July 20-23
It was an 8 hour drive to Amritsar, in the state of Punjab. I know what you’re thinking. Apparently the travel agent that we assumed was trying to scam us was right about the train issue. Since Sonu is our trusty travel agent, we tried to book train tickets with him, but he was unable. So instead, Raj Kumar is driving us to Amritsar which is on the border of India and Pakistan.
We heard about Punjab in an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, and knew that if we were able to finagle it, we wanted to visit. So 8 hours in the car. The drive was fairly easy – one stop for lunch and one stop for tea.
The lunch spot was a little nicer than the tea spot, but both got the job done.
Our view as we entered Amritsar.
A drive like that, following a few days where we barely did any walking, meant a trip to the gym upon arrival at our hotel. I’m not a big fan of the treadmill, but it was way too hot to be running outside.
The next day we only had one activity planned in the afternoon, so we went for a walk to the market in the morning. That’s right – a successful walk to the market.
A lot of trash, but a lot of incredible colors as well.
It was roughly a mile away and we made it without being hassled at all. There are significantly fewer tourists in Amritsar, especially in the area that we were wandering, so we were able to fly under the radar… as much as possible.
That afternoon, Raj picked us up from the hotel to drive us about an hour to the Pakistan border.
Ok, ok, we didn’t actually enter Pakistan. But T-Mobile wasn’t so sure about that.
We went out to the Wagah Border to see the lowering of the flags ceremony. Every day there is a military ritual on both sides of the border to lower the flags of both India and Pakistan. The ceremony is very well coordinated and pretty dramatic. On the India side, tourists begin arriving hours before the show starts. We arrived at 3:30pm for a 6pm ceremony. We were really lucky to be foreigners. We got front row seats while most Indians were in a really crowded section of the stadium. That’s right. A stadium.
As we were getting close to starting, women and children were brought down to the center of the stadium to run Indian flags up and down the stage area.
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/img_3026.movThen there was a massive dance party for women and children. I honestly have no clue how they all got up to dance. Michael and I were just baking in that sun.
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/img_3035.trim_.movThen finally the military exercise began. The main point of the operation was for soldiers, dressed in traditional uniforms, to storm up to the gate, high kick, stomp their feet, pose with their toes turned up, shake their fists, and finally straighten their hats. This happened for 30-45 minutes, on both sides. It was basically an elaborate dance between the two sides.
The guy in white was the master of ceremonies for the day. He spent his time riling up the crowds and organizing the activities.
https://www.thatsonourlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/img_3062.trim_.movThe Pakistan side:
There was some up close interaction with the other side as well. Yup – just two dudes with massive guns facing each other from a foot away.
Fun fact: people in India call their country “Hindustan”. It is the Persian name for India.
Then finally the flags were taken down.
And just like that, our Wagah Border experience was over. I thought it was cool, but Michael was obsessed with it.
How bout those colors?
The next day we visited the Jallianwala Bagh which is the memorial to the massacre of hundreds of Indians by the British army during a non-violent protest in 1919.
A crowd of about 5000 had gathered in a large garden to condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. This day was also a Sikh festival day, so many villagers had gathered for that purpose. Without any warning and without an order to first disperse, General Dyer has his troops open fire on unarmed people. They fired 1650 rounds, over the span of ten-twenty minutes.
It made Jallianwala Bagh an everlasting symbol of the non-violent and peaceful struggle by the Indian people for freedom and the beginning of Indian nationalism. Some historians consider this event to be a decisive step towards the end of British rule in India.
The garden is walled on all sides. The troops blocked the entrance with a tank and locked the exit, so the people had nowhere to run when the army began firing into the crowd. To escape the bullets, people began jumping into this well.
120 dead bodies were recovered from the well.
Then we went went to the famous Golden Temple in Amritsar. On our walk over:
The Golden Temple is the holiest gurdwara, or place of worship for Sikhs. All faiths are welcome in Sikh gurdwaras. The Golden Temple is the most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism.
Before entering the area, we had to remove our shoes, cover our heads, and wash our hands and feet.
A lot of people wanted pictures… and yes, Michael knows how good he looks.
After walking around for a bit, we finally got in line to enter the actual temple.
No pictures in line or inside the temple. To try to give you an idea of how beautiful it was… I’m not sure I can do it justice. Inside is pretty small, but it is several stories tall. Every area was either covered in gold or in elaborate decorative art work. Sitting inside the temple were 4 or 5 musicians playing the music that we had heard throughout the complex, complete with a raagis, who recites, sings, and explains the verses from the Guru Granth Sahib.
After the temple visit, we continued on to langur – the community kitchen. The Sikh religion believes that everyone is equal and that everyone should be cared for and fed. As such, the kitchen in the complex serves over 100,000 people per day. Rich and poor all sit side by side for their meals.
We grabbed our trays and sat in rows.
The menu is really simple: lentil curry, kheer (rice pudding), vegetables, and bread.
It might not look that good, but it was delicious – especially the rice pudding. I guess when you serve that many people, you figure out how to get it right.
Here is the cleanup area:
And the food prep area:
People donate money or volunteer their time. It is definitely a well oiled machine.
After we ate, we had a few hours to waste. We wanted to wait until it got dark to see the Golden Temple lit up. So we exited the complex and grabbed some water. Between the heat, the humidity, and the malaria meds, we are constantly dehydrated.
Finally it was dark enough to ditch the shoes again, wash up and re-enter the Golden Temple.
The next morning, we drove back to Delhi. I am so glad that we were able to get out of the big city. Once we were able to wander around a bit in a slightly less touristy area, we were better able to get a feel for the “real” India. Here are my final thoughts.
The People
We spoke with three types of people: hotel/restaurant employees, normal people, and some street kids.
The normal, working people we met were either excited to see us or wanted nothing to do with us. Everyone was polite; some wanted pictures. Most of them wanted to tell us how much they love Obama. They feel like Obama was the only sitting President to give India some personal attention. He visited a few times during his presidency and also visited last December to participate in a town hall organized by his foundation to engage the youth to create positive change across India and the world.
The hotel and restaurant employees were all overly polite. We didn’t speak with them much, other than to order food. However, on our last night in Amritsar, the manager, the kitchen manager and two or three other employees brought us a “come back soon” pastry to our room and were standing outside our room in the hallway, waiting for us to return. They too asked for a picture with us.
Finally – the street kids, who were trying to sell us pens. That is an item that we definitely do not need. But a few of them that spoke English just seemed happy to hang around and stare while we spoke with other people.
The Food
The food was incredible, but we definitely ran into the issue of too much of a good thing. By our last day in India we were ready to switch cuisines. They just use so much butter!
Besides the countless curries and masalas that we ate, we did try kulcha which is a flatbread that is stuffed with potatoes, onions and spices and served with chole which is chick pea curry. Delicious.
We also popped into few local food stalls which is called a kesar da dhaba. This one, outside the Golden Temple was serving up the perfect potato fritter.
The Driving
Just awful. Seriously scary and chaotic at every moment. Cows and bulls in the road, laying down to rest on whatever highway they see fit.
Young school children walking to school on the highway.
Raj Kumar, our trusty driver, had a few close calls, but delivered us safe and accident free every time. Apparently he has never had an accident in 35 years. Just hearing that made me paranoid that he’d jinxed himself. His mantra for driving in India is: good brake, good horn, good luck.
There are two types of license plates in India. Yellow plates are for commercial drivers, like Raj. To get a yellow plate you have to take a fairly extensive driving course. White plates are for private cars. Apparently, white plates are the only plates that get into accidents.
Raj is originally from a farming town near Calcutta. He moved to Delhi when he was young to work. His cousins are still farmers. The main crops in India are sugar cane, potatoes, rice, and beets.
We found out that the first night in Amritsar, Raj slept in the car because he could not find any rooms that he could afford. I cannot stress how hot and humid it is in India right now. Plus the mosquitos in Punjab are horrible. Michael got him a room in our hotel for the next two nights. As a seemingly proud man, I think he was equal parts horrified and excited. Raj has never left the country and does not get any days off work. “Maybe in my next life” is what he had to say about that. I hope so.
India was a tough country to spend time in. I’m so glad we went and the things we saw were all amazing, but we’re definitely ready to move on to something a little easier.
Johnny sure knows when to pay attention, doesn’t he?!!! The Golden Temple definitely deserved a “WOW” from Johnny. From me too!