Comfort Inn Gsk Amritsar

... feet as loud as possible, open and close the border gates as loud as possible, and then shout as loud as possible. Once they have completed the ceremony, they lower their flags and the close the gates as loud as possible. There was a section that appeared to be for western tourists in the Indian side but we ended up in with the locals yet again. Once the event was over, everyone rushed back to their taxis and went home, just like that.<br><br>We ...

... who helped us locate our 3AC train car and got ourselves settled in. This was my first night train so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but once I boarded the train, I felt pretty comfortable because it looked like it would be a safe, decent ride. Riding on an AC car for overnight trips is definitely the way to go. The sleeper cars are arranged in small sections of six beds, three bunked on each side, and there are also two beds bunked along the opposite wall. The guy ...

... and we saw how they prepare thousands of chappattis.<br><br>We went back to the dining area and had a cup of chai, sweet spiced tea. As we drank it Paul talked to a Sikh farmer, while I was surrounded by ladies who didn't speak English, but smiled a lot. We also met a couple of young Indians who took us up to eat in the dining room.<br><br>The dining room was full of people in rows. We were led between two rows and sat down. The mend came down the rows and put dhal ...

... the other side of the border...<br> <br> TO EAT - <br>- Fantastic cafe at Hotel City Heart, just opposite the Cafe Day, Jallianwala Bagh - i't a nice relaxing place with great Expresso<br>- Punjabi Rasoi - a nice clean vegetarian restaurant (meat is prohibited without 1 km from the Golden Temple)<br>- Quick Bite - just nearby the Lucky Guest House, very good food<br> <br>TRAVEL - <br>- From Chandigarh - you will have to go to Ambela by train or bus (1 hour ...

... except unlike Delhi everyone is Sikh. We were immediatly approached by one with an enormous white beard who lead us out of the train station mumbling some half-English language. He was trying to push a guest house on us, but we had our preference set on the Lucky Guest House which was supposed to have a really good rooftop view of the Golden Temple. We went with him anyway because we his guest house was close to ours and we just wanted to get to there, and we were expecting him to have ...

... come along. One was the daal guy. He would scoop a ladel-full of daal into your plate. Then chipatti guy would come. You had to hold out both hands in order to receive your two chipattis. Next was water boy. He filled your bowl with some filtered water. Then there was this guy who slapped on some strange pumpkin colored sweet mash of some sort. My theory is that it was sweet potato...but I am not sure. It contained raisins and almonds and was quite tasty. Then this other guy came ...

... insert homo innuendo here) was so small we couldn't stretch out our legs..and ben is a tiny little man. Hooper was continually woken by random hand checks and near falls from his bunk. <br> <br> Around 2:45, at what we thought was a rest stop, we all three deboarded to get water...and were promptly left--nearly--behind as the bus closed its doors and headed off in the opposite direction. But finally, at 4:25 in the morning ...

Taking the terrible overnight train to the Punjab city of Amritsar, we arrived and traveled through the dusty, bustling, and crowded town to make our way to the famed Golden Temple, the holiest temple of the Sikh religion (a mix of Hindu and Islam). The temple offers free (very modest) accommodation, free meals, and charges no fee for entrance. It does this as it services over 30,000 pilgrims a day and manages this ...

... The one thing that stikes anyone visiting a Sikh temple, though, is the unbiased hospitality every respectful visitor is treated with. A Sikh temple (or Gurdwara) is usually a fairly extensive complex comprising free for all guest rooms and a free canteen only funded by voluntary contributions. Before you enter a Sikh temple you need to lose shoes and socks, wash hands and feet and cover your head. We tried to get a room at the Golden Temple, yet all rooms were full so we ...

... one piece. I settled into my basic but comfy berth on the sleeper train to Amritsar, alarm set for 4a.m., ready for the 4.30 scheduled arrival. I was bewildered, therefore, to wake at 3.40 and have a helpful policeman in the carriage inform me that we were just leaving Amritsar! So much for schedules... Arriving in an insignificant wee station in the ****-end of the Punjab at 4.30 a.m., there was no ...