In Amritsar, sleepy, stinky
and cold, found myself approached by near to 30 Auto-Rickshaw drivers as I got
off the train and trundled sleepily down the platform, all to be expected
though. Finally agreed to let some guy take me, after he found out the hotel name he
tried to charge me Rs100, having done my research I knew it was only a 2 minute
drive from the station but haggled down to a more reasonable excessive charge.
At the hotel a little bit of drool rolled down my chin, this looked exactly like I needed, excellent service, well dressed porters, could the room match the lobby? And yes it could, I didn't even need to switch on the hot water geyser for a shower and then wait for it to heat, burning myself as I defrosted I knew a climatic joy. Dramatic? Yes, I can tell you it was damn dramatic, the pleasure was so good I was wondering if I should tell Daniel and whether he might get jealous, sorry babe. The shower was over a bath so I didn't even have to squeegee the floor after!!
Not one to ever be slowed by lack of sleep, I dressed, tried to cover the bags and my eyes n' blotchy skin and made my way out. I took a rickshaw to the Golden Temple. Simply aweinspiring ornate moldings finished beautiful architecture in the big square building that enclosed the central lake and golden temple. I would be happy to share the photos had I not have deleted them :/ So I walked, gazed and marveled at the marble work on the ground.
Later, after wandering some amazing old streets and a crazy rickshaw but fun ride home to pumping Hindi pop music, I headed out to the Bagaborder, the border between Pakistan and India. Everyday people arrive en-masse from both sides of the border to beat out an aggressive military parade and a show down with much shouting of taunts etc. Despite the festive feel, I could not help the constant nagging awareness that whilst this was only a show, it was still a celebration of hatred and only serves to excite jingoistic behavior and prejudice. As the parade closes people run from the stands down to the gates to yell insults across the closed gates.
And so ends my journey, following this was vomiting, diarrhea, fever and shivering, finally had Delhi Belly!! This crapulence caused me to stay very close to the hotel and my bathroom and fork out for another night and another train fare. Oh well, had to happen sometime and somehow authenticates the India experience.
The following are a few pix from the train when bored, took me 15 hours to travel 470kms.
At the hotel a little bit of drool rolled down my chin, this looked exactly like I needed, excellent service, well dressed porters, could the room match the lobby? And yes it could, I didn't even need to switch on the hot water geyser for a shower and then wait for it to heat, burning myself as I defrosted I knew a climatic joy. Dramatic? Yes, I can tell you it was damn dramatic, the pleasure was so good I was wondering if I should tell Daniel and whether he might get jealous, sorry babe. The shower was over a bath so I didn't even have to squeegee the floor after!!
Not one to ever be slowed by lack of sleep, I dressed, tried to cover the bags and my eyes n' blotchy skin and made my way out. I took a rickshaw to the Golden Temple. Simply aweinspiring ornate moldings finished beautiful architecture in the big square building that enclosed the central lake and golden temple. I would be happy to share the photos had I not have deleted them :/ So I walked, gazed and marveled at the marble work on the ground.
Later, after wandering some amazing old streets and a crazy rickshaw but fun ride home to pumping Hindi pop music, I headed out to the Bagaborder, the border between Pakistan and India. Everyday people arrive en-masse from both sides of the border to beat out an aggressive military parade and a show down with much shouting of taunts etc. Despite the festive feel, I could not help the constant nagging awareness that whilst this was only a show, it was still a celebration of hatred and only serves to excite jingoistic behavior and prejudice. As the parade closes people run from the stands down to the gates to yell insults across the closed gates.
* Ghandi Goodness at the border
* Despite the guns, I only saw peacocks in paper hats
* Pakistani gates
* The rush of the crowd at the close
And so ends my journey, following this was vomiting, diarrhea, fever and shivering, finally had Delhi Belly!! This crapulence caused me to stay very close to the hotel and my bathroom and fork out for another night and another train fare. Oh well, had to happen sometime and somehow authenticates the India experience.
The following are a few pix from the train when bored, took me 15 hours to travel 470kms.
* Misty morning view from train window
* Living it up in 1st with a cheeky cigarette
* It's a tree
* More comforts of travel, my backpack cum pillow now has drool marks
* More trees
* I really like trees!
* Inside the Chai shop where I know the Chai is truly safe and no belly worries, was glad to be home
I'd just like to say, i love trees too lol
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