Day 27 - 27th Feb - Lucknow to Gorakhpur (and much, much later - Nepal)

We had very good intentions of getting up at 5am to pack our bags, sign out and get to the start of Lucknow's heritage walk for 7am. However, after our walk yesterday, Matt didn't seem so keen any more.
After breakfast, and this time avoiding the 'porridge' (a kind of milky soup with something akin to pearl barley floating in it), we arranged a Tuk Tuk to take us to a couple of sights. We were a bit short of time before our train so we took our backpags with us, crammed into the back.

Lucknow post office

First we had a fruitless visit to what may be the grandest Post Office in the world, to post the steadily desintegrating jifffy bag of spare wires we have been carrying around since London. We asked at the enquiry desk about which counter to go to and  were directed behind the glass-fronted counter to a guy at a desk. He asked to see what was in there and insisted that we peel off the duct tape that was pretty much holding it all together, only to write very neatly on a piece of paper that we were not allowed to send electronics. We weren't sure why he didn't just tell us verbally but he did get quite annoyed when we tried to question how Indian peope post electrical items and enquire how actually we could get it home.

The Residency

Afterwards we were take to 'The Residency', which is where the British in Lucknow were besieged during the uprising in 1857. It was quite a big grassy area reminiscent of a small stately home but with the buildings in ruins and a bit more rubbish floating about. Charmingly, they had also initiated an excavation project to uncover the sewer pipes to show how the British disposed of their waste!

Bara Imambara gates

We also had a quick visit to Bara Imambara, a big hall and attached mosque. Interestingly, it was built as famine relief. People were paid to build it but each night, 25% of the days work was demolished in order to keep the project going longer. More genteel folk were also paid to work on it if they were short of money but were allowed to work at night to spare their blushes.

Bara Imambara great hall

The main hall was quite pretty but we weren't very sure what it was all about. We could have also visited the labyrinth on the 2nd floor but as we only had 30 mins and it was 350 rupees each, we didn't fancy paying so much to get ourselves lost in a building we didn't understand and miss our train.

Matt's kebab gift box

Apparently, Lucknow's food speciality is kebab so Matt asked the driver to take us to find one. As Matt was served his mutton kebab in a nice little presentation box, I was up the street trying to ascertain that the typical greasy looking snack I wanted to buy was vegetarian. It certainly was. Think deep-fried samosa filled with deep-fried pastry and you're almost there.

At the train station we debated with the Tuk Tuk driver about the price. We ended up giving him a fair price and walking off as he complained but it didn't feel very nice. I felt really guilty and was convinced that it was bad karma - I think India is making my conviction in natural justice much worse.

At the station we couldn't see train listed. There were lots of cancellations and even though ours wasn't on the list, we feared the worst. I was convinced that Karma had done a speedy job of catching up with us - especially since our hotel was pretty much the only one in Lucknow and the lady there had recommended the tuk tuk driver.

We asked various people if it was the right station because there are three in Lucknow (three train stations and no bloody cheap hostels!) but no one seemed to know, not even the railway staff. Eventually spoke to a "Tourist Police" officer who told us that it was the right station but on a different line so we had to quick-hop to the building across the road.

Got on the train and '2nd class seated' seemed OK - until more and more people rammed on. Despite being reserved seating it seems people cram on anyway so wasn't the most comfortable journey. Plus, the guy on the bench opposite was ill so his friends had given up their seats so he could lay down. This not only meant that I had to spend 6 uncomfortable hours worrying that he was going to chuck up, we also had to listen to the other passengers complain and argue with them about not being able to sit down.

We arrived at Gorakhpur at 10.30pm and found the bus station around the corner relatively quickly. As we got there, the conductor shouted "Sonauli?" so we were feeling quite lucky to have found the right bus quickly and not have to bed down at the station again.

Unfortunately, despite protests from all sides, the conductor made an elderly lady and a young woman with a baby move out of their seat so that we could sit down. We tried to get the ladies to move back again when he'd gone but they refused, despite continuing to shout at the man every time he came into view for the next few hours.

They did get the last laugh though because we were in the 'front' seat (front to us but not to Indians who cram right up into the driver's cabin) and there was no window in the doorframe so we spent the next three and a half hours fidgetig and trying to avoid freezing to death. We did have aour trusty blanket but it was so big that people kept standing on it and tripping over it and so slidy (bloody sateen fabrics) that it kept slipping off. It never helps either that Matt and I are two wide to sit next to each other on the narrow bus seats.