Sleepless in Amritsar!

Our adventures have begun! Our journey started yesterday with an unexpectedly long visit to Birmingham Airport! The closure of Pakistani airspace resulted in a 7 hour delay to our flight and the increased flight time by 2 1/2 hours. We kept our spirits up ( literally) courtesy of the No 1 lounge at the airport and grabbed a couple of hours sleep upright on the plane. Not the greatest of starts but we survived!

Three fairly excited but a little jaded travellers arrived at Amritsar airport yesterday late afternoon. Our travel party consists of Cath, my friend from Warrington who I met at college 40+ years ago and John and myself. Still in our sixties, on,y just, in 1 case, and raring to go!

However much anyone tells you about what to expect in India, I don’t think you can be prepared for the reality! The noise, the colour, the dirt, the pollution, the crazy driving, the vibrancy make Amritsar a very exciting place.

Getting out of the airport was our first challenge – cars, scooters,tuk tuks everywhere. Thankfully we had a driver, Asish, who skilfully brought us to our hotel. We had planned to shower, sleep and have an early night. But then we met our guide Hari, who offered us a night out in Amritsar! Who could refuse?

We certainly made the right decision. Firstly our carriage awaited outside the hotel. We swerved, braked and hooted our way to the restaurant in a tuk tuk. It was exhilarating to be in such a different city zooming through streets full of such vibrancy. Hari had chosen Crystal Restaurant and it didn’t disappoint! We ate an assortment of vegetable, meat and fish curries, really the best I’ve tasted anywhere in the world.

Next another tuk tuk to the Golden Temple. Shoeless and head covered we made our way to join the queues to enter the main shrine within the Golden Temple. Here we saw the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs believe this is a living incarnation of the 10 Gurus and the book is revered as a living person. We observed the ceremony to move the Guru Granth Sahib from the main shrine to its overnight resting place, another shrine where the book is placed on a bed, with sheets, pillows, and air conditioning! Hundreds gathered to watch the ceremony, accompanied by trumpets, drums and much chanting.

The opulence of the Golden Temple is stunning and in complete contrast to the surrounding neighbourhood. Carpets are continually brushed, stonework cleaned whilst 200 metres away rats play in the litter strewn streets – yes we did see them – and dogs roam in packs.

India certainly is a country of contrasts and we’ve had a fantastic initiation. Can’t wait to see more!