Lucknow

After Agra we went by train to Lucknow, a bit in the east. After the Mongul empire, the Nawab ruled the north of India from 1724 for 1 century and Lucknow was their capital. The city has some nice remainings from this period and in the center are many parks, it's a good place to stay, we were there for 2 days, even if the riksha drivers are annoying.

The Chhota (Hussainabad) Imambara is one of two mausoleums we visited. It's from the beginning of the 19th century, quite new, and different in the style of other one's. The interior of the mausoleum is full of lamps, mirrors and other shiny things, but the exterior is like all other from the Islamic period in a garden with water in the middle.

Nearby are the Hussainabad clocktower and the mosque which is similar like this one in Delhi.

Also this place is a famous site for Indian tourists, however the mausoleum wasn't as interesting as taking photos with us or mainly with Laura who also often had to carry their babies.

The Bara Imambara, the big mausoleum, is really big. Surrounded by a garden, a mosque on the right hand side and finally the mausoleum which has a lot of large halls and a labyrinth on the top.

The train station from the British period.

Also for the British this city was once important and here the Indians fought in 1857 for their independance, the residency of the British rulers was under a siege during 4 months before defeating the revolution. The area of the Residency is still how it was after the siege, a lot of dammaged buildings which are now part of a museum.

For sunrise I went to La Martiniere, a building which is now a college, was built by a French at the end of the 19th century .

Agra

Agra was once the capital of the Islamic rulers in India and their remainings are impressive. It's a busy, dirty city, but it's full of tourist because it's home to India's most famous monument: the Taj Mahal!!
After a long nightbus ride from Haridwar in a quite uncomfortable bus we arrived late and tired in the morning in Agra. We stayed there 3 days to visit the most important places, but there are too many to see them all.

The symbol of love, the Taj Mahal, is a wonderful place and very famous. It's a must see place in the north of India and even a very long queue (mainly Indian people) couldn't stop us to enter inside the mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal, the favorite wife of Shah Jahan, the emperor at this time (and it's just an unimportant note, that this ruler had 72 other wifes...). The mausoleum is covered of white marbel and full of nice carvings, it took 22 years to build how it is now and was finished in 1653. After 3 entrance gates we got in the first courtyard from where one other gate (photo 1) leads to the main park area and behind, connected by a water channel (which was unfortunately empty...) is the mausoleum. On the left and right hand side of the mausoleum are 2 mosques (photo 8) and the whole complex is surrounded by a big wall.

The Taj seen from the Yamuna river at sunset time and from our hotel (the roof terrace restaurant).

Another big attraction in Agra is the Red Fort. Also built by the Islamic rulers in the middle of the 16th century, it has an 2,5 km long wall. The main part is occupied by the military, but where it is possible to enter for tourists, in the palace area, are some nice buildings. The view from the top of the wall along the Yamuna river towards the Taj Mahal is great if the weather is good, and luckily it was.

On a day trip we went to Fatehpur Sikri, 40 km from Agra and like the other 2 monuments a UNESCO world heritage. This town and palace was built in 1571 (by Akhbar, the same ruler who also built the Red Fort) and has a 10 km long town wall. Exept the wall and the palace is nearly nothing remaining, but this place and the nearby mosque are very nice.

The mosque here is the largest one in India, the main entrace gate is 54 meters high and inside the mosque are a lot of tombs.

Rishikesh/Haridwar

After Shimla we went by bus (it was a long day inside it) to Haridwar which is on the Ganges river, where it changes from the Himalaya to the flat land. Because of that, this place is holy and every 12 years part of the Kumbh Mela, the biggest pilgrimage on earth with millions of people (there are 4 holy places where they celebrate this event). It took place this year in March\April and when we were there, they had another celebration and the town was full of people. On Sunday night they had a firework and other things and the river banks were crowded.


Haridwar on the Ganges surrounded by a few hills where some temples stand. People go inside the holy river for a bath (however it is already quite dirty and this just after leaving the Himalaya...) and curiously they also dig in the dry river beds of channels to look for sth... but what? maybe a hidden treasure. Well, except litter we couldn't see anything.


Some other things from incredible India; cows in the middle of the street in the center of Haridwar, nice, nice, sometimes they can provoke a chaos for the traffic.
The shadow of a Gecko behind a curtain, a good friend, as he eats the things we really don't like: Mosquitos!!
Along the road in Rishikesh they put a lot of signs like this one here. Luckily we haven't had or seen any accident, but the manner how they drive here is really crazy!!


Well, Rishikesh, the other place where we stayed 2 days. Compared with Haridwar it's full of western tourists, clean and quiet, so a nice place to stay for a couple of days. The village or town is famous as "the Yoga capital of the world" and already the Beatles were here to learn it. So, the place is full of meditation centers and Hindu temples. The Ganges flows also through Rishikesh before continuing to Haridwar and the mountains are a bit higher.


Poor Fredi went swimming in the holy river.... Well, actually he always wanted to do it, but when he saw this ugly colour of the river he wasn't sure anymore. Luckily he survived it, he saw some big fishes, so there's still life inside it, but afterwards he had to relax on the river banks. We will see if he wanna go again bathing in Varanasi, when we'll meet the Ganges next time.


Some photos of the holy river in Rishikesh, there are many modern temples and ghats along it. People go swimming and for celebrations they also put puppets inside.


The only old temple we saw there, unfortunately it was closed at the time...