Now In Lucknow

Travelled by train to Lucknow and are now staying at Lucknow Homestay in a quiet leafy part of Lucknow. Big rooms and very friendly staff and visitors.

Yesterday did a lot of sightseeing beginning with La Martiniere, the school where Cliff Richards spent some time as a young boy. It is a huge boarding school that looks like something out of a gothic film. Lots of statues of lions and gargoyles on the rooftops.

Then it was on to The Residency where the Siege of Lucknow occurred and we saw buildings still bearing the battle scars of the 200 plus days siege.

Cycle rickshaws are used throughout the city here but they are not as fancy as the ones we saw in Rewa, which had Bollywood stars painted on the front and back. Some looked very Elvis Presleyish!

We went to a huge Muslim memorial which included a labyrinth, which supposedly you can get lost in if you don’t hire a guide with a torch. I did ask our auto driver if they had ever found the bones of tourists who had never found their way out…but he didn’t laugh!

Then is was around the corner to a huge mosque but only Muslims could enter this one. It was call-to-prayer time so we stayed to listen to the haunting sounds coming from the minaret.

Lucknow is a very clean city with wide streets and lots of trees.We have seen very few cows wandering through the streets, but did find a mama dog feeding her newborn pups. Six in all.

Overnight train tonight to Agra for 3 nights.