We arrived in Lucknow pretty shattered after two overnight trains in a row.  Lucknow is a really historic town in India, and we spent a couple of days here relaxing and visiting a few key places.  Lucknow is famous for its kebabs, so we enjoyed some absolutely divine mutton kebabs at a little place called Tunday Kebab, located in the middle of a bazaar.  We walked there from our hotel – the walk was quite nice except for the dead rats I nearly stepped on! (I didn’t take a photo because I was busy running away!)  We spent some time catching up with friends and spent time exploring the historic sites of Lucknow.

 

On one of our days we visited Bara Imabara and Chota Imabara, two impressive tombs. The highlight of Bara Imabara

is a “labyrinth” called Bhulbhulaiya which is a collection of tunnels in the top three layers of the tomb that wind around confusingly.  There is also a step well which we explored before walking over to see the clock tower and a gallery of pictures that the guard insisted on showing us round and told me off multiple times for wandering away during his explanations in Hindi, which we had already told him we didn’t speak. He then complained that his tip wasn’t big enough!  Our last stop was Chota Imabara, which had a collection of very gaudy artefacts as well as a couple of imitation Taj Mahals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our second day we visited the British Residency, where more than 1000 people died in a siege during the first war of independence in 1857.  The residency has been left in the ruins that were formed during the siege and it is a beautiful place to wander around and explore.  It, like the Victoria memorial in Kolkata, seemed to be the spot for dating couples to come and get privacy! Lucknow isn’t really a tourist city, but it is an interesting place to explore for a couple of days.