Amritsar and Jaipur

Tuesday 9th November

Up at 6:10am. Packed up and walked to Delhi Railway Station. Train arrived 20 minutes early and left bang on time. Easy. Pulled away through the suburbs in the morning mist. Mostly young Inidan guys on the train; only two women and one other tourist. They brought us English tea and biscuits, and later some dhal? The rest of the time i slept in my airplane-style aircon window seat. Arrived at Amritsar on time, lunchtime. Tourist info recommded getting a cycle rickshaw to the hostel. Some important minister was in town so we took the long route but still saw some of those gathering to welcome the minister of whom there were posters everywhere. And there were two large, decorated and painted elephants. A rickshaw carrying about 10 skool kids was alongside my cycle rickshaw through town so we exchanged greetings and they giggled at the white man.

Large room at the hostel. Big, but only, room, on the roof. With map and some local help, i made my way to the Golden Temple. This is the holiest building for Sikhs. Entered from the side and the first glimpse of the temple from the approach was awesome. You have to hand in your footwear and cover your head, they gave me an orange bandana. The temple is in the middle of the lake with a path around the lake enclosed by other white buildings. Very picturesque. Lots of people kneeling down, praying. Not many tourists. Music and praying, from loudspeakers, add to the serene atmosphere. Went into the museum which has lots of paintings of important Sikhs down the years, and important battles. Most of the paintings showed Sikhs being tortured or attacked by the Mughals and the British, and the Indian govt.

On my second circuit inside the complex i wanted to see if i could go inside the temple. It seemed you had to make a donation at a ticket booth. So i did. And they gave me a large metal plate with some food and a large leaf (i think the size of the plate and the food is proportional to the donation and I had been happy to pay a bit more as there is no entrance fee). I wasn't sure what to do with the food but a local who was also going into the temple showed me. I carried it almost to the entrance where they take the plate from you and give you back a smaller portion in another smaller leaf. I figured this was so the food could be shared with those who had less.

There was a small queue for the temple and people pushed to enter the main part of the temple. Worshippers stopped to kiss the steps. Inside was a cordened off area where there were garlands of flowers and notes and coins that people had offered. And also there were four musicians and some singers, singing the prayers that could be heard outside. I enjoyed joining in the ceremony and seeing what they did. We also went upstairs, where the walls are beautifully decorated, and looked down on the musicians and the pilgrims entering.

I left as the sun started to set and stopped for dinner on the way home. Roti, rice and thali. Traffic still crazy on the way home, hard to see the cycle rickshaws in the dark, and a motorbike and I nearly collided.

Wednesday 10th November

Woke up in the night feeling a bit nauseous and coughing. Still feel like i have a bit of a cold and the pollution doesnt help. So stayed in bed till midday!

Walked up to the roundabout and to Ram Bagh garden. At the rear is the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panaroma. Inside the building there are some small dioramas and big paintings depicting Sikh scenes. Upstairs is a large panaroma. In a semi-circle there is one large painting depciting various Sikh victories, and in the foreground are life-size models of Sikh and opposition armies (ususally Afghans) fighting. And some battleground sound-effects of swords clashing, horse bleating and people charging. Fun and impressive. Back out across the garden I had a look at the statue of Ranjit Singh himself.

Had ommlette for lunch then came back to the hostel for time out. Then at 4 walked towards the Golden Temple again, stopping off to walk down some side streets of the main bazaar, mostly textile shops. Very old houses above the shops but they must have been sparkling and new once.

Also looked around the Jallianwala Bagh which is a memorial garden to the 400 Indians killed by the British Army as they held a peaceful protest here in 1919. They also had letters on display from, among others, Ghandi, and Winston Churchill (Minister of War), condemning the slaughter.

Four or five times, local guys stopped and asked to have their photo taken with me. A bit annoying really. I'm sure they have seen tourists before, though there aren't many about.

Got to the temple at twilight and walked around again then sat at watched the palace and the people unti it got dark. A couple of locals came over to chat and have their photo taken with me. I walked a bit more, then everyone had stopped and were looking toward the palace and saying a prayer together. A very serence atmosphere in the dark with people saying their prayers and hanging out.

Had culcha (like a naan) with thali on the way home. Met American Matt who is also heading to Jaipur tomorrow so we might catch up.


Thursday 11 November

Yesterday was a year since we started the Africa Trails trip. Got a tuk-tuk with 2 Germans and met Matt too on the platform. Sleeper carriage a bit more cramped than i expected and no sheets. Sat with Indian family who gave me food and sweets as we went along. Fun with the kids for a while but then i got fed up with them, mainly cos my cold was making me grumpy. Locals just throw their rubbish out of the window. Only upside is the people who live by the tracks could recycle some of it, but its still pretty disgusting. And there was a fixit guy on the train and he sewed my strap back onto my manbag and fixed the zip. Sweet.   

I was on the top bunk next to the the ceiling and had my big bag by my head and chained up (though it didnt seem like anyone was going to try to steal it). Anyway, bag on the bed meant short bed and so not very comfortable and my cold got much worse so not a very good nights sleep. And the train stopped quite often and blew its horn really loud each time we left a station. And when we could hear another train thundering towards us I was just praying it was on the other track!


Friday 12th November

When we got off the train in the early morning, seven of us got together. 3 french girls, a pommie couple and an American guy. We were all pretty knackered. We booked train tickets to Jaisalmer then had a long walk to the hotel. 5 of us in one room. $3 each.

We headed into Jaipur. As usual, loads of crazy traffic and noise and some camels and cows and horns blaring continuously. Had spinach and cheese for lunch. Then we walked up to the historic pink city and through the bazaar and eventually to the Hawa Mahal which is a pink sandstone structure built in 1799. Well, I have to say, the inside was not particularly impressive and looked a bit fake. We looked out of the small windows down onto the street (which were there so the ladies of the time could do likewise). We left and went out onto that street and then the pink facade was more impressive from there. We had walked for about 4 hours after a rough nights sleep so we were all exhausted and slightly delirious so got a tuk-tuk back to the railway station and walked to the hotel.