Day 52 (Mon 28 Aug) - Chandigarh / Amritsar
We had breakfast and took an auto rickshaw to the bus station for our first bus journey in India.
We easily located our bus and settled ourselves down for the five hour journey to Amritsar. While we waited for the bus to take off two Sikh gents near us cracked open a bottle of whisky. The time was 10am! Although we thought that it was a little early for a toot we soon realised they were simply trying to compose themselves for the journey ahead. If only we had known what the journey would be like we would have joined them.
It certainly wasn't the most relaxing five hours of our trip so far. The bus driver seemed to think his horn was his brake and that people should just move out of the way even if he was on the other side of the road and it was their right of way. The only thing he slowed down for was cows, and that was only because they didn't move out of the way.
Sarb felt a little worse than Jo as he thought it would be a good idea to take his Larium tablet that he missed to the night before. Hence he felt like chucking up for most of the journey.
We arrived at Amritsar feeling a bit battered and worst for wear. We then had the joy of fighting our way through the autorickshaw drivers as we got off the bus - all of them wanting to take us to a hotel. Fortunately Sarb had already booked our hotel the night before so we just asked to be taken there.
Our first impression of Amritsar was that it is extremely busy, noisy and dirty. We arrived at our hotel (MK Sook Guest House) and collapsed. We didn't rest long as we both realised how hungry we were so we headed off to find one of the restaurants recommended in the Lonely Planet. The first place we came to was Pizza Point which seemed a bit dirty but served tasty veggie pizzas.
After our late lunch we decided to explore - shortly afterwards we spotted our first rat! Since we weren't very impressed with Amritsar town we decided to go to the Golden Temple. Therefore Jo changed into her Indian garb and Sarb bought himself a fetching scarf to cover his head.
Our hotel is right round the corner from the temple complex so we walked round, gave our shoes into the temple shoe store, washed our hands and feet, covered our heads and wandered through the main entrance.
Straight after the dirt and grime of Amritsar the inside of the complex is as pristine as you can imagine. Somehow as well the bustling sounds of outside are completely blanked out ( [1] ).
The Golden Temple itself, standing in the pool, looks absolutely incredible. It looks smaller than we imagined but somehow much, much more ornate and grand.
Took loads of photos of the temple as we sat by the side of the holy pool. ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] )
Later we went to Lawrance Street as we had read that it was a good area for restaurants and shopping. We were a bit disappointed - the shops were small and not very inviting and the road was muddy and badly lit. There was no path so we kept having to dodge the puddles and vehicles, who kindly beep to let you know they are just about to run you over!
We managed to buy Sarb's Aunt some sweets, who we were visiting the next day. We then hunted for a restaurant called Crystals which we had been recommended to us by a number of people. After a long walk we spotted it on the other side of a busy road. Jo managed to scurry across the road but Sarb was still stuck on the other side.
Fortunately an unlikely looking hero appeared. This knight of the road had no legs but this seemed to be of no consequence. Jo didn't know what was happening but suddenly she was watching in awe as the busy traffic parted. Our hero scuttled across and through the traffic and following in his lee was Sarb looking a trifle wild about the eyes. Sarb was very grateful.
By the time we got to Crystals we were desperate for a drink, however, typical they did not serve alcohol so we had to make do with non-alcoholic cocktails, cruelly called a mocktail on the menu.
We had a tasty meal and as we left the restaurant Sarb's new friend hailed us a rickshaw back to the hotel.
We easily located our bus and settled ourselves down for the five hour journey to Amritsar. While we waited for the bus to take off two Sikh gents near us cracked open a bottle of whisky. The time was 10am! Although we thought that it was a little early for a toot we soon realised they were simply trying to compose themselves for the journey ahead. If only we had known what the journey would be like we would have joined them.
It certainly wasn't the most relaxing five hours of our trip so far. The bus driver seemed to think his horn was his brake and that people should just move out of the way even if he was on the other side of the road and it was their right of way. The only thing he slowed down for was cows, and that was only because they didn't move out of the way.
Sarb felt a little worse than Jo as he thought it would be a good idea to take his Larium tablet that he missed to the night before. Hence he felt like chucking up for most of the journey.
We arrived at Amritsar feeling a bit battered and worst for wear. We then had the joy of fighting our way through the autorickshaw drivers as we got off the bus - all of them wanting to take us to a hotel. Fortunately Sarb had already booked our hotel the night before so we just asked to be taken there.
Our first impression of Amritsar was that it is extremely busy, noisy and dirty. We arrived at our hotel (MK Sook Guest House) and collapsed. We didn't rest long as we both realised how hungry we were so we headed off to find one of the restaurants recommended in the Lonely Planet. The first place we came to was Pizza Point which seemed a bit dirty but served tasty veggie pizzas.
After our late lunch we decided to explore - shortly afterwards we spotted our first rat! Since we weren't very impressed with Amritsar town we decided to go to the Golden Temple. Therefore Jo changed into her Indian garb and Sarb bought himself a fetching scarf to cover his head.
Our hotel is right round the corner from the temple complex so we walked round, gave our shoes into the temple shoe store, washed our hands and feet, covered our heads and wandered through the main entrance.
Straight after the dirt and grime of Amritsar the inside of the complex is as pristine as you can imagine. Somehow as well the bustling sounds of outside are completely blanked out ( [1] ).
The Golden Temple itself, standing in the pool, looks absolutely incredible. It looks smaller than we imagined but somehow much, much more ornate and grand.
Took loads of photos of the temple as we sat by the side of the holy pool. ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] )
Later we went to Lawrance Street as we had read that it was a good area for restaurants and shopping. We were a bit disappointed - the shops were small and not very inviting and the road was muddy and badly lit. There was no path so we kept having to dodge the puddles and vehicles, who kindly beep to let you know they are just about to run you over!
We managed to buy Sarb's Aunt some sweets, who we were visiting the next day. We then hunted for a restaurant called Crystals which we had been recommended to us by a number of people. After a long walk we spotted it on the other side of a busy road. Jo managed to scurry across the road but Sarb was still stuck on the other side.
Fortunately an unlikely looking hero appeared. This knight of the road had no legs but this seemed to be of no consequence. Jo didn't know what was happening but suddenly she was watching in awe as the busy traffic parted. Our hero scuttled across and through the traffic and following in his lee was Sarb looking a trifle wild about the eyes. Sarb was very grateful.
By the time we got to Crystals we were desperate for a drink, however, typical they did not serve alcohol so we had to make do with non-alcoholic cocktails, cruelly called a mocktail on the menu.
We had a tasty meal and as we left the restaurant Sarb's new friend hailed us a rickshaw back to the hotel.
posted by Jo and Sarb at
8/28/2006 09:56:00 am
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