Due to not having an alarm clock and not enough charge on my cell, I had to relay on my body to somehow wake up by 3.30am to catch the 4.00am bus to Dharmasala. I woke up at 2.30 am and after getting ready, had to count every minute before leaving for the bus stand at 3.45am. Once again, I was nervous walking the alley this early in the morning but did not have a choice. Met 2 fellow travelers from Paris, who were also on their way to Amritsar. Since there seemed to be big debate with the locals as to if or not the bus to Dharmsala had left already, we hired a cab.Seems like everyone here wants to be right and being wrong is not an option.
The ride to Amritsar was long(6 1/2 hours), the bus only stopped once for a tea break. I kept praying that I wouldn't have to go to the bathroom.I realized a day later that that I only took one bathroom break in 36 hours. I was drinking water but also sweating it out so much that I didn't realize that I was not hydrating enough.
My first impression of this holy city was that it was a chaos.It got crazy hot as soon as I got here, I was sweating just sitting in the bus, the thought of walking around with a 35 pound backpack was going to be an experience.The bus dropped us off at the bus stop and I caught a cab to the entrance of the Golden Temple. My goal was to see the temple and check into the pilgrim house that was going to save me some bucks.Upon arrival of the Niwas(guest house) I was bumping into hundreds others trying to get a place here. It wasn't going to be safe for me, so that money saving idea went down the drain.The temple itself can be spotted from quiet a distance due to its golden dome roof top. But the golden dome roof is not the Golden Temple.
I checked my shoes in at the shoe locker and decided to store my big bag pack at the luggage locker as well, since both were free and seemed trustworthy. Tied the scarf over my head, washed my face and hands before dipping my feet at the water pool at the enterance of the main gate. Walked down the stairs and there it was,Surrounded by a pool of holy water, the Golden Temple looked breathtaking. There was also a very long line sprouting out of it. I decided to walk around the grounds and take pictures from different angels. Men were bathing in the holy water while women could go into a small bathing house. Hundreds were laying under the shade observing the atmosphere that seemed to be oozing off the temple. There was a teaching in progress so I sat down to listen. Even though I could barely make out what they were saying, it was giving me a peace of mind. The Golden Temple in my personal record would have to be one of the most amazing things I have seen to date.
I was pretty hungry by now and decided to check out Lonely Planets recommend “Neelams”. Their vege burger was quiet good, not sure because I was hungry or it actually was that good. Tour guides were swamping the place from every direction and I decided to listen to one. Booked a very reasonable price tour to check out 2 local temples and the closing ceremony at the Wagah border between India and Pakistan. The border ceremony was one of my many destantions that I needed to check out on this trip.
We started the tour at Sri Durgiana Temple which is a Hindu version of the Golden Temple since it is also surrounded by a pool of holy water. The second temple was of someone I had never heard of before, “Mata Temple”. This is a cave temple where women who wish to get pregnant come to pray. For the record I am not wishing to get pregnant. One thing is for sure, I will lose count of the number of temples I will be visiting on this trip.
The India – Pakistan border at Attari/Wagah is a must see for anyone in the Amritsar area. We arrived close to 5 pm to already find hundreds(maybe thousands??) lineing up to get enterence in the public viewing area. Due to the populatiry of the closing ceremonies, both countries have built a stadium like facilty to accomdate the public. The general admission area is quiet chotic. People would be pushing around to catch a glimpse of the guards in their tradtional attaire or to get a view of the gates. Due to having my American passport I was able to get into the VIP area which was still crowded but without the pushing and pulling. The offical ceremony took a while to start, they was a lot of dancing to India themed songs, running around with the Indian flag and everyone trying to get their pictures taken with the guards. The guards,the lowering of the flags and closing the gate for the day is quiet entertaining. While leaving the border it occured to me that if the Indian goverment provided enough trash cans, there actually might be less pollution in India. Plastic water bottles were dumped by hundreds right at the enterence of the gate. No one is permitted to take any water or food inside the stadium resulting in everyone dumping the plastic right outside. It was a shame, imagine this scene every day? You are looking at millions of bottles over a short period of time.
I had made plans of staying in Amritsar and doing some shopping before heading off to my next location, but unforntaely battling the choas there for one day was enough. I booked my ticket to Delhi for 10pm that night. So long Amritsar, If life is with me I shall visit again.
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