Jhansi Fort and train to Lucknow
Trip Start
Nov 04, 2006
1
32
125
Trip End
Mar 2007
Lucknow,
India
Monday, December 4, 2006
I then took an auto rickshaw up to the fort which is a proper looking fort with bastions, slot-holes and ramparts. It was built in 1613 by a maharajah who lived in Orchha. The British set up camp here but were massacred during the Indian Uprising in 1857 but re-took it a year later. There are two huge cannon here. One near the main entrance and one on the other side of the fort where you get good views over the city
Jhansi Fort 1
. I saw a peach coloured church nearby so I thought that I would investigate afterwards as I hoped it was St Judes that was mentioned in my Lonely Planet. Inside the fort are two small shrines - one to the elephant god, Ganesh, and one to Shiva. There's not much too see inside. I left and walked down the road to the church which had a sign saying "City Church" and "Rev J Stephens" on a board but the gates were locked. SO I took an auto rickshaw back to the hotel and watched more of the Ashes and saw England bowl out the Aussies for a more than respectful 513 before we reached 25-0 in the 2nd innings. I left for the station and hoped that I had a seat as I was put on a waiting list. A gut came over and asked what train number I was on so I said to him "1124 to Lucknow and that I'm on a waiting list". He took me to a screen where he typed in the ticket number and there on the screen were my details along with my carriage number (A1) and berth (28), which was a relief. He pointed up to a list of red LED signs and said that it was due in on platform 4. I thanked him for his help and he asked for money which I got a little perturbed about and said that he should do it as a favour, a gesture of kindness to help out fellow man as everybody wants money here. I left him and walked up the stairs and across to the platform which stank of urine and was full with people. A train was waiting at the platform but it was not mine. It was full of people cramped up in Sleeper Class, one of the lowest classes on the Indian railways
Jhansi Fort 2
. It looked filthy from the outside and certainly not my cup of tea. The LED sign changed after the train had pulled out and was now showing my train as being late before changing again to come in on platform 5. The train arrived and I walked along the platform to find my carriage number. All the carriage number are shown in the middle of the train. S1, S2 etc are for Sleeper Class, A1 is for Air Con 2 tier class which was my class. I got on board after finding my carriage and found my bed berth - the upper birth of 2 on one side and 2 on the opposite side making a compartment of 4. The compartments are open with just a curtain for privacy. There are more upper and lower berths running down length ways on the other side of the carriage. The upper berths are suspended by chains from the ceiling which are wrapped in padding and they also stop you from falling off. This is my first time in AC2 as all the other trains I had taken up until now had been Shatabdi trains - posher trains that just have seats in them. It was surprisingly very clean and we pulled out of Jhansi just 10 minutes late. This class is mostly made up of middle class Indian's who are well dressed and middle management businessmen in nice shirts and trousers, although all Indian males dress sense needs a lot to be desired! After about 10 minutes of leaving Jhansi, an attendant came along and dished out a sheet, pillow and blanket to make up as a bed even though it was 2pm. I laid out and wrote up my diary whilst a guy in the opposite upper berth ate his lunch out of a Tiffin, a series of metal dishes that slot in together so that they form one large tin that can be carried around
Jhansi Fort 3
. I've seen them for sale in shops and I'll think I'll buy one before I come home. He was making me feel hungry for something but there didn't appear to be any food served on the train. We stopped at a station called Orai and I asked the ticket inspector if I could get any food on the platform. He said to follow another guy and I followed him to a counter selling samosas so I bought a couple that came in a dish made out of some kind of dried leaves. I ate one on the way back and it tasted good - smaller than we get at home, filled with meat but not that spicy. I got back on the train with the ticket inspector and another official were eating their samosas. In fact the ticket inspector gave me one of his. I sat down and started chatting to the guy in the other upper berth when we got nearer to Lucknow. He teaches civil engineering and we talked about the state of the roads.We got into Lucknow where I took a pre-paid auto rickshaw to my first choice hotel - the Ramkrishna Hotel but they were full as it had gone 9pm. The chap at reception said for me to try next door so I went next door and it was named the same. They had a room but it was pretty grotty and certainly the worst room to date. There was a horrid musty smell and in fact the guy who showed me the room began spraying air freshener around the room but it still didn't change the general decor. It was late and I couldn't be asked to go anywhere else so I unpacked and went down to the small restaurant below reception but it was empty and the menu was uninspiring. So I went to find MG road which, according to Lonely Planet, had a few restaurants on it but I couldn't find it as I just couldn't get my bearings based on where I thought I was and the map in the guide book. This is very unlike me. I concluded that they put the hotel in the wrong place and I was going to write to them when I get back home! Anyway, I found a place that was full with families and had a sweet & sour veg Chinese type dish followed by a fancy ice cream sundae. Families were still coming in with young children when I left at 10.30pm. I went back to the hotel to endure a nights sleep with noisy traffic even with my earplugs in.
