Amritsar

Day 11- Hanumangarh to Amritsar – 4 Sept 2018

Amritsar has been a dream destination for us, and it is hard to recollect when exactly this love started.  We had a pleasant drive except for a mishap in between. I broke the GoPro camera holder when I was trying to remove the camera from the car when we stopped for tea at a small roadside Dhaba. I was badly disappointed as the trip has just started and we have lot more videos to be shot. I was lost in thoughts while having tea and immediately decided to order a set of GoPro accessories online and collect it at our hotel in Amritsar. It all happened within minutes – searched online, found the stuff and ordered it immediately. It was delivered to us by the next day noon.

Roads are really good, however be cautioned about the frequent wrong side traffic. Better to keep a lower speed even on Highways. It took one hour from Hanumangarh to reach the Punjab border of Dabwali, half an hour from the border to Bathinda and then three hours from Bathinda to Amritsar. Once again, please expect anything on road anytime from anywhere. :). Also, expect some traffic once you enter Amritsar.

As we approached Punjab, we could see roads getting busy and farms on both sides of the road and more greeenery throughout. It was a gradual change. There were a lot of roadside fruit stalls, and we stopped at one of them to buy guavas. We could see Guru Nanak Dev Thermal plant units on the way, a scenic view by a lake side.

 We reached our hotel Golden Sarovar Portico in Amritsar around 3 in the afternoon. We had our late lunch at the hotel room itself, and relaxed for sometime. We had planned for two visits to the city’s major attraction – The Golden Temple, one at sunset and one during day time. And it was the perfect time for the sunset visit.

We left from the hotel around 5pm and it took us really some time to find the exact temple location. The roads that approach the temple are very narrow and crowded. I had to ask two people to find the correct route. The google map direction was not comfortable as I had to drive through very narrow roads. After roaming around cluelessly on really busy and narrow streets near the temple, we finally reached the place, parked the car and walked towards the temple. The cars have to be parked almost 500m away from the temple. The path to the temple from there is well paved and offers a pleasant walk. There were lots of shops on both sides of the busy streets of Amritsar’s popular market and tourists were busy clicking selfies. Don’t forget to visit some of the shops displaying the authentic  and intricate floral embroidered dress materials created by the amazing craftsmen of Amritsar! 

We were spellbound when we reached the temple entrance. That is one experience which will never fade from mind, a minute before we were in the middle of the loudest of noises and crowd we could ever imagine, and the next minute all those troubles just vanished, with just a glimpse of the magnificent Golden Temple.

Situated in the middle of a huge pool, the gold plated walls of the temple glittered with the setting sun in the background, giving the whole place a very divine ambience. The golden reflection of the temple in the blue waters of the “Amrit Sarovar” is a sight to behold. We could see hundreds of Sikhs taking a dip in the sacred lake, however we did not try to enter the temple as the queue was really long.

There are certain rules to be followed once you are inside the temple and it is very strictly followed. There are volunteers everywhere to help you and guide you. Just putting down a few of the rules which I still remember :

We walked around the temple, watching the Golden Temple slowly changing its colour with the sunset.

The world’s largest free kitchen is the langar at The Golden Temple. This is where approximately 100000 people are given free food everyday and anyone can have it. We also went inside and sat in the row.

We had Dal, roti and a sweet at the community kitchen, and came out of the temple by 7.30pm and started walking towards the car. Our daughter very much liked the handcrafted Amritsari Juttis in the Hall Bazaar, and got a pair of them. After walking for 15 minutes, we reached our car and headed back to the hotel. It was only next day when I came here again that I realised the spot where I had parked my car the previous day was a No parking zone. Luckily it was not towed away. There are designated paid parking areas near the temple, however it is difficult to find them. Also, it is a tedious task to get your car inside these parking areas as the roads are pretty narrow. And to be honest, you come across some very crazy driving skills here, which is not seen anywhere else before. No hard feelings guys. I was wonderstruck at the different ways, vehicles were going on the roads. Two wheelers were truly unpredictable.

Day 12 – Amritsar – 5 Sep 2018

The stay in Golden Sarovar Portico was very neat and cozy, and we slept all the way till 8 am. The breakfast was just awesome and included even South Indian dishes, and Insha was so delighted to have some idlis. We quickly freshened up, and got ready to visit Golden Temple once again in the morning sun. We first visited the Jalianwala Bhag, which serves as a memorial of the horrific massacre of innocent Indians by the British army, and the walls still preserve the bullet holes from the massacre.

After a long stroll through the garden, we headed to the Golden Temple again, and clicked some more pictures of the temple in bright sun.

After seeing the previous day’s pictures on WhatsApp status, one of our friends had suggested us to mandatorily taste the food from Amritsar’s Brother’s Cafe. We took a cycle rickshaw from the Temple and got into Brother’s cafe for lunch. The food was just awesome, and we couldn’t stop ordering lassi again and again! I would tell the food at Brother’s Cafe is a must try in Amritsar.

After a sumptuous lunch, we got ready to leave for Attari, the India-Pakistan border of Wagah, to witness the Evening Retreat Ceremony between the Indian Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers.

This is one place in our list, we would really want to go again and again just to feel the ambience. Even after years, I can still feel the atmosphere created by the soldiers during the ceremony. It literally gives us goosebumps every time we discuss about it. Anyone who is reading this blog, I would suggest you should visit this place at-least once.

It is 30 kms drive to Attari, which is the border, lying between the historic cities of Amritsar and Lahore. We had a relaxed drive on the highway and reached the border by 4pm. The place was already crowded. We passed through the security checks, parked our car in the designated parking areas and walked to the entrance. It was already very sunny  in Amritsar and by the time we reached Attari, it had become very hot and humid. We went and stood in the queue for the security check and within mintues, we started sweating like hell. After standing in the sun for almost 30 mins, we got past the security gates. Once you reach the main gate, you can see two types of stands in the pavilion. One with proper chairs and another a gallery of steps. We were sent to the gallery and it was horribly crowded. We didn’t understand why we were sent to the gallery and not the one with chairs. I went and asked one of the army personalle and came to know that the stands with chairs are to be reserved beforehand which we had no clue about. However, we sat in the front row on the steps as it was getting more and more crowded. People from almost all parts of India were seen there. We were informed that the event will start only at 6PM. It was very difficult to sit in the gallery in the humid and hot climate. We kept on buying cool drinks and water until 5.30pm. Thats when one of the army personalle came to us and asked us to go and sit in the stands with chairs. We were literally surprised with the upgrade, however, didn’t waste a second and rushed to the stands. I felt he was watching us for sometime and was seeing us struggle with the small baby. It was such a relief to finally sit in a comfortable place. It was still sunny and humid, but the chairs made lots of difference. The event started soon and it went on for an hour. Next one hour was fully filled with energy, passion, perfection and strength. Goosebumps and Salute to the INDIAN ARMY!

We returned back to our hotel after the eventful ceremony, managed to shop some handmade stoles on the way back. We just roamed around Amritsar city in the night and had dinner from a restaurant near our stay. We cannot compromise on the sleep today, as Kashmir and the mountains are calling, indeed long drives are ahead!