Luckily, I arrived in Lucknow bone dry and without further incident and, with the daylight fading, set off to do some exploration. The City of Nawabs is called so because of its long history as the stronghold of the Awadh Empire and it has some spellbinding architecture from this era for you to admire. Rumi Darwaza welcomes you to “old” Lucknow and, wow, this gate is big. The sheer scale of its size isn’t apparent from pictures, but when you see it up close for the first time, it will take your breath away. And that’s before you notice the sheer intricacy of the carvings across every inch of its surface. Immediately beyond the Gate, you’ll spot the Bara Imambara and Chota Imambara. Both these complexes have Persian style buildings that are completely different in design but share a certain enthralling beauty and old-world charm.
Having had my fill of exploration, it was time to bed in at the hotel; after all, I was crossing my first border on this trip the following day. I woke up bright and early with that particular thought still playing around in mind and set off for Sonauli and the Indo-Nepal border.
The roads were a lot less smooth and straight than on the previous day, but a lack of different roads makes for a boring trip anyway. And the Brezza handled the narrower, often broken tarmac, no problem. The suspension soaked up all the rough bits, leaving the SUV’s passengers and this driver comfortable and jitter-free. Anyway, by the time I reached the border, dotted all the bureaucratic i’s and crossed all the paperwork t’s it was night already and I wanted to see a bulk of Nepal properly in full light, so we bunked down at Butwal, 25 km beyond the border, for the night.
