AMRITSAR



All that glitters...

Where: Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s holiest of sites.

Where (less detailed): Punjab region of India, near Pakistan

Weather: it was hot and sunny when we arrived but that big black rain cloud didn’t take long to find us and by our second day we had the usual downpour.

Temperature: a reasonable 32 degrees.

Rhaani gets papped again

Food: found a Dominoes pizzeria just around the corner and after three weeks of deep fried food it actually seemed like the healthy option. However Paul’s delight soon cooled when he realised that Amritsar is a Vegetarian city and so his Mexican feast pizza missed the all important pepperoni

keeping it real, homie...

Adventures/Highlights/Lowlights: some of the narrowest and most congested streets we’ve seen...cars not allowed in so only tuk-tuk, pedal rickshaws, motor and push bikes and fearless pedestrians allowed...the picture-postcard view of the Golden temple from our hotel roof....Paul betraying his proud English heritage in the Jallawallah Bagh memorial garden - the place where British soldiers massacred 2000 unarmed men women and children, “Where am I from? Australia mate”... Paul’s delight at having to dress up like a West Cost rap star in order to gain entry into the Golden Temple – check yo’self fool...entering the simply stunning and refreshingly serene Golden Temple.... joining the 60,000 who enjoy the free meal in the communal dining hall.... Paul forging ahead and losing Rhaani in amongst the 60,000 worshippers who enjoy the free food... Rhaani making new friends and insisting she had to go and find her husband...Paul - but not Rhaani - joining the mass dishwashing operation...still being papped inside the temple....Rhaani’s joy at finally being able to buy some shoes....

not the Empire's finest moment

Overall: awesome, by far the best city we’ve been to, people really friendly and even the street vendors seemed a little less aggressive and persistant...our new favourite place, oh and the sites were all free!

Up next: Attari, home to fantastically comical India-Pakistan border-closing ceremony.