I left soon after breakfast on Saturday morning. The ceremony that they gave me was very emotional as I'd got to know a lot of people and shared some good times with them. I was presented with a book of letters from the students which was very nice and received a hug from everyone there.
I got a taxi to Dharamsala bus station and soon got my first bus out of there. I needed to change at Pathankot and made it to Amritsar, in the Punjab, at 4pm. Straight away, I remembered what it's like in the cities again. This was the first one I'd been to since my first week. I'd got used to small places which were manageable but this was back to chaos. I got a bike rickshaw into the centre and managed to find the hotels more easily than other places I'd been to. As it was now properly hot, that was good but there weren't any with free rooms and the other factor I took into consideration was somewhere away from the roads. The horns were constantly sounding again but I managed to find a room in Hotel God Gift. It was 800 Rs but had hot water, the bed was soft enough and it was quiet enough.
I checked in and went to the Golden Temple, which is the main attraction here.
This is in the main Sikh region of India and the temple was a pleasant, relaxing place to be. However, I found that there are some Indians who simply demand that you speak to them, as though you are obliged to. I had one guy on the bus talk to me as long as he could and here, I had people wanting photos taken with me and them wanting to talk. When I sat down, one lad sat next to me and decided that I was his for the rest of the afternoon. He was nice enough but became quite annoying! After spending around 2 hours with him, I told him I was hungry, gave him a fake email address and wished him luck!
I went into the free kitchen which Sikhs have at their temples. You sit in a large food hall, on the ground like when I went to the wedding, and eat what is dished out. It's a nice idea and very communal (even though Indians don't mind about pushing their way past you) and I left my donation.
I went back to the hotel after that to try to finally get a good night's sleep, which I did, happily enough.
I had a shower as I was very sticky from the dirt and the heat and went to the Jallianwala Bagh memorial park. This is where the British gunned down and killed over 1600 peacefully protesting Indians in 1919. Here in Amritsar, there are very few foreign tourists and we are treated like tourist attractions. I got quite annoyed of people demanding my attention so had to try to ignore them completely. Some of them have no shame about approaching you and asking you everything they can think of but it was like being famous just because I am a westerner.
That afternoon, I went to the border ceremony. This is at the border with Pakistan and both sides put on a stunning ritual which is said to be them both showing how strong they are, but you can see it is all done as a performance. It has been likened to Monty Python's ministry of silly walks, except that it is sillier than that. Guards march down the path at high speed, do turns and kick their feet higher than their heads. The Indians congregate in the grandstand to the east, the Pakistanis to the west and they all chant and cheer. You would hardly believe these countries are sworn enemies, it all looks so much fun. It lasted for half an hour and I went back in the car with 9 other people to the city.
I had a quick wash before eating as I went back to the temple kitchen and I was horribly dirty from being crushed between loads of people on the way to the ceremony. By the way, that ceremony looks like it should happen once a year, so big and grand it is, but it actually happens every day.
I ate with a few hundred people again, got food one my t-shirt from people pushing into me with their trays on the way out and went back to my next hotel, which was cheaper and they had a room on this day. It was noisier but I managed to sleep enough.
I went into the Golden Temple the next morning after queuing for 45 minutes. It is worth it as with the 750kg of gold it is made from, it is pretty special to see. I couldn't take photos inside though.
After that, I ate in a cafe, which was a rare find and found an internet cafe to spend a couple of hours in while i waited for my train at 4.15pm. The overnight one. I've bought chains to lock my bags with and this is going to be the real test of not having anything stolen. Once this is out of the way, and hopefully without incident, I will be able to relax.
That reminds me - after I came out of the temple last night, on the way back to collect my shoes, I realised I'd lost my number tag. I went back to where I'd sat down but couldn't find it. I hoped I could get back before someone else stole my trainers and to my relief, I did and I found them again. If I didn't, I would have had to walk through the streets barefoot to the hotel. But, that's what a lot of the locals do anyway. Maybe not to my hotel, however.
I got a taxi to Dharamsala bus station and soon got my first bus out of there. I needed to change at Pathankot and made it to Amritsar, in the Punjab, at 4pm. Straight away, I remembered what it's like in the cities again. This was the first one I'd been to since my first week. I'd got used to small places which were manageable but this was back to chaos. I got a bike rickshaw into the centre and managed to find the hotels more easily than other places I'd been to. As it was now properly hot, that was good but there weren't any with free rooms and the other factor I took into consideration was somewhere away from the roads. The horns were constantly sounding again but I managed to find a room in Hotel God Gift. It was 800 Rs but had hot water, the bed was soft enough and it was quiet enough.
I checked in and went to the Golden Temple, which is the main attraction here.
I went into the free kitchen which Sikhs have at their temples. You sit in a large food hall, on the ground like when I went to the wedding, and eat what is dished out. It's a nice idea and very communal (even though Indians don't mind about pushing their way past you) and I left my donation.
I went back to the hotel after that to try to finally get a good night's sleep, which I did, happily enough.
I had a shower as I was very sticky from the dirt and the heat and went to the Jallianwala Bagh memorial park. This is where the British gunned down and killed over 1600 peacefully protesting Indians in 1919. Here in Amritsar, there are very few foreign tourists and we are treated like tourist attractions. I got quite annoyed of people demanding my attention so had to try to ignore them completely. Some of them have no shame about approaching you and asking you everything they can think of but it was like being famous just because I am a westerner.
That afternoon, I went to the border ceremony. This is at the border with Pakistan and both sides put on a stunning ritual which is said to be them both showing how strong they are, but you can see it is all done as a performance. It has been likened to Monty Python's ministry of silly walks, except that it is sillier than that. Guards march down the path at high speed, do turns and kick their feet higher than their heads. The Indians congregate in the grandstand to the east, the Pakistanis to the west and they all chant and cheer. You would hardly believe these countries are sworn enemies, it all looks so much fun. It lasted for half an hour and I went back in the car with 9 other people to the city.
I ate with a few hundred people again, got food one my t-shirt from people pushing into me with their trays on the way out and went back to my next hotel, which was cheaper and they had a room on this day. It was noisier but I managed to sleep enough.
I went into the Golden Temple the next morning after queuing for 45 minutes. It is worth it as with the 750kg of gold it is made from, it is pretty special to see. I couldn't take photos inside though.
After that, I ate in a cafe, which was a rare find and found an internet cafe to spend a couple of hours in while i waited for my train at 4.15pm. The overnight one. I've bought chains to lock my bags with and this is going to be the real test of not having anything stolen. Once this is out of the way, and hopefully without incident, I will be able to relax.
That reminds me - after I came out of the temple last night, on the way back to collect my shoes, I realised I'd lost my number tag. I went back to where I'd sat down but couldn't find it. I hoped I could get back before someone else stole my trainers and to my relief, I did and I found them again. If I didn't, I would have had to walk through the streets barefoot to the hotel. But, that's what a lot of the locals do anyway. Maybe not to my hotel, however.
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