[bilalsyed]

Originally Posted by Fauji

I was travelling over the Christmas weekend hence delay. We will be there in your town soon.

yes yes ! aap hi ka intezaar ho raha hai sir there is a saying " sabr ka phal meetha hota hai" so im waiting with patience (sabr) as i know that the pics(phal) is going to be awesome

so take your time sir

[VLOCT]

Superb travelogue, Fauji. Real documentation of the country's history. Keep up the great work. Few people can actually do these things during their career years.
Great job.

[airguitar]

Fauji : Speechless.. All I can do is stare open-mouthed at the travelogue and the pictures, telling myself, "someday I will be able to do this". Until then, there is TBHP.

[ampere]

+1 to AG.
Also what HVK said is very true. Your choice of hotels is fantastic.
How do you get to know of such places? !!

Also India explored on the road is the best way of knowing one's country.
Amazing log sir!

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by bilalsyed

yes yes ! aap hi ka intezaar ho raha hai sir there is a saying " sabr ka phal meetha hota hai" so im waiting with patience (sabr) as i know that the pics(phal) is going to be awesome

so take your time sir

Back from Travel today. That will be another Kahani, hopefully. Will visit Lucknow tomorrow for sure

Originally Posted by VLOCT

Superb travelogue, Fauji. Real documentation of the country's history. Keep up the great work. Few people can actually do these things during their career years.
Great job.

Thanks VLOCT. Glad to know you liked it. We - self and wife were able to get leave at the same time and it helped.

Originally Posted by airguitar

Fauji : Speechless.. All I can do is stare open-mouthed at the travelogue and the pictures, telling myself, "someday I will be able to do this". Until then, there is TBHP.

Thanks Arun. Nice to know you liked it.

Originally Posted by ampere

+1 to AG.
Also what HVK said is very true. Your choice of hotels is fantastic.
How do you get to know of such places? !!

Also India explored on the road is the best way of knowing one's country.
Amazing log sir!

Thanks Jayaram. We generally keep abreast of new places by reading travel magazines and blogs and of course friends and TBHP. Sometimes we do take chance and it works out well like in case of Jhira bagh palace. Of Ganges view, we knew it wil be good and we were not dissapointed. In fact we could not stay in another nice property near Khajuraho called Alipura Palace as we had to stay back in Sagar due to bad roads. Welcome Hotel alipura

We have had bad experiences as well even after "Trip Advisor" ratings are good for some hotels.

I agree that travelling by road is the best. But, one needs to have time for that at disposal.

[Fauji]

We got up early as we had a plan to go on a whirlwind tour of Lucknow before we started for Orchha. We knew that we are not doing any justice to the "City of Nawabs and Kebabs". At least we wanted to see City of Nawabs! Being veggies could not have savoured the famed kebabs of Lucknow.

Lucknow brings nostalgic memories to me. I had spent a two weeks in Lucknow - Faizabad in 1986 while serving in the Army. Babri Masjid was still intact and Lucknow was a charming sleepy little place with huge bungalows, mosques, palaces etc. Hazratganj was the happening place then but was not commercialised as it is now.

Hazratganj as seen today. Strangely all the siganages are in black and i understand that this was part of the face lift to the place. Lucknowis rue that Hazratganj lost its earlier charm because of this.







Husainabad clock tower


We hire an auto and tell the driver - a pucca Lucknowi pandit - to take us to Bada Imambra complex, Rumi Darwaza, Chota Imambra, Maqbaras and Mayavati's pet project of Ambedkar Udyan. Our driver - Laxman - is more than willing and is very enthusiastic to show the different monuments of the city. We drive on the empty wide roads early in the morning - traffic picks up only after 11 AM - savouring the sights of the city.

Lucknow has these huge round abouts with statues and gardens



We cross the magnificent British era building of Vidhan Sabha





Ever since i read about "Bada Imambra" in the outstanding book on Indian architecture by Japanese Architect Takeo Kamiya, i was fascinated by it.

Monuments in Lucknow

So the first stop is automatically at this magnificent structure built by the Nawabs of Oudh. We enter the Darwaza to the complex and what we see inside is really awe-inspiring. The sprawling complex has Masjid resembling the Jama Masjid of Delhi, Imambra, baoli or step well. It is early in the morning and there are very few visitors in the complex. After Bada Imambra our next stops are at Chota Imambra and maqabras of the rulers of Lucknow.

All of them architecturally brilliant and gives a glimpse of rich heritage of Lucknow. The good news is that these are well maintained by local trusts and I am not sure where they are lit up in the evening which should definitely add to the beauty.

More about these in the wiki link as i now share the pictures of the place.

Lucknow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Entrance to Bada Imambra complex


Garden and entrance as seen from Imambra




Ashrafi Mosque - It resembles the Jama Masjid of Delhi.


Minarets of the mosque soaring into the sky



Rumi Darwaza as seen from the complex


Entrance to the Imambra


Interiors of Imambra


The domed structure on top of the entrance wall to the complex


Panoramic view of Rumi Darwaza - farthest - from mosque


Bhool Bulaiya!!


As we come out, we are greeted by “Rumi Darwaza”. Built on the same architecture like the gates in Constantinople in Turkey, it is an imposing entrance to old city of Lucknow.

Rumi Darwaza


Chota Imambra


Decorative arches @ Chota Imambra


Picturesque Hazrat Mahal Park with Maqabra in the background


Maqabra of Sadat Ali Khan


We ask Laxman to take us to Mayavati's pet project in Lucknow - The Ambedkar Udyan. As the auto travels on the wide roads, Laxman starts his commentary telling how the Gomti river front was converted into a beautiful Shaheed Smarak Udyan with a memorial for Martyrs of first war of Indian Independence – possibly the only memorial for unsung heroes in the country.

The successive governments of Lucknow have definitely helped to turn the riverside of Gomti into a beautiful stretch of gardens. Mayavati has only gone a step ahead and Gomti now looks fabulous early morning. The Shaheed park is a hub of activity as we see walkers, joggers and also pretty young couples spending some quality time together. We stop for few minutes to go over to visit Shaheed Smarak and Gomti River.

Shaheed smarak



Shaheed Smarak Park



A lone boatman in the morning on Gomti river



We saw this beautiful building across the river. Don't know what it is.



Victoria Memorial seen on the way to Ambedkar Udyan



We cross Gomti river to see Mayavati's pet project - Dr Ambedkar Udyan

Quiet flows Gomti



Bridge on Gomti



To be continued - Mayavati's Lucknow!!

[balajird]

Fauji sir, I bumped in to your thread three days back and have been going through the pictures and your descriptions, hats off to your patience, effort and time to write such a wonderful travelogue. I am currently in Canada and my colleague commented "Dont show me those pictures of Jalebis, kachoras and lassis", I feel like I need to go to India just for this. :-)

Awaiting the pictures of Lucknow and more, Thanks again for this wonderful travelogue.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by balajird

Fauji sir, I bumped in to your thread three days back and have been going through the pictures and your descriptions, hats off to your patience, effort and time to write such a wonderful travelogue. I am currently in Canada and my colleague commented "Dont show me those pictures of Jalebis, kachoras and lassis", I feel like I need to go to India just for this. :-)

Awaiting the pictures of Lucknow and more, Thanks again for this wonderful travelogue.

Thanks Balaji for your feedback and glad to know that you liked it. Mayavati's Licknow will come up soon

[Fauji]

We had seen the Ambedkar Udyan at night on the previous day when we drove to my friend place for dinner at Gomti Nagar. It looked lovely at night and now in the morning, it is stunning. We are dumb struck at the way it has been conceived and executed.

Wide roads, pavements lined by red Dholpur stones, antique road side lamps with statues of Elephants - BSP Symbol - at different places make this one of loveliest places in any city in the country (Whether it was needed in a poor state like UP is a different debate). It will possibly put the roads in Delhi to shame. It is opulent and grand. But whatever has been done so far has ensured that Mayavati has left her legacy in the city.

Here are some sights of the place. You can see how grand and opulent it is. But, yes, it lacks the grace of the monuments built by Nawabs.

Rivalling Raj Path of Delhi!!



Elephants, Elephants everywhere!!



Ambedkar Memorial



Mayavati's own statue with her mentor Kanshi Ram



Are we in Rome or Athens? Look at the grand fountains in the round abouts. Notice the Elephants as well!!



Decorative pots



We have to come back to start our journey to Orchha. I know i am doing injustice to the city which has splendoured past and still retain old world charm. It require more time to explore Lucknow. Had i been a non-veg, it would have been criminal to leave the city without tasting kebabs from Tunde Miya.

We still miss out seeing La Martiniere School, The Residency and many other monuments. That will have to wait for next sojourn to the city.

Before we say "Alvida" to Lucknow, i thought i will leave you with the memories of Lucknow monuments in B&W. It looked lovely when i was playing around in Picassa. Hope you like it too









See you all in Orchha!!

To be continued - Ruins of Orchha and magnificent sunset over Betwa!!

[Fauji]

We return back to the hotel after a whirlwind tour of Lucknow, freshen up and have a quick breakfast from the buffet spread. The BF spread in Tulips Inn is decent and not great. We order for Masala Dosa and as expected it is not great. We settle for time tested omelette and bread.

A quick check out, we are on the road again. Getting out of Lucknow towards Kanpur is easier than I had thought of. It is straight road and the fact that it is via the airport make sure that the road is good.

Total Distance - 330 KMs
Departure time -10.30 AM (Lucknow)
Arrival time - 4.30 PM (Orchha)
Road condition - Excellent except Kanpur byepass, Orai bye pass and near Kalpi
Breaks - Nil
Max speed - 130 KMPH
Best stretches - Orai - Jhansi



As we leave Lucknow behind, we find the road condition very good and breeze towards Kanpur. We cross Ganga and as we enter Kanpur, we are stuck in traffic. We notice that the bye pass is under construction and there is pile up trucks moving slowly.

I look for a chance to move forward and there is no way. I see a convoy of a Netaji going ahead and thinking that this convoy will be going past Kanpur, I follow hoping that I can leave the traffic behind. The convoy suddenly takes a right turn into the city!! There is no way I can enter city and waste time. Immediate U turn and I join back the lane of vehicles.

Coming behind Netaji helps us to overtake many trucks and these truckwallahs are also accommodative and allow us to join back move ahead. Yes, we are out of Kanpur and on excellent NH. This is all fine till Orai.

The bye pass at Orai is still not done and as usual we are stuck behind pile up of vehicles going through city. I look forward and see no chance to get out quickly. This is when local help is useful. I ask the guy on the road and he advise me to overtake all vehicles, turn right through a narrow road and go ahead to reach highway. Keeping my fingers crossed, I do as advised.

I am always sceptical to drive in narrow roads with a big vehicle like Scorpio. Luckily we pass through without any issues and hit the highway again. The stretch through Orai town is not good. Back on the highway, we are relieved at excellent road - except for a small stretch before Kalpa - we breeze to Jhansi.

Jhansi has changed from what I had seen in 1986 when I was posted for two years in this historic city. In fact we had travelled in 2008 during our trip to Gwalior and visited my regiment. Jhansi is tuning up to be the capital of Bundelkhand whenever it happens.

We reach Orchha around 4.30 PM and check into Bundelkhand riverside – a resort on the banks of Betwa. I ask the manager till what time the palace – Jahangir Mahal – will be open. He says it will close by 5 PM. So we have to rush. He calls up the staff manning the fort and confirm that we are coming over there in next fifteen minutes.

Quick freshening up and a cup of tea and sandwich we rush out to the fort. Orchha is a small village. It again brought back nostalgic memories when we used to come here on bikes from Jhansi when I was posted there. But it has changed with new shops, restaurants and small hotels but has not lost the rural charm. The clientele looks like foreigners who visit this place on their way to Khajuraho. The place looks like a mini Pushkar in the making. A quiet and clean village.

In Orchha the places of interest are Fort, the palace - Jahangir Mahal - the river, the jungle and temples. This is a nice place to experience the rural village life. We did not want to miss out on fort as we were planning to leave early as we had a long drive next day. So our first stop had to be fort. We drive up the fort and park the car.

For more details on Orchha, look at this link

Orchha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monuments in Orchha

The entrance to the Palace - Jahangir Mahal



Shankar, a guide, comes to us asking if we need his help. Yes, we do as we don’t have time to explore. We have to rush to the river to see magnificent sunset. We provide brief to Shankar – take us around and make sure that we are on the river side to watch sun set. Shankar takes around quickly and we click pictures of the Jahangir Mahal – the palace built by Bundelkhand Rajas for Jahangir to stay for One day!!!!

Part of the palace is converted into luxury hotel by MPTDC and it is supposed to have beautifully panelled rooms of Maharaja. We check with hotel if it is vacant for us to take a look. We get answer in negative.

Let me now take you through the vistas of the palace and surroundings...

The Palace











Intricate work on the walls









Intricate work on the gateway!!





Janana complex with Betwa in the background



Chattris scattered in different places. The setting of these chattris amidst greenery looks lovely - specailly after rains













Elephant stable



Silhouettes of cuppolas of Jahangir Mahal in evening sun



Baba perched on a rock inviting photographers to click!!



Jahangir mahal as seen from the river





A Shivling in the middle of river!!



To be continued - Magnificent Sunset and Sunrise over Betwa

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Jhansi has changed from what I had seen in 1986 when I was posted for two years in this historic city....

Orchha is a small village...

Ah... nostalgia! Wish you posted some pics of Jhansi as well! I spent the first 18 years of my life in Jhansi Also, Orchha was our favorite spot for bike rides from Jhansi, as you also mentioned. Were you posted in Jhansi cantonment or Babina?

[roamingrao]

Fauji Bhai, Thanks for showing us Lucknow though your eyes. I never knew it is so beautiful. True, the city is being transformed !

As always, engrossing narration and superb photographs. makes us travel alongside you. Please drive on..

Tempted, but i cannot rate this travelogue again.


* as cool dube asks, Jhansi - W tgr ?

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Ah... nostalgia! Wish you posted some pics of Jhansi as well! I spent the first 18 years of my life in Jhansi Also, Orchha was our favorite spot for bike rides from Jhansi, as you also mentioned. Were you posted in Jhansi cantonment or Babina?

Rahul, didn't know you lived i Jhansi as well! We had been to Jhansi in 2008 and hence did not stop over at the place this time. In Aug 2008, we went to another place close to Jhansi which is off beat - Devgarh - which has beautiful Vishnu temple from Gupta era. We could not go up the hill to see jain temples as it started raining heavily. Here are some pictures. BTW, i was posted in Jhansi. Jhansi Cantt has changed for good with wide roads and lot of greenery. I could not recognise Sadar Bazar this time!! We used to go to Manek Chowk at 1 AM in the morning for drinking hot doodh from Kadai!!! Good old memories

Betwa in full flow - Look at the clouds



Vishnu temple at Devgarh







Yours truly in front of a memorial in Regimental Officers Mess in Jhansi

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Fauji Bhai, Thanks for showing us Lucknow though your eyes. I never knew it is so beautiful. True, the city is being transformed !

As always, engrossing narration and superb photographs. makes us travel alongside you. Please drive on..

Tempted, but i cannot rate this travelogue again.


* as cool dube asks, Jhansi - W tgr ?

Thanks Ashok for your kind words. You are correct. Though i had been to Lucknow earlier, i had not seen these places then.

Yes sir, i was posted in "White Tiger division" in Jhansi

[NPV]

@Fauji sir - Engrossing, mesmerising, awesome, not enough superlatives to express ! Lovely pictures and narration with a great eye for detail. Thanks for sharing .
Your travelogue is making us feel like we're the ones driving on this trip.

[Fauji]

Shankar says it is time to go the river. A small bridge on Betwa is broken at places due to heavy flow in the river a month back and only two wheelers are plying on it. We park the car and move fast to the vantage point to watch the beautiful sunset.

As we move, Brinda is clicking pictures of Babas and fort from the river. Good that we have got the 70-300 lens which will help us to capture the grandeur of sun set. Let the pictures take over now.

Mesmerising sunset over Betwa



















Silouettes of Chattris brighten up a little as sun goes down the horizon!!



Quiet flows Betwa as sun goes down the horizon



We come back to Hotel and the manager tells us there will be a folk music programme in the evening on the lawns. The hotel is built by the erstwhile maharaja of Orchha. It has beautiful lawns and the rooms are spacious and nice. The sit out of the room has excellent view of the river. We change and come to enjoy the Bundelkhandi folk music.

The lawns of Bundelkhand Riverside resort


We notice that there are very few guests in the hotel being start of the season. Evening is very pleasant and right time to sip chilled bubbly. The waiters are quite enthusiastic and get us masala pappad and gobi fry as starters. We want to finish dinner early and go to sleep as we are to drive long the next day. The dinner is served in the dining hall which has elaborate artwork, antiques and is quite colourful and royal. The food is simple and good. We retire for the day after watching the news on TV where they mention about possible increase in protests in Telengana region.

I never knew that sunrise in Orchha will be ss beautiful as sunset. I get up early and come out to the sit out. The river is calm. I hear birds’ chirping and look at the horizon to notice the colours of sky changing. I come back and wake up my wife – who is the official photographer – and tell her we have a great moment to capture. She gets up from the bed and capture the colourful sunrise over the jungles of Orchha.

Sunrise over Betwa and Jungles of Orchha













The river turns orange as sunrises!



Betwa Rocks - Natural stone formation in the river. One of them looks like a stone seat!!



Packed breakfast ready, we leave Orchha by 7.15 on to our next stop - Nagpur. We still miss out visiting temples, trekking in the forests of Orchha which has excellent bird life – look at Sudipto’s TL where he has captured so many birds on his camera.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-calcutta.html

We could only click this brid - may be a Myna



We reach Jhansi and move towards Lalitpur when I get second thoughts of driving through Nagpur/Telengana to Bangalore. I discuss with Brinda and she asks me alternative. I take out the map and to my surprise notice that Udaipur is just 450 KMs away. But I don’t want to take chance if the road is bad. I call up Sudipto who had taken that road on the previous day. He gives thumbs up - power of TBHP - and plan is frozen.

Brinda is happy that she can shop around in Udaipur – we had been to Udaipur in 2009 and stayed for three days there. I had also read earlier that copious rains in the region had turned the place green and beautiful with lake full. I call up Jagat Nivas Palace where we had stayed earlier and he confirms availability of the room. We also check with Amet Haveli if they have room and I get positive answer.

Finally, I call up H V Kumar for his recommendation and he gives thumbs up to our plan of avoiding Telengana and reach Bangalore via Udaipur – Ahmedabad – Pune.

This is the second twist in the tale. I take a U turn and move towards Shivpuri on to Udaipur!!

To be continued - Day 13 - Beautiful drive to Udaipur and romantic city in full glow!!