Sweaty Punjabi nights

I’m in Amritsar in Punjab, near the Pakistan border. When I arrived yesterday (Tuesday I think), I was greeted with the intense heat and a million turban’s of the Sikh men who reside here. I met a fellow Brit at the station, David, who was staying at my hotel – the Grand, which is just near the station. I was originally going to stay in the Guruwandas – the free accommodation for Sikh pilgrims at the Golden temple, however I have a nasty cold coming on and was felling pretty grotty after my booze fueled night the day before.

The Grand is a massive rip off so be careful if you stay here. The rooms are nice – air conditioned and there is hot water, but they charge you through the nose. I’m currently stealing internet which is 200 Rupees!!! (The guy next to me gave me the code). I paid for breakfast too – another 125 rupees for some fried vegetable things, toast and coffee. Its not bad when you think in English prices (£1.50), but I paid 35 rupees in Chennai for the same thing – so gives you an idea of scale. After breakfast the waiter tried to charge me again for breakfast, so I had a long argument with the manager who claimed the ‘surcharge’ payment on the bill wasn’t breakfast.

Soon after arriving, David and I got a taxi up to the border to see the crazy ceremony they have here every night. We agreed 450 Rupees, however half way into the journey, the driver stopped to refuel and wanted another 200 rupees claiming fuel wasn’t included. We later met a guy at the ceremony who had paid 75 Rupees for the same trip. (Grrrr – Seriously – and I’m sorry if I offend all you lovely Indians, but the majority of your fellow countrymen really are the scabbiest money thirsty rip-off merchants in the world!!!)

The ceremony is an awesome spectacle. Around 5,000 go there every night and sit in stands around a road cut in the middle by two big gates. First off, women and children run up to the gate waving Indian and Pakistan flags, then the singing and clapping starts. On the Indian side, someone shouts ‘Hinduistan’ then the crowd shouts something back in Hindi. Then the Pakistani side (which are much louder and greater in numbers it must be said) shout ‘Pakistan’ then something else. Then, the guards do a shout off – where each side scream through the microphone and hold it for as long as they can, until the side that shouts the longest all clap and cheer. This was in almost every case the Pakistan side. Finally, The border guards, wearing these bizarre head costumes, march up and down in an exaggerated John Cleese style walk before lowering the flags for the night and locking the gates.

It’s a great laugh, however the heat was almost unbearable. Within 20 minutes, every item of clothing was soaked through – even my belt! On the way back into Amritsar, the pollution is really terrible. There are small rubbish fires at the side of the road every few kms, and the dust billowing up from the sandy roads gets everywhere. We got back to the hotel pretty exhausted and decided to go straight to bed so as to make the golden temple at first light.

Unbelievably, I made it up at 5.30am to meet David and see sunrise over the golden temple. It’s an awesome place. We took our shoes off, bathed our feet and walked through the outer white-walled building into the main central area. The small Golden temple is surrounded by a lake full of fish, which loads of Sikh guys bathe in every morning.

As the sun rose we joined the line into the temple. Just as we reached the front entrance, the guard with a big spear at the front told us all to stop where we stood for around 20 minutes as everyone around us mumbled along with this long chant on the PA system. Then, all of a sudden, everyone sits down, and David and I are caught in some big religious ceremony. It was actually very tranquil and quite a calming experience. Once it had finished we realised the ceremony was being conducted right in front of us, with these bearded gurus singing and playing instruments in this little enclosed square inside the temple. Upstairs, there are guys reading from this huge book – the size of a bed, and loads of people just sitting and praying. Everyone with out fail touches every step or bends down to kiss them. Its quite unreal to see just how religious these people are.

Once again, said my goodbyes to David, who is another awesome chap. Lives in Canada now, but originally from Coventry. Worked in Malaysia and Thailand for years. Traveled around mysterious countries like Burma – with great chat. That has been the single best thing about traveling so far – it really has. Couldn’t ask to meet any more interesting people. I’m back off on the train again soon to Agra and the Taj Mahal. Who will I meet tomorrow!!