India Saturday and Sunday 2/5-6/11

Saturday morning I took a 6 hr train ride to Amritsar. For the most part, the scenery was beautiful, tanks notwithstanding. However, not long after we left the train station, I was "greeted" with a public, when I say public, I mean PUBLIC, bathroom. Near the railroad tracks was an area used by some people from the city as facility. Men, women, and children all in a squatted stance, most facing the train and with enough personal space to take care of business. I immediately thought about complaints of water pressure and temperature. While those are legitimate complaints in my world, seeing those people makes the complaints seem insignificant at best.

The fog, at least I hope it was fog and not pollution, we passed through reminded me of the Stephen King novel, “The Mist.” That book was a trip. The train pulled into the Amritsar Station and my tour guide, Nomnom, welcomed me. That’s the phonetic spelling of his name, I think. We dropped my things off at the Ista Hotel. For the most part, the hotel was OK. It was beautiful inside and out, but I was unable to make international calls and the lack of response to my requests left me frustrated. Anyway, back to the tour. My tour guide picked me up and we went to The Wagah Border where Pakistani and Indian soldiers put on a show. While they did not actually fight, the show was quite entertaining. It was filled with hi-kicking, theatrics, and chanting from the Indian crowd and also the Pakistani crowd on the other side of the border. There was even a “pre-crunk” session which consisted of girls dancing before “battle.” They actually open ceremonial gates on both sides. The Indian and Pakistani crowds really get into it. Once they finished “fighting”, they lowered their flags simultaneously.

The holiest shrine in Sikhism, Harmandir Sahib, also known as The Golden Temple, was next. It was unbelievably beautiful. Words, in my mind, would not do it justice. Before entering, we had to take our shoes and socks off, cover our forehead, and wash our hands and feet. Outside the temple are sinks for washing your hands, and several small pools of water to wash your feet. There are four entrances to see The Golden Temple. We entered through the East Entrance. The Golden Temple is situated in the middle of a pool that is filled with various fish. The water is believed to have healed a man from leprosy. You will see several men strip to their underwear and submerse themselves up to their neck. They are not allowed to have their beard or hair in the water. Women are also allowed to submerse themselves. There is a covered area that gives them the privacy they need. During the day, the Golden Temple holds the Volume of Sacred Law for Sikhism. At night, they secure it in a building next to the pool. The temple was truly a magnificent sight. I was fortunate enough to see it at night and during the day. To read more about it, click here.

The next day, I decided to eat breakfast at The Golden Temple. According to my tour guide, The Golden Temple feeds about 30,000 people...a day! We walked through the East entrance again and walked around the Temple to where the kitchen is located just outside the southern entrance. The food was really good! Actually, the food was great the entire trip. No, I did not have any stomach problems afterward. I ate bread, a kind of rice pudding, curry and lentils. There was even enough for seconds, but I only had extra bread. In order to eat, you must sit crisscross "apple sauce."



Finally, I visited the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial. It's a memorial dedicated the innocent Indians that were murdered while celebrating the Punjabi New Year on April 13, 1919. After spending several somber minutes at the memorial, I departed for the train station where I then returned to Delhi. Next, among other things, The Taj Mahal. Here's a link to my Amritsar Facebook album.