1/18 ☼ Exploring Temples, Caves, Ghats, and an Imambara: A 3000-Mile Adventure
City of Nawabs ✈️ 🛍️ 📸 🎧 🎫 - Part 1/18
I believed I had meticulously organized an eco-friendly journey to discover the northern and eastern regions of India. Armed with detailed itineraries, I set out on my adventure to discover
Bara Imambara, Lucknow दीवारों के भी कान होते हैं: the iconic Bhulbhulaiya maze
Ayodhya, जय श्री राम Janmabhoomi Sanctum: Dedicated to Lord Rama and is believed to mark the exact spot of his birth
Varanasi हर हर महादेव: home to iconic temples such as Kashi Vishwanath and Sankat Mochan Hanuman, as well as the picturesque ghats lining the sacred Ganges River
Mahabodhi Temple & Bodhi Tree 🧘: the UNESCO World Heritage Site and the focal point of Bodhgaya and the sacred Bodhi tree which is believed to be a direct descendant of the original tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment.
Bhubaneswar and Puri 🚩🛕🐚🕉️🔱🪘: to visit the ancient temples of Bhubaneswar (Lingaraja Temple, Mukteshwar Temple) and the famous Jagannath & Konark temple in Puri.
Just as we thought all was in order, we received the disappointing message that our ticket to Lucknow hadn't been confirmed. Despite our best efforts, including a Tatkal booking a day in advance, luck wasn't in our favour. Thankfully, we stumbled upon an amazing early-morning flight deal from Bangalore to Lucknow.
Travelling by public transport from Chennai to Bangalore Airport can be quite challenging, but we decided to make it easier by booking tickets on the Shatabdi train. We were looking forward to comfortable seating and delicious snacks, but some of the food items we received had fungus on them, however, the railway staff were helpful and resolved the issue promptly. Subsequently, we opted for an Air-conditioned bus service to travel from the station to the airport.
We arrived at the airport for our 6 am flight around midnight and decided to relax at the BLR lounge with plenty of time to spare. However, upon reaching the lounge, we were informed that the crew had relocated to a new gate. We encountered a few problems with the staff over entry time restrictions (3 hours before departure), but eventually gained access by paying extra because we had a kid with us. Just as we were looking forward to relaxing, we were informed that the AC was not functioning. Despite our initial plan to sleep on the sofa with the fan on, we found the inside to be uncomfortable. The lounge lacked good snacks and coffee arrangements, so we left early and headed to the boarding gate.
Domestic flights now have a new system where passengers are called zone-wise, as we experienced when our zone was called upon entering the aircraft. It was confusing to see a large number of people already waiting inside the plane. Hoping to catch a glimpse of the Himalayas from the flight, which is relatively close to Lucknow at 250km away, we were not fortunate enough to see them this time. Nevertheless, we managed to reach Lucknow on time and my wife said 'मुस्कराइए, आप लखनऊ में हैं'। 😉
Next Post: I will share a tale about the Bara Imambara, our culinary adventures with local food, and the delightful shopping experiences we had, along with our pleasant stay at the Radisson. Stay Connected.
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