standing on the rear legs. For a moment we were all startled and limped back in scare. This must have been experienced by victims of tiger attacks, the only difference here being the presence of the cage between us and the tiger.

There was a museum inside the zoo, but instead of a visit there, we preferred the toy train ride. There was a tree in front of the museum that had no leaves, but several large beehives – a very interesting sight indeed.

Next we visited La Martiniere school, reminiscent of the British era. Our last stop was at the Charbagh railway station, where we took some snaps of this ancient building.

The afternoon was reserved for the Residency, which is very well maintained. We couldn’t enter the museum as it had been closed already. But the ruins, the greenery, the ambience – everything made our last day in Lucknow very enjoyable.

livinhimalayas

Try Khatti Machchali at Shekhawat the next time you are there, supposed to be the best dish that he prepares.

Meander

Very interesting posts, can you please upload photos also.

mousourik

Some photos are already uploaded, others will be done gradually.

dcamrass1

Read your post, intresting

mousourik

We boarded Gomti Express at Lucknow early morning and got down at Tundla wherefrom we reached hotel Taj Khema by a hired car. I’d like to mention a couple of points about Taj Khema. It’s very near the eastern gate of the Taj. In fact, there is one place in the hotel premises where one can have a very good view of the Taj. It’s amidst lot of greenery and we saw so many beautiful birds there – it’s really amazing. Now, what’s on the other side of the coin ?
The hotel is located in an area where only battery operated cars are allowed. As we didn’t have any idea of how far it’s from the check post, we were bullied by rickshaw pullers to pay unnecessary high prices. Secondly, the rooms were very small. And room service – nothing was available. They used to take such a long time to make the breakfast ready that everyday we were late for the morning trips. The food was also unduly over-priced.

We started our Agra tour in the afternoon with a visit to Itmad-Ud-Daula, popularly known as baby Taj. It is beautiful, but definitely no match for the original one. Those who comment that this is more interesting than Taj, in my humble opinion, they haven’t seen the latter at all. But more of it later.

We then proceeded towards Mehtab bagh and this really made our day. It’s located just behind the Taj, on the opposite bank of the Yamuna. There’s a road beside the park that has led to the river bed. We walked briskly – and there It stood ! It was our first view and undoubtedly it was majestic. In fact, Later on we found out that we were the only Indian tourists there.

theyyamdancer

Great write-up, well written and informative. Looking forward to more of the same.

What kind of embroidery is a Lucknow chikan?

__________________
"Wandering seemed no more than the happiness of an anxious man." - Albert Camus

livinhimalayas

done mainly with white thread on muslins, voilles, organdie, etc, using a combination of upto 16 different stitches. Very delicate and beautiful. Google images, you will find people all over India wearing it.

Attached Thumbnails

   

mousourik

One photo uploaded here :Lucknow Chikan