India 1, Amritsar

Well I finally managed to get a chance to travel around India (with my girlfriend) and it was great! I had no idea there were so many varied activities available and each city we visited had something special about it. We split the trip up into a few parts, the first month - Oct 1st to 25th or so travelling the North. Diwali in Mumbai with my family then 3 short trips to Aurangabad, Goa and Nagpur. My girlfriend returned to Australia after Nagpur on the 12th of November. After a 2 week break in Nagpur with my grandparents I continued on to South India alone for a whirlwind 7 day trip. On the itinerary were Chennai, Allepy Munnar and Kochi followed by a flight back to Mumbai!


Amritsar

We touched down from Australia directly in Amritsar late at night and left the airport to find our taxi-wallah standing there with my name on a piece of paper. After he realized neither of us could speak Hindi he gestured wildly for us to follow him to his very comfortable AC cab. The ride to the hotel was a nice soft introduction to the craziness of India, being late and a smaller city there weren’t too many people around and the darkness prevented us from seeing too much outside.

Arrival


Arrival and check in at 'Hotel Airlines' went smoothly, a quaint little place with a dusty outdoor garden. Room was clean, large and had air-conditioning, a must as we discovered for the scorching October heat. As with most of the places we visited safety is not a high priority for Indians, this was strikingly obvious to us from the way the air conditioners were positioned. The condensed water dripped directly onto the only walkway to the rooms. The tiles there were polished smooth and thanks to the air conditioners, constantly soaking wet creating a deadly game of Russian roulette for guests entering and exiting the rooms. The room attendant there was extremely nice and friendly, as we later discovered his shift started at 8am and went to 10pm, every single day. I can't imagine he got paid very much so we made sure to tip him very well.

The next day started with a recon mission on foot around the hotel. Stepping out from the oasis of the hotel we were blasted for the first time by the full force of India. Rickshaws, cars, busses, goats, dogs, scooters, beggars, hawkers and a baffling supply of errant cows rushed along the road outside the hotel. I being Indian by birth was able to blend in, but my girlfriend being Australian was like a magnet for touts and rickshaw wallahs. They would constantly pull up right in front of us, blocking out path and ask if we require a rickshaw. Upon rejecting one a second would pull up, then a third and so on. The stream is never ending and almost drives you insane! After a brisk 'stroll' which required a catlike sixth sense to avoid being hit by a wayward scooter and the agility of an Olympic hurdler to dodge the rickshaws pulling up in our path, we returned drenched in sweat to the hotel.

Wagah Border

That evening we went to see the Wagah border ceremony where Indian and Pakistani border security try out stomp each other. The crush of people was unbelievable, all sweaty and smelly but remarkably peaceful in their jostling for a good view. A grandstand had been erected to allow more people to see the ceremony and the battle to climb the narrow staircase to the top was furious. The crowd itself was almost as interesting as the ceremony, shouts and cheers were going up constantly trying to drown out the Pakistani cheers on the other side of the border. The ceremony itself seemed like some kind of crazy theatre show.
Larger than life lanky characters wearing outrageous costumes stomping and yelling their way up and down the narrow road to the gate. Scowling across at their counterparts on the Pakistani side and despite the turbulent history between the two countries it never seemed like there was any hostility. As the sun came down the border gate was closed and I made a swift escape before the majority, down the rickety stairs that lined the grandstand. Pickpockets are a major problem at busy locations and thankfully both my girlfriend and I came out with all our possessions intact.

Having a nice hotel to retreat to is priceless. After an outing it feels like returning to heaven after a battle with the devil in hell. We slept soundly that night.

Golden Temple

Next morning was a trip to the Golden Temple, we were still not used to the heat and it was scorching! The main drawcard is that some parts of it are made out of gold however the structure itself is not particularly intricate or impressive in its construction. There were as usual thousands of people in the temple complex, the line to enter the temple itself stretched for about 100m and was moving painfully slow. We decided not to go inside the temple but rather to walk around the courtyard and temple complex. As with most of the holy places in India, a strange sense of peace descended on me as I entered the temple complex, this in itself made the visit worthwhile. We sat in the shade for sometime enjoying the crazy calmness of the place before moving off in search of lunch.

Just outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar we stopped for lunch at a small Punjabi dhabba and enjoyed a fantastic meal of Roti, Naan, Paratha and vegetable curry which cost for the two of us less than $3.

After our delicious lunch we headed back to the hotel, which now seemed almost like a 5 star luxury resort to us compared to the chaos on the street. It was time to get some rest as the next day was to be the first experience of the Indian public transport system!