Amritsar

I arrived in Amritsar at eight in the morning with three of my friends after taking a night train from Delhi. We didn't have any firm plans about where we would stay or how long we would spend in the city. The Golden Temple is the main attraction in Amritsar. It is a beautiful Sikh temple that is well worth the trip. Sikhism is a very inclusive religion and we were told that there is a hostel to stay in at the Golden Temple for pilgrims and foreigners.

We headed for the Golden Temple from the train station and hoped for the best. It was a little confusing at first getting to the temple. At one point we were wandering around the temple grounds without our shoes, all of our bags, and scarves over our heads. We had to take off our shoes and cover our heads on the temple grounds. We were stopped by a police officer and he was really nice. He made a point to warn us about pick pockets and show us the way to the temple. The hostel is on the grounds of the Golden Temple, literally a 2 minute walk away.

We showed up at the hostel and there was a man with a full beard and turban who warmly greeted us and ushered us into the rooms. The hostel is totally free and our area is specifically for foreigners. I met some of the coolest people at this hostel. There was one cute, 21 year old girl from France who was travelling on her own through north India for five months (until the money runs out). She came to India speaking only French and learned English in India during the time that she was here. I was amazed because we were having a full conversation and although she had a strong french accent, I did not have any trouble understanding her.

Between the hostel and the temple there is a dinning hall which is also free and included with the hostel . We followed the noise of the clanging dishes to the dinning hall, which was a crazy place. The dinning hall is completely run by volunteers and it runs off of donations. As you come in there are groups of people sitting on the floor cutting vegetables and prepping food. Then there are people on either side of the entrance that hand you sectioned plates, bowls, and spoons. You come into the main dinning hall and there are long mats set up along the floor where everyone sits and is served by people who come by with bread, rice pudding, dall, and other curries. After you eat you hand your dishes to people who are pass then down a line of people and wash them. It is a very amazing and efficient process.

I was amazed by how welcoming and inclusive the hostel and dinning hall were. There were places to leave donations but we were not directly asked at any time to leave one and people did not think twice about letting us sleep in the hostel or eat our meals in the dinning hall.

The Golden Temple itself was beautiful and it is so hard to describe. It is open 24 hours a day and since our hostel was a quick walk to the temple, we went several times in the day.

We only spent one day in Amritsar but it was a full, exciting day. After being in Jaipur for so long I forgot how much I love being on the road and being able to see new amazing things all the time. After getting settled in at the Golden Temple, we went to Jallianwala Bagh, which is a park that commemorates those Indians killed and wounded by the British authorities there in 1919. In the park there is a well into which hundreds of people jumped into to avoid bullets. There was some sort of demonstration taking place while we were there.

After that we went to Mata Hindu Temple. This temple was not an ancient temple but it was really fun. It felt like I was in a fun house because there would be rooms of mirrors from floor to ceiling and crazy slanted walkways. Also there were caves built into the temple that you had to crawl through and at the end of the temple there was a cave with water in it that you had to walk through.

Amritsar is close to the Pakistan border and every evening a closing ceremonies takes place which we were told was worth going to. We met up with four people from our hostel, two people from Israel and two from Denmark. We hired a guy to take us to the border for the ceremonies in his van and on the way we picked up an Indian family to squeeze in for the ride. There were bleachers set up on the Indian and Pakistan side of the border. The Indian side had a much better turnout but my friend later learned that this may be due to the fact that it is Ramadan.

Before the ceremony started, there was an opportunity for people to come down from the stands and dance to the music that they were playing. It seemed like so much fun so I went down and joined. I could recognize a few of the songs because they were from the Bollywood films that I watched in my host family. When Jai Ho came on I was singing along and the Indian women were impressed. I tried to pick up on some of their dance moves and they were more than happy to show me. Some women came up to me and held my hands and we spun each other around. This seemed to be a normal thing to do on the dance floor.

The closing ceremonies itself felt like a kind of pep rally almost between India and Pakistan. The fans would chant slogans about their nation in a call and response style. There was also a part where one man from each country would hold a note for as long as they could and it would be a competition to see who could do it for the longest.

The military put on a performance in which they were walking in a synchronized fashion and would do huge kicks with their legs. They were so serious and fierce- men and women.

In the evening at the hostel all of the rooms in the building as well as the entire courtyard were filled with Indian families. I could not believe that so many people had fit in this space.