Hotel Astoria Amritsar

I reluctantly left Risikesh on the 24th of February after a great ten days there relaxing. I had to check out at midday, but my train wasnt until late that night so I hoped to get a good lie in and waste as much of the day as possible. If I dont have to be at work or have an appointment or something along those lines I cant sleep in for the lif...

We wake up and quickly get ready and scuttle up to the roof for our first look at the Golden Temple in the sunlight and it is, simply put truly stunning. Once more our photographs are in no way going to do justice to an absolutely amazing place. We take in a long lingering breakfast just staring across at the temple complex watching the sun twin...

After 6 days in China, it's time to climb the mountains to conquer the highest paved mountain pass in the world: The Khunjerab Pass, to cross into Pakistan. Highest point at 4675m (depending on which map you have, all claiming different altitudes…). The amazing moment did bypass me a bit as we drove through a Chinese gate entering Pakistan...

Got up around midday, washed a load of clothes (myself!). Went out for a nice thali at Bharawan da Dhaba and then headed to the bus station to see if I could get to Wagah for the border ceremony but I was too late... d*mn!
Headed straight to the Golden Temple via cycle rickshaw. Outside the temple are, shoes were taken off, head covered (wit...

Was a full on day of sightseeing. Stop one was naturally the Golden Temple.
Rickshaw from outside my hotel which was a good move considering how much traffic there is and the distance I would have to walk. Very quickly realised that the advice to take rickshaws/tuktuks everywhere was very sensible!
Dropped a short walk from the Golden Te...

We were reading the paper and noticed that there is a matrimonial section. There are two sections; Grooms wanted and Brides wanted. As we read the ads it appears that the parents of the young men and women are running advertisements in the paper seeking mates for their children. I have copied a few photos here to give you a sense of how it looks...

We left Delhi at 6.30am to catch train to Amritsar, famous for the Golden temple as you will see in background of the profile picture of me wearing my fetching shawl..(just purchased that morning!)

Anyway this was our first train journey in India, we had pre booked aircon seater class, OH MY it was FREEZING!! could not believe how cold...

Friday afternoon, Tamir and I left Laxman Jhula and walked across the pedestrian bridge to the High Bank, just as the late afternoon rainshower was beginning. We then took a rickshaw to the bus station and a bus to the train station in Haridwar. We had a little time to get a quick meal before going inside, and when we finally entered the station...

Our trip to Amritsar was secured by a travel agent in Rishikesh who we went to after we found out that the tickets for the date we wanted were sold out. In cases like this, there's usually someone who can find a way around it at a price, and the price of the "emergency tickets" we had to buy was incredibly inflated. We were heading out on schedu...

I was up at 3 AM because I still needed to get my bag packed. I always have my sheet, pillow case and towel out because I use tme until the last minute. I can't pack anything else until I pack those three items because it's a very strategical positioning that needs to occur in order for my bag to be comfy for carrying. By 3:30 AM I was already p...