India, here I come again; this time for a pilgrimage. When I first announced the first time that I would be going for a pilgrimage trip in December, it drew looks of surprise. What would an unreligious person go for a pilgrimage for? My boss announced in the meeting that I would be going for a pilgrimage trip and there was laughter. I was actually a bit embarrassed but I put on an unassuming look. I would be going for a pilgrimage yes, on 7 December, 2007. It would be a 12 day trip if you would consider the first day of traveling from Penang to New Delhi aboard MH1153 one day and the last day of traveling aboard MH 1138 from New Delhi back to Penang another. In both cases, we would transit at KLIA, the beautiful airport that I had not stepped on since flying AirAsia. Anyway, to make a long story short, our pilgrimage did not really start on 7 December, technically. We had reached New Delhi at about 11.50 pm and had been herded to a dilapidated part of the city where the hotel had an elevator that stopped halfway and then began again abruptly only to have its door jammed when you reached the required floor. Yes, the door needed to be pried open with your very own bare hands! That was really a dramatic start to a beautiful journey to the west! Early the next morning, at 4.30 am, we were again herded to New Delhi railway station where the super fast train Shatabdi express took us to Lucknow, the supposedly cleanest city in all India. We had had the first Indian lunch at a hotel there and then a bus took us to Sravasti. Our pilgrimage had thus begun…
Taking a train to Lucknow...
Lucknow Railway Station...
Tip: You can travel and go for a pilgrimage!
