After a 5 day stay in Delhi boarded the "12230/Lucknow Mail" at 2210 hrs and reached Lucknow at approx 0800 hrs on Tuesday(8-11-2011).Alighted the train and made my way to the "Railway Rest Room", refreshing myself and also getting the feel of the average long distance train passengers ordeal on "Second Class Travel" in India.After refreshing myself made my way to the "Cloak Room" to deposit my luggage and was told to provide a xerox copy of my identity proof, a latest nuisance due to the "Terrorism Epidemic".Had to walk out of the railway station with my luggage, get my document xeroxed and again re-enter the station and deposit my luggage at the "Cloak-Room" on a charge of Rs 10 per package.After depositing my luggage went to the common railway toilet and relieved myself, a bit happy that my diarrhea symptoms were vanishing.Later made my way out of "Lucknow Railway Station" into "Lucknow City", start of the "Lucknow solo-tour".
Tuesday(8-11-2011):- This would be a hectic day in Lucknow as i would be departing the same night to Varanasi by train, a test of stamina and mental toughness.Just outside the station on the opposite side of the road spotted a daba type hotel.Entered "Milan Hotel" and ordered a "Egg Paratha and tea", hoping that my upset bowels were healing.The "Egg Paratha" was delicious and after an average breakfast inquired about the tourist sites in Lucknow having done my homework on the internet, most famous being the "Bada Imambara" and the "British Residency".Most of my readers ,if any, would by now understand that i am a "History Buff" with an eye for detail in my travelogue writings.Lucknow has fascinated me for its Nawabi "Courtesan culture" as well as being the site of one of the worst episodes of the Indian Sepoy revolt of 1857.As i had just a day in Lucknow decided to use the rickshaw as a guide and mode of transport in Lucknow.
Boarded a rickshaw on the main station road and told the driver to take me to the "Bara Imambara"complex.The charges were Rs 90 and at approx 0930hrs reached the gates of the "Bara Imambara". At the gates a guide approached me and told me to take a horse-tonga ride of the nearby historic sites to which i agreed, being absolutely haggard from non-stop walking and public transport traveling in Delhi. Worst, had an almost sleepless night on the train journey to Lucknow with an attempt made to rob me of my brief-case bag.
Purchased an entrance combination ticket at the entrance gate which allowed access to the "Bara Imambara" , the "Chota Imambara" and the "Picture Art gallery" all within two kilometers of each other. The Tongawalla took me on his tonga, ages since i sat in a tonga, passing through the majestic "Rumi Darwaza" built by Nawab Asaf.Ud.Daula in 1784.The word "Rumi" is of Persian origin which means Rome and built during the great famine of Lucknow to provide wages for the laborers.As usual i went camera crazy clicking photos for my blogs as well as memoirs of a day in Nawabi Lucknow.
The tongawalla took me on an external tour , showing me the Hussainabad clock tower of Lucknow situated between the "Chota Imambara" and the "Bada Imambara".This clock tower was built in 1880 by Nawab Nasir.Ud.Din.Hyder and at 221 feet is the tallest clock tower in India.Adjacent to the clock tower is the octagonal Hussainabad tank.Later,typical of entrepreneurial professional guided tour operators he took me to the "Chikan Shop" to buy Kurtas and i did buy one as a souvenir.Lucknow is World famous for its "Chikan Embroidered Clothing" and every visitor to the city has to buy a chikan clothing memento.Honestly at Rs 50 for a circumnavigation tonga ride of Old Lucknow city found the charges moderate as this was akin to a personalized tour rather than a "Group Packaged Tour" with limited sightseeing time.
After the tonga ride i entered the "Bara Imambara complex" and took a hindi guided tour of the "Bouri(Well)", the guide explaining the intricacies and cunningness in the design of this unique building.Soldiers inside the "Bouri Complex" could see their enemies approaching the Bouri but the enemies could not see people inside the bouri.The Bouri's(Wells) water was used akin to a mirror to see the reflection of approaching enemies from outside during daylight, unbelievable ingenuity in a different era in human history. This guide charged me Rs 30 for showing and explaining me the "Bouri(Well)" complex.After the "Bouri tour" i then entered the famous and mystical "Bara Imambara" situated adjacent to the "Bouri" and had to take the assistance of a different guide.The guide charged me Rs 100 with two other accompanying tourists, hence reduced charges for a guided tour of the Bara Imambara.The "Bara Imambara" was built as a relief operation for a famine by the Nawab of Awadh in 1784 to provide employment to the local population.This 4 storey building was built by Iranian architect Khifayatulla and has the World's biggest dome shaped hall.The main imambara contains a large vaulted chamber which is the tomb of Asaf-Ud-Daula. During Mohurram the Barra Imambarra is an important place for religious gathering.The guide escorted us into the World famous maze in the "Barra Imambarra" called the "Bhulbhulaiya", a jig-saw puzzle of entrances and exits that confuses a persons route to the exit of the building once inside the "Jig-Saw Stairs".Out of a set of doors in the maze, one door is false and hence wrong entry would mean just strolling endlessly within this maze inside the "Bhulbhulaiya".There is another underground tunnel which presumably leads to a location near the Gomti river that is blocked as tales of manny people disappearing from this tunnel while exploring it.A few other similar underground passages have been blocked after years of disuse and hence dangerous.The guide also showed me the whispering effect across the hall of the dome,the sound of paper torn at one end distinctly audible at the other extreme end of the hall.The charm of "Solo Exploring" or "Solo Backpacking" is that it has the equivalent thrills common to the ancient art of discovery with many equivalent dangers in modern day travel, most common being theft , assault or accidents. Suddenly from "Group Packaged Tour Guides" i was into a solo personalized guided tour at Rs 100/per tour site, expensive but definitely educative to a history nut like me!
After the tour of the "Barra Imabarra" i next went out of the complex and hired a Cycle-rickshaw driver to guide me through the entire days tour of Lucknow, the price settled at Rs 350.The cycle-rickshaw driver Mahendra.Rajvansh proved to be very knowledgeable as i can see through historical bluff's being a student myself, although not an authority. Reading history textbooks and visiting historical sites is as different as being a theoretical genius but a practical flop.He took me to the "Chota Immambara" complex, the brain child of Nawab Mohammed Ali Shah, the third Nawab of Avadh and built in 1838.The chandeliers used to decorate this building was transported from Belgium and was also used as means of providing employment to labourors during the famine epidemic.The tomb of Mumhammed Ali Shah and other members of his family are inside the Imambara.The walls are decorated with Arabic calligraphy.The Chota Imambara is also called the "Palace of Lights" as it is illuminated during festivals.I next visited the Hussainabad Picture art gallery situated next to the Chota Imambara, a red coloured building visible from the road while traveling by horse tonga or cycle-rickshaw.The building has 12 doorways and hence also called Baradari.A flight of 30 steps leads to the entrance of the Picture gallery from where a person gets the beautiful view of a pond in the complex.The picture art gallery has huge paintings of the Nawabs and the uniqueness is that a person gets a feeling of being continuously watched by these life-less pictures while moving around the gallery.My guide explained and demonstrated this peculiarity to me, bizarrely haunting and beautiful.Photography inside the gallery is not allowed,strange, since even the Louvre in Paris allows photography of the "Mona Lisa".The peculiarity of Lucknows Nawabi tourist sites was the compulsory guidance of a professional guide in every tourist site, the language being Hindi.Since i could afford the same, also enjoyed the historical discourses of these professional guides.
From "Chotta Imambarra" it was a gradual cycle ride towards the Hazratganj area to the "British Residency", the site of the brutal Indian mutiny battle during the siege of Lucknow in 1857.I was surprised at the excellent preservation of the ruins and the vast estate.The siege of Lucknow which took place on 1 July 1857 lasted for 87 days, the residency finally succumbing to the onslaught of the Indian mutineers also called the First Indian war of Independence.The British soldiers who perished defending the residency are buried within its precincts and the entire residency is preserved in the same manner as it did in 1857.Today this huge deserted complex,once the scene of historic bloodshed , lush with trees and deserted fortified walls is a favorite haunt of couples seeking privacy in love affairs.Strolled around this huge complex later visiting the museum which has a complete history about the residency and the weapons used during the siege.After visiting the museum visited the residency public toilet which seemed to have been under bad maintenance, absolutely filthy but thankful that i could relieve my bowels.At approx 1330 hrs finished my tour of the "British Residency" satisfied that my historical inquisitiveness was worth the time and travel to Lucknow.Cycle-rickshaw driver Mahendra gave me a guided tour of the various roads while taking me to a local dhaba for "Lucknow Food".In Lucknow, the "Bakri-Idd" festival is observed for 3 continuous days after Idd and hence most eateries were closed as Bakri-idd was just the previous day on Monday(7-11-2011).Managed to find a local street side daba, crowded as it was the only daba in the vicinity.The "Star Reastaurant" daba was busy to the hilt and i ordered a "Lucknowi Kabbab" while driver Mahendra ordered a biryani.Picked up a conversation with a Dubai expatriate Lucknowi who told me that Lucknow non-vegetarian food was better than food in Dubai.Honestly, i personally didn't relish the "Lucknowi Kabbabs" preferring the Mumbai "Bade Miya" style Kabbabs of Colaba.After lunch it was a casual cycle drive towards "La Martinere's College". Enroute passed by Hazratgunj, the city center of Lucknow akin to Delhi's Connaught place.The beautifully designed Nawabi era buidings painted in a same uniform colour gave this locality a brand-name look, akin to the "Rose-pink city" look of Jaipur.Hazratgunj had some of the best International brand shops displaying their wares with "Chikan Lucknow" shops a common sight.The route to La Martineres college was along the Lucknow Golf course very scenic and the campus was mind-boggling, the largest school estate i ever visited in India, larger than even "Barnes school" in Deolali(Maharashtra).Honestly, i feel Lucknow has two unique addresses to its honour, the "City of Nawabs" tag and "La Martinere college" tag .
The college had history written all over it and from a distance "Constantia building" which houses the boys school and is also the mausoleum of its founder Major General Claude.Martin resembles a fort or a museum, akin to the Louvre in France.The "Constantia Building" is the greatest European edifice in India .The College is divided into a boys and girls section, the boys college founded in 1845 and the Girls college in 1869.I met and spoke with a few of the boarder students and gained some practical knowledge about this World famous institution.Strangely, none of the boys of the age group of 15 and below had ever heard of a singer called Cliff.Richard from Lucknow!The students i spoke to were very well behaved and well mannered,typical "Upper lip" Indian elite, but their knowledge of popular rock and pop culture made me realize that fame is fleeting with every generation having its own heroes and villains!Cliff.Richards (Then known as Harry .Roger .Webb)family had lived in Maqbara near the present day shopping center of Hazratganj.In fact Cliff.Richard's grandmother was a dormitory matron at the La Martinere girls school.Wonder if 50 years hence Michael.Jackson will still be the king of pop and rock posthumously?La Martinere has a strange and innovative manner of remembering its ex-students and seems "Hollywood" has copied the famous "Hall of Fame" handprints of famous screen stars from La Martinere college.This is my presumption and i may be wrong.On each step leading to the Constantia building of La Martinere college is the engraved name and year of illustrious students who have passed from this hallowed ancient education institution of India , some names dating back to early 19th century.Sure "Hollywood" hall of fame celebrity star hand-prints came much later.The La Martinere Boys college is the only school in the World to have been awarded royal battle honours for its role in the defence of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, a graveyard of an officer preserved as a monument on the schools campus.Lucknow was definitely a city with different era's of history ranging from Courtesan entertainment culture to having one of the oldest education college in India.Hope the education standard of La Martinere college in the 21st century in India is on par with the best in the country.The recent entry of schools offering the "International Baccalaureate Program" form of education in India has elite wealthy Indian students clamoring to these costly institutions, once a domination of La Martineres college of Lucknow beginning in 17th century India.History is on La Martinere college's domain and Constantia building will always be a European architectural marvel in India irrespective of la Martinere's future domination as an elite educational institution in India. From La Martineres college while riding towards the train station came across a cybercafe where i decided to blog my days travels and experiences.After paying the cycle-rickshaw driver Mahendra his charges of Rs 400 i made my way into the Cybercafe. "Jai Sai Cybercafe" was ultra modern where for the first time in my life i was "Webcam photographed" for "Identification purposes", after-effects of Cyber-Crime and terrorism.Surfing is the cheapest in Lucknow costing just Rs 10 per hour although the speed and computer keyboard functioning are a bit shoddy.But, at Rs 15/hour you can't get anything better!Left the cybercafe at approx 2045 hrs and caught a rickshaw to the station. At the station saw a rare sight of a troop of Macaque monkeys chasing one another on the roof top of the station, least bothered about the rail passengers, a hilarious scene.They later disappeared out of the station as quickly as they had entered, amazing occurrence in a very crowded station.Lucknow Railway station has a good train display system and hence went to platform No 5 to board the train to Varanasi just by reading the flashing sign boards akin to an air-terminal.The station tracks were one of the filthiest, typical of the normal railway tracks in India barring India's showcase railway system, "The Delhi Metropolitan railway system".Train was prompt on time at 2300 hrs at the platform, boarded the same and it was less crowded than the "Delhi-Lucknow" train, hence a comfortable journey.Reached Varanasi at 0700 hrs.
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| LUCKNOW:- Historically a city of Nawabs and Tawaif's. |
Tuesday(8-11-2011):- This would be a hectic day in Lucknow as i would be departing the same night to Varanasi by train, a test of stamina and mental toughness.Just outside the station on the opposite side of the road spotted a daba type hotel.Entered "Milan Hotel" and ordered a "Egg Paratha and tea", hoping that my upset bowels were healing.The "Egg Paratha" was delicious and after an average breakfast inquired about the tourist sites in Lucknow having done my homework on the internet, most famous being the "Bada Imambara" and the "British Residency".Most of my readers ,if any, would by now understand that i am a "History Buff" with an eye for detail in my travelogue writings.Lucknow has fascinated me for its Nawabi "Courtesan culture" as well as being the site of one of the worst episodes of the Indian Sepoy revolt of 1857.As i had just a day in Lucknow decided to use the rickshaw as a guide and mode of transport in Lucknow.
Boarded a rickshaw on the main station road and told the driver to take me to the "Bara Imambara"complex.The charges were Rs 90 and at approx 0930hrs reached the gates of the "Bara Imambara". At the gates a guide approached me and told me to take a horse-tonga ride of the nearby historic sites to which i agreed, being absolutely haggard from non-stop walking and public transport traveling in Delhi. Worst, had an almost sleepless night on the train journey to Lucknow with an attempt made to rob me of my brief-case bag.
Purchased an entrance combination ticket at the entrance gate which allowed access to the "Bara Imambara" , the "Chota Imambara" and the "Picture Art gallery" all within two kilometers of each other. The Tongawalla took me on his tonga, ages since i sat in a tonga, passing through the majestic "Rumi Darwaza" built by Nawab Asaf.Ud.Daula in 1784.The word "Rumi" is of Persian origin which means Rome and built during the great famine of Lucknow to provide wages for the laborers.As usual i went camera crazy clicking photos for my blogs as well as memoirs of a day in Nawabi Lucknow.
The tongawalla took me on an external tour , showing me the Hussainabad clock tower of Lucknow situated between the "Chota Imambara" and the "Bada Imambara".This clock tower was built in 1880 by Nawab Nasir.Ud.Din.Hyder and at 221 feet is the tallest clock tower in India.Adjacent to the clock tower is the octagonal Hussainabad tank.Later,typical of entrepreneurial professional guided tour operators he took me to the "Chikan Shop" to buy Kurtas and i did buy one as a souvenir.Lucknow is World famous for its "Chikan Embroidered Clothing" and every visitor to the city has to buy a chikan clothing memento.Honestly at Rs 50 for a circumnavigation tonga ride of Old Lucknow city found the charges moderate as this was akin to a personalized tour rather than a "Group Packaged Tour" with limited sightseeing time.
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| "BARA IMAMBARA" terrace Complex with "Bhulbhulaiya" Maze |
After the tonga ride i entered the "Bara Imambara complex" and took a hindi guided tour of the "Bouri(Well)", the guide explaining the intricacies and cunningness in the design of this unique building.Soldiers inside the "Bouri Complex" could see their enemies approaching the Bouri but the enemies could not see people inside the bouri.The Bouri's(Wells) water was used akin to a mirror to see the reflection of approaching enemies from outside during daylight, unbelievable ingenuity in a different era in human history. This guide charged me Rs 30 for showing and explaining me the "Bouri(Well)" complex.After the "Bouri tour" i then entered the famous and mystical "Bara Imambara" situated adjacent to the "Bouri" and had to take the assistance of a different guide.The guide charged me Rs 100 with two other accompanying tourists, hence reduced charges for a guided tour of the Bara Imambara.The "Bara Imambara" was built as a relief operation for a famine by the Nawab of Awadh in 1784 to provide employment to the local population.This 4 storey building was built by Iranian architect Khifayatulla and has the World's biggest dome shaped hall.The main imambara contains a large vaulted chamber which is the tomb of Asaf-Ud-Daula. During Mohurram the Barra Imambarra is an important place for religious gathering.The guide escorted us into the World famous maze in the "Barra Imambarra" called the "Bhulbhulaiya", a jig-saw puzzle of entrances and exits that confuses a persons route to the exit of the building once inside the "Jig-Saw Stairs".Out of a set of doors in the maze, one door is false and hence wrong entry would mean just strolling endlessly within this maze inside the "Bhulbhulaiya".There is another underground tunnel which presumably leads to a location near the Gomti river that is blocked as tales of manny people disappearing from this tunnel while exploring it.A few other similar underground passages have been blocked after years of disuse and hence dangerous.The guide also showed me the whispering effect across the hall of the dome,the sound of paper torn at one end distinctly audible at the other extreme end of the hall.The charm of "Solo Exploring" or "Solo Backpacking" is that it has the equivalent thrills common to the ancient art of discovery with many equivalent dangers in modern day travel, most common being theft , assault or accidents. Suddenly from "Group Packaged Tour Guides" i was into a solo personalized guided tour at Rs 100/per tour site, expensive but definitely educative to a history nut like me!
After the tour of the "Barra Imabarra" i next went out of the complex and hired a Cycle-rickshaw driver to guide me through the entire days tour of Lucknow, the price settled at Rs 350.The cycle-rickshaw driver Mahendra.Rajvansh proved to be very knowledgeable as i can see through historical bluff's being a student myself, although not an authority. Reading history textbooks and visiting historical sites is as different as being a theoretical genius but a practical flop.He took me to the "Chota Immambara" complex, the brain child of Nawab Mohammed Ali Shah, the third Nawab of Avadh and built in 1838.The chandeliers used to decorate this building was transported from Belgium and was also used as means of providing employment to labourors during the famine epidemic.The tomb of Mumhammed Ali Shah and other members of his family are inside the Imambara.The walls are decorated with Arabic calligraphy.The Chota Imambara is also called the "Palace of Lights" as it is illuminated during festivals.I next visited the Hussainabad Picture art gallery situated next to the Chota Imambara, a red coloured building visible from the road while traveling by horse tonga or cycle-rickshaw.The building has 12 doorways and hence also called Baradari.A flight of 30 steps leads to the entrance of the Picture gallery from where a person gets the beautiful view of a pond in the complex.The picture art gallery has huge paintings of the Nawabs and the uniqueness is that a person gets a feeling of being continuously watched by these life-less pictures while moving around the gallery.My guide explained and demonstrated this peculiarity to me, bizarrely haunting and beautiful.Photography inside the gallery is not allowed,strange, since even the Louvre in Paris allows photography of the "Mona Lisa".The peculiarity of Lucknows Nawabi tourist sites was the compulsory guidance of a professional guide in every tourist site, the language being Hindi.Since i could afford the same, also enjoyed the historical discourses of these professional guides.
From "Chotta Imambarra" it was a gradual cycle ride towards the Hazratganj area to the "British Residency", the site of the brutal Indian mutiny battle during the siege of Lucknow in 1857.I was surprised at the excellent preservation of the ruins and the vast estate.The siege of Lucknow which took place on 1 July 1857 lasted for 87 days, the residency finally succumbing to the onslaught of the Indian mutineers also called the First Indian war of Independence.The British soldiers who perished defending the residency are buried within its precincts and the entire residency is preserved in the same manner as it did in 1857.Today this huge deserted complex,once the scene of historic bloodshed , lush with trees and deserted fortified walls is a favorite haunt of couples seeking privacy in love affairs.Strolled around this huge complex later visiting the museum which has a complete history about the residency and the weapons used during the siege.After visiting the museum visited the residency public toilet which seemed to have been under bad maintenance, absolutely filthy but thankful that i could relieve my bowels.At approx 1330 hrs finished my tour of the "British Residency" satisfied that my historical inquisitiveness was worth the time and travel to Lucknow.Cycle-rickshaw driver Mahendra gave me a guided tour of the various roads while taking me to a local dhaba for "Lucknow Food".In Lucknow, the "Bakri-Idd" festival is observed for 3 continuous days after Idd and hence most eateries were closed as Bakri-idd was just the previous day on Monday(7-11-2011).Managed to find a local street side daba, crowded as it was the only daba in the vicinity.The "Star Reastaurant" daba was busy to the hilt and i ordered a "Lucknowi Kabbab" while driver Mahendra ordered a biryani.Picked up a conversation with a Dubai expatriate Lucknowi who told me that Lucknow non-vegetarian food was better than food in Dubai.Honestly, i personally didn't relish the "Lucknowi Kabbabs" preferring the Mumbai "Bade Miya" style Kabbabs of Colaba.After lunch it was a casual cycle drive towards "La Martinere's College". Enroute passed by Hazratgunj, the city center of Lucknow akin to Delhi's Connaught place.The beautifully designed Nawabi era buidings painted in a same uniform colour gave this locality a brand-name look, akin to the "Rose-pink city" look of Jaipur.Hazratgunj had some of the best International brand shops displaying their wares with "Chikan Lucknow" shops a common sight.The route to La Martineres college was along the Lucknow Golf course very scenic and the campus was mind-boggling, the largest school estate i ever visited in India, larger than even "Barnes school" in Deolali(Maharashtra).Honestly, i feel Lucknow has two unique addresses to its honour, the "City of Nawabs" tag and "La Martinere college" tag .
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| "LA MARTINERE BOY'S COLLEGE(1845)" |
The college had history written all over it and from a distance "Constantia building" which houses the boys school and is also the mausoleum of its founder Major General Claude.Martin resembles a fort or a museum, akin to the Louvre in France.The "Constantia Building" is the greatest European edifice in India .The College is divided into a boys and girls section, the boys college founded in 1845 and the Girls college in 1869.I met and spoke with a few of the boarder students and gained some practical knowledge about this World famous institution.Strangely, none of the boys of the age group of 15 and below had ever heard of a singer called Cliff.Richard from Lucknow!The students i spoke to were very well behaved and well mannered,typical "Upper lip" Indian elite, but their knowledge of popular rock and pop culture made me realize that fame is fleeting with every generation having its own heroes and villains!Cliff.Richards (Then known as Harry .Roger .Webb)family had lived in Maqbara near the present day shopping center of Hazratganj.In fact Cliff.Richard's grandmother was a dormitory matron at the La Martinere girls school.Wonder if 50 years hence Michael.Jackson will still be the king of pop and rock posthumously?La Martinere has a strange and innovative manner of remembering its ex-students and seems "Hollywood" has copied the famous "Hall of Fame" handprints of famous screen stars from La Martinere college.This is my presumption and i may be wrong.On each step leading to the Constantia building of La Martinere college is the engraved name and year of illustrious students who have passed from this hallowed ancient education institution of India , some names dating back to early 19th century.Sure "Hollywood" hall of fame celebrity star hand-prints came much later.The La Martinere Boys college is the only school in the World to have been awarded royal battle honours for its role in the defence of Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, a graveyard of an officer preserved as a monument on the schools campus.Lucknow was definitely a city with different era's of history ranging from Courtesan entertainment culture to having one of the oldest education college in India.Hope the education standard of La Martinere college in the 21st century in India is on par with the best in the country.The recent entry of schools offering the "International Baccalaureate Program" form of education in India has elite wealthy Indian students clamoring to these costly institutions, once a domination of La Martineres college of Lucknow beginning in 17th century India.History is on La Martinere college's domain and Constantia building will always be a European architectural marvel in India irrespective of la Martinere's future domination as an elite educational institution in India. From La Martineres college while riding towards the train station came across a cybercafe where i decided to blog my days travels and experiences.After paying the cycle-rickshaw driver Mahendra his charges of Rs 400 i made my way into the Cybercafe. "Jai Sai Cybercafe" was ultra modern where for the first time in my life i was "Webcam photographed" for "Identification purposes", after-effects of Cyber-Crime and terrorism.Surfing is the cheapest in Lucknow costing just Rs 10 per hour although the speed and computer keyboard functioning are a bit shoddy.But, at Rs 15/hour you can't get anything better!Left the cybercafe at approx 2045 hrs and caught a rickshaw to the station. At the station saw a rare sight of a troop of Macaque monkeys chasing one another on the roof top of the station, least bothered about the rail passengers, a hilarious scene.They later disappeared out of the station as quickly as they had entered, amazing occurrence in a very crowded station.Lucknow Railway station has a good train display system and hence went to platform No 5 to board the train to Varanasi just by reading the flashing sign boards akin to an air-terminal.The station tracks were one of the filthiest, typical of the normal railway tracks in India barring India's showcase railway system, "The Delhi Metropolitan railway system".Train was prompt on time at 2300 hrs at the platform, boarded the same and it was less crowded than the "Delhi-Lucknow" train, hence a comfortable journey.Reached Varanasi at 0700 hrs.
