03/02/2010 by Kate Keter.

Yesterday we spent the day touring Lucknow with Ajay our wonderful, talkative guide. We visited Bara Imambara and Husainabad Imambara - shoes off again, but no dress, thankfully. We didn’t get lost on the labyrinth set into the roof of the Bara Imambara but had a good walk around the amazing narrow corriders. We also saw the ruins that were the Residency - not a single house as I had assumed but a whole complex of houses, offices, etc. We had lunch in a local, downtown resaurant in Lucknow - definitely the place to join the “ladies who lunch” - lovely Indian food. After lunch we visited the Dulkisha Palace, another ruin but with beautiful gardens, and finally we saw La Martiniere College, a beautiful old building which is still a boys school to this day.

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01/02/2010 by Kate Keter.

Now we’re in Lucknow after an interesting flight from Delhi this afternoon.  The hotel is fairly grand - not what we’re used to - set in fantastic grounds with an outdoor swimming pool that has a fountain in the middle!  Tomorrow we have a day-long tour of Lucknow which should be fun.  More later…

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01/02/2010 by Kate Keter.

Arrived in Delhi yesterday after a good flight and some sleep. After checking in to the hotel we were taken on a tour of Delhi starting with a visit to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. So it was shoes off at the door and a very glamourous “dress” to cover our modesty. Then it was the turn of what I think will prove to be one of the highlights of our trip - a rickshaw ride through the streets and allyways of Old Delhi. Next came a visit to Raj Ghat and Gandhi’s memorial and the park surrounding it. Our final visit was to Humayun’s Tomb which is said to be the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. The tour finished with a drive around New Delhi to see the India Gate, Presidential palace and government buildings. Our guide then took us to a handicrafts centre where we were able to drool over the most beautiful Kashmiri carpets. But by then we were so tired our brains had scrambled so it was back to the hotel, dinner and bed by 9pm (India time). 

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18/01/2010 by Kate Keter.

The flights are booked, we’ve had our injections and the visas are here so we leave the UK on Saturday, 30th January for 2 weeks in India.  We’ll start by spending 4 days visiting Lucknow and Varanasi before heading to Delhi for 4 days to take part, with Rotary, in the Polio National Immunisation Day on 7th February.  After that we’ll spend another 4 days visting Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then Jaipur, before heading home on Saturday, 13th February.

We hope to be able to keep this blog up-to-date with our travels - so please come back and read some more.

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