A.B. Away: Lucknow

Lucknow - But no eat now.

(John) Despite feeling like Varanasi smelled, getting up early and leaving the holy city was eagerly accomplished. As soon as we got on the train I climbed up into the top bunk, made myself comfortable, put in the earplugs, reminded myself that I was a visitor to India and that the gentlemen to my left and below me had every right to talk as loudly as they could and tried to go back to sleep. Mhari and I were nursing bottles of pop and I ate two crackers to have with my malaria pill. Mhari was braver and also ate an orange, a decision she refused to regret as she said it made the vomit taste much better when she puked in the bathroom on the train. We arrived in Lucknow and were shown the official way to get fleeced by commission hunting auto rickshaw drivers. We had 5 hours to spare before we had to board our night train to Hardiwar. We had picked out a Muslim restaurant that served lamb kebabs and wanted to visit the Residency – a place where in 1857 – the uprising Indian army laid siege to 3000 British and Native troops and civilians and is now a park and memorial to the thousands who lost their lives in the retaking of Lucknow and the reprisals. We managed to shrug off the rickshaw drivers who met us on the platform and in the station, and found the left luggage office, where a railway official asked us to step into his office. It was the tourism office. Here we were treated royally, given free maps, signed the guest book and given the chance for just 255 IR to have our very own rickshaw driver for 4 hours who would take us to whatever sights we wanted. It was immediately clear, because the driver asked us if we wanted to see some really nice and good price carpets that our day would be spent visiting overpriced shops if we accepted this wonderful deal. We declined and asked to be taken to the kebab restaurant. We even negotiated an inflated price. Then as we made our way to the rickshaw the driver realising that we were not worth his while simply ditched us. Charming! Then we discovered that getting a rickshaw in Lucknow is really complicated. I'll spare the details but all day we had trouble until eventually to get back to the train station we accepted the offer of two cycle rickshaw guys. It was a little more than a rickshaw would have been but at around 15kms an hour through heavy traffic, just as quick - and because when on a cycle rickshaw you can see everything, you know what it was that hit you when you get killed. Luckily that did not happen and we caught our train to Hardiwar that, apart from the fact that Sam had a rough night and is now also sick, went as well as we now expect overnight sleeper trains to go. The biggest downer for Mhari and I was that we went to this fantastic kebab restaurant where they were serving lamb and beef and what looked like delicious tandoori chicken and naan. I risked trying a small portion of lamb and Mhari had nothing at all. The good news is, Mhari and I both had breakfast this morning and so far so good. Also, Rishikesh doesn't stink, we have hot showers in two rooms for 200 IR each, the beds are soft, the screens are tight, and the air is cool and clean.

Quick update - Sam felt nauseous when he got off the train, he made it to the hotel but was soon vomiting, he hates doing that, but he felt better for it and spent most of the day in bed. After joining us to watch us eat supper he slept straight for 10 hours. This morning he has had toast for breakfast and is feeling much better.