Photos of Amritsar in Facebook

Last weekend we spent two days in Amritsar visiting the beautiful Golden Temple and shopping the crowded and noisy streets of the city. The bus was full of people where we sat close to each other, sweating and trying to manage the five-hour journey. It was uncomfortable I must say. A man beside me groped me and I was upset and angry because of that. Well, in Amritsar people are not that used to white people than in Chandigarh and I was expecting that to happen eventually.

Soon as we got there, we visited the Golden Temple. You have to cover your head and take off shoes to enter the area. Temple is very clean, which is striking compared to the city. It was very pleasant to see the fish swimming in the lake that surrounds the Temple. Men were bathing and just sitting peacefully, inside the Temple we joined a couple of ceremonies where people played music or prayed in silence. I was very popular among people as many wanted to get a picture with me, later on I was tired of  photographing and refused any more photos. However, people were very friendly and willing to talk to us all the time.

The night we spend in the Temple's dormitory, which had free accommodation and food. Though it was very crowded people sleeping on the ground, queuing to the food and toilets smelt awful. Our intension was to experience how all the pilgrims coming to worship stayed there and lived. We got one room with three beds for five, one fan in the ceiling and a lot of noise. Unluckily we could not find showers for women, so washing face had to do. None of us slept that night.

Next day we did some shopping, as there were many nice shoe shops, had something to eat and three of us left home in the afternoon because of the heat and lack of sleep. I left as well. We visited before leaving a garden that reminded of the time of British colony in India and the battle against the exploitation.