Hotel Shimla Palace Lucknow

... it this way. All the flies were swarming aroound their lunch bags and no flies were interested in our lunch. The flies here must be trained to eat only Indian food. I wouldn't budge because I didn't want to be near their flies. I didn't see but Manuel told me that the family kept staring at me. He thought they were fascinated by my blonde hair. The train finally came and we were in first ...

The train was long and the visits to the toilet numerous. Descending from a cramped upper berth in sleeper class to prevent one from ******** oneself at regular intervals was not fun. The toilet to the left was a squatter, meaning I had to go through the added precaution (yet highly necessary) of removing all clothes, before returning shoes and getting down to business to prevent me accidentally covering my sweaty ...

... his head ... as they do ...........in the end we just gave up and we couldnt stop laughing <br><br>..... imagine being on a cycle rickshaw (with a bucled back wheel, which all and sundry were kindly pointing out to the driver...but he seemed unperturbed) ...... in the middle of a 6 lane London street with everyone cutting everyone else up.... it wouldnt happen .... it was hairy at times!!! in the end all we wanted was a bar!! hehe but it was a good ...

... dressed them up with little bangles and hair bobbles and flowers. We dumped our bags in the haveli and then went for a walk around the tiny village, people coming out to look at us, men on the pavement smoking together and smiling up. A group of elders sharing a hookah outside a small house were completely indifferent to us and I wondered if they felt a bit exploited by us. But mostly we were greeted with the most friendly faces and 'hello' and ...

... property, park, tigers etc. which I unfortunately missed most of. I heard from a friend that the Maharaja was/is a MP on the Indian government which is something I would believe. I also get great amusement from fellow travellers. On our trip here were saw countless people bathing at the water pump in the open at the front of their more rural properties and the remainder likely have no showers and here we stay at the best resort in the area and then ...

... that I'm learning from such a talented dancer! During the second act, a different dance troupe composed of 5 women performed a more traditional Kathak piece, though once again I couldn't really understand the story being narrated. Unlike my teacher's piece, this piece was accompanied by live musicians who sat on the side of the stage, including the requisite tabla player. The live music definitely added to the performance. The next week, I found pictures of my ...

... saying that we should just have a little chai before we go. So, as we did on our last visit, we agreed to have a quick cup of chai, and followed the man upstairs to his family's apartment. As we waited for the chai, he introduced us to his wife and kids, and showed us his own personal shrine to the "guru." His wife brought out the chai, and also some biscuits. After eating a biscuit or two and finishing our chai, we were ready to thank our hosts and head home ...

After being here for almost a month, I finally sat down and wrote some reflections about life in Lucknow. The things I've chosen to write about are a bit random, but hopefully these observations/experiences will provide some insight into life in my city. Lucknow History: Since I'll be living in Lucknow for 9 months, I thought it would be a good idea to give a sense of the city's history. Here's a bit of what I've found out... Lucknow was once the royal city of the ...

... delicious meal, I was hungry and proud that we'd cooked something, so I sprinkled on a lot of salt to give the soy/rice combo some flavor and made the most of the meal. First Week of Work (NOTE: AJWS has asked that we not include the names of our NGOs in our blog entries, so if you want to learn more about my NGO and its work...just drop me a line!) I am working at a regional-level NGO that focuses on advocacy and capacity building around women's health, using a human ...

... a retired marketing exec, part-time jazz saxophonist and computer graphis enthusiast was the wise old story bird with a cheeky grandad sense of humour. Uncle Paul got ****** in that typically teenage fashion - by not knowing how much was too much whisky and sprite. We played 4 rounds of bingo, ate yummy food and took endless photos. Yey. Laura again - Tim has been skiving with typhoid, but he'll be editor-in-chief of the next few entries.