Hotel Golden Tower Amritsar

... the mountains seem to look higher and higher, the light reflecting a palette of gold, red and brown; very difficult to capture on photo.<br><br>Then we are at Sust, a boring little place, where we have to fill out a health form, get the official Pakistan entry stamp and the Carnet de Passage is filled out for the first time! Quick van check and we are allowed to leave, total time: 20 min. Welcome to Pakistan!<br><br>Getting late, so we stay here for the night, the ...

... get better and did in spectacular style!<br> Our very touristy day started with a visit to the Golden Temple, this place is unbelievable! It's the Sikh religious custom to cover heads, wash hands and feet before entering the temple ground bare foot! Walking up the steps and seeing the temple was a visual feast, a huge Golden Temple sat in the middle of a man made lake. This is one of the most important temples for Sikh's as it ...

... a stiff back. People started moving around and getting ready pretty early, so I was woken up by around 7, even though thee train wasn't supposed to arrive for about another hour. I had noticed the night before that there were many families on this train, and most of them were Silks, noticeable by their turbans and big beards. That is because Amritsar is probably the holiest city in the world for Sikhs, and with this being a long weekend because August 15th is India's ...

After another long drive, we arrive in Amritsar, a town on the pakistani border. The main attraction of this place is the daily ceremony that takes place at the border. Crowds of people from each country flock to their respective gate sides to shout and roar at each other and basically display as much patriotism as possible. I was surprised i didn't see charlie bird reporting at it although there wasnt any violence so maybe he was elsewhere!!!<br ...

... up head to toe. Show**ing at the atomic level is time consuming so I sit on the floor und** the tap laughing. The hotel has an air on Montey Python. I like it and the quirks can be easily forgiven for the proxcimity to the temple. <br><br>I quickly see the Golden one before heading off to see the oth** main attraction of the region. The India/Pakistan board** c**emony at Atari. Greatest display of national pride dancing, shouting competitions, silly walks, flamboyant uniforms and ...

... you can walk in and find people circumambulating clockwise around it. It runs a pilgrims rest house where people can stay, but by night time there's still rows and rows of people sleeping outside on the marble walkway surrounding the Temple. Within the complex are several different areas of religious importance, but the whole thing is based around a murky reflecting pool (filled with fish), and in the center of the pool is the Temple. One of the major buildings in the langar, a ...

... him up on the offer but that night was the first of many that I grey very ill. On the second evening i went to a local doctor and we gave me some antibiotic and paracetemol for to take down the fever but by the next day i was getting worse and the headache was unbearable. we found a hospital in the Lonely PLanet and went straight there, they took blood tests and ruled out Malaria,typhoid and Dengue and with my white blood cell count derived i had an infection of some sort so gave me a ...

... being frisked by another woman. I felt a bit weird about it...especially since it seemed that her hands lingered a bit longer than they should have. The second security check was the same...and I felt a bit violated. Finally in the main spectator area...we sat around in the scorching heat until things started to pick up around 5 PM. Children and women all ran down to the main road and waited in line to be given a chance to run up and down the road waving the Indian flag. After 30 ...

... you should go. Also, we chose the temple as our accommodation and paid 100 rupees ($2) for a private and simple room. Unknown to us, at night the courtyard of the area fills with hundreds of blankets and pilgrims basically covering every square inch of the ground to gain some sleep and respite from their potentially long pilgrimage. This makes the simple act of getting from the toilet to our room an act of balance ...

... equally magical...even at 4 a.m., the complex is busy with worshipers as the holy book is processed around the edge of the pool and along the walkway into the holy temple, to the same hypnotic music. And then the light gradually increases in the sky and the temple roof begins to glimmer...I'm spellbound by the appearance and the atmosphere of this place... it is truly magical.<br><br><br> <br><br><br>