Staying in the Golden Temple

Recently we stayed in the accommodation offered by the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The accommodation is basic rooms for a cheap price and dorms and open sleeping by donation offered to the pilgrims visiting the temple form all over the world.

No smoking for 5km around the temple

the room was falling apart a bit

The temple also offers a special dorm for foreigners only which is very basic but also run by donation everyone who had stayed there said it was a real experience so we decided to check it out.

The Golden Temple in its sunshine glory!

Everyone must cover their head inside the temple

We arrived into Amritsar in the late afternoon after travelling all day for Dharamsala we made our way towards the temple by rickshaw and then the last wee bit on foot. All around us people were offering help at first we thought it was false offers and the people touts or otherwise out to gain something but it soon became clear that actually everyone just wanted to lend us a hand.

We arrived at the accommodation and were hustled into the dorm surprisingly it has air conditioning and fans so was a nice cool temperature compared to outside. There are five side rooms each with three camp style beds set up side by side and then a main room which has a line of about eight beds.

We were lucky to get beds in one of the side rooms as although they are still rather open they provide a fraction more privacy. As with hotels in India we had to fill in all our details in a huge leather bound book and show our passports. Once this was done we were left to it.

The staff are constantly around quite often sitting in the dorm as it’s much cooler than outside in the courtyard. Only guests are allowed in and all the staff seem to instantly remember who is who. There are large lockers to store even the biggest of bags although it seemed more people were content to just lock away valuables and leave everything else out in the open.

There are no windows inside the dorm so it’s hard to judge the time when you wake up but the staff turn on the lights in the main room between 7-8am which I a way to get everyone up and moving.

Inside the dorm is a single bathroom with a sink and a bucket shower which does have a water heater but in this heat it’s not at all necessary. The toilets are out of the dorm and across a huge courtyard. There are plenty of toilets and showers there but at all times the bathrooms are heaving especially the woman’s bathroom which also seemed to serve as the children’s bathroom and more than once I saw boys with their mothers that were far too old to be in a room with naked ladies about.

The most interesting point of the toilets were that the cubicles had small windows in the doors and almost every time I went a gaggle of woman would be up on their tip toes watching me go through the window. Thankfully most of them were too short to get a good look. I asked Mark if that happened in the men’s, he said no that the men keep a respectful distance.

At night the courtyard is full of people all sleeping on mats laid down by temple staff as the rooms are so popular there isn’t space for everyone.

The temple also has a community kitchen serving food all day and all night to the many pilgrims who visit. We ate in the dining room once the food was simple but tasty and it was an experience in itself to eat in a hall with hundreds of others. The food is all cooked in huge pots stirred by giant sticks.

One of the huge cooking pots

There is a maximum stay of three nights in the temple which is the time we stayed it wasn’t the best sleep I’ve ever got but that was mostly down to other guests talking and turning the light on constantly. It was a great experience though and one I would defiantly recommend to anyone visiting Amritsar, especially as hotel prices there are so expensive. 

Lessons learnt in India

As my third trip to India comes to a close I’m faced with reflecting on the many lessons that this amazing country has taught me.

Patience- As in many other countries I have visited India moves at India’s pace and there is no rushing things if a bus or train is due to leave at a certain time then maybe it will but equally maybe it won’t. I’ve also come to expect unexpected stops for long periods of time and waiting often times for hours in train stations bus depots and airports (as I write this I’m sitting outside Delhi airport I’m so early for my flight I’m not even allowed into the airport yet) patience is something we forget back home, we are always rushing here and there and I know for sure that in the past I have been upset at even small delays. India has taught me that we are all exactly where we need to be.

Kindness – it’s so easy to overlook others and focus instead on ourselves but India is such a generous open country it forces us to be kind. On several points of my travels I was tested with situations there were two ways I could react but I knew the lesson for me was to react with kindness.

Charity – in a country of such poverty it never ceases to amaze me how generous people can be. At home we have conditioned ourselves to ignore all that we do not wish to see in India it is always on your face but even those who seem to have nothing will give to those who have even less.

Love – India is a great place to mend a broken heart as I learnt on my first visit but it can always teach you more. Everywhere you look in this vast country you can see families expressing their love, devotes expressing love towards their gods and feel the vibes in the air. So many travellers in India are looking for something no matter what it is I think everyone leaves with their Anahata chakra well and truly unblocked.

These are just a few of the many things learnt from this beautiful diverse country everyone should visit at least once if not over and over again.

Leaving India

Tuesday 30^th June 2015

The alarm went off at 6.30am this morning rousing us from our sleep. We packed up the last of our belongings and left for the train station. Luckily for us it was right across the road so we didn’t have far to go.

We found our platform and the train was waiting there for us. We found our seats on the pretty much empty train and Mark went up to the top bunk to lie down while I sat and read my book. When we left Amritsar the sky was overcast and cloudy the sky looked dark and brooding but the closer we got to Delhi the warmer it became and the brighter the sky got. The whole way was a dusty mess though.

Our train left at 7.15am and arrived at 3.05p so we spent most of the day chilling out watching the countryside go past. I was reading a book on my tablet and was almost at the end when there was a plot twist and it turned out the killer wasn’t actually the killer however I turned the page to see what happened next and the story became a book about baseball statistics. There must have been an error with it and I never found out what happened at the end.

We got into Delhi Junction on time even though we had left slightly late which was a surprise. We wanted to be by Old Delhi station in Paharganj as we know the area somewhat so we got a rickshaw there and set about finding a hotel.

For our last two nights in India we decided to spring for something a bit nicer than normal we took the first hotel we found which was a cut above our normal dingy digs and even had a fish tank inside the room!

Despite not really eating all day neither of us was overly hungry and so we mucked about doing some washing and having showers before going out to eat dinner on a rooftop. Once our bellies were full we stopped in an internet shop to print out our flight details and then headed back to the room.

Later on we headed out for a pancake and a cup of tea since we had eaten dinner so early. It was nice to have a good room to relax in and we spent the evening watching TV.

Wednesday 1^st July 2015

We got up this morning ready to tackle the day it was our last day in India and we both had a few final things we wanted to get before leaving. We started the day off with an all you can eat breakfast buffet in the hotels restaurant before heading out into the wilds of Delhi.

Not long down the street we were walking past a public bathroom when Mark stood in a huge pile of human effluence that was bubbling out of a drain. It was a disgusting grey sludgy colour and smelt terrible luckily it didn’t get him too much and most of it could be rinsed off (the rest dried up and flaked off during the day)

We spent several hours on a wild goose chase to try and find a MicroMax store as Mark needed to buy his friend a new phone. We followed google maps and the first store it led us to was actually a house and the second store was a hotel. I’m not really sure how they ended up on Google Maps but they certainly weren’t MicroMax stores.

With two failures under our belt and several hours of walking in the dusty heat we decided to get a rickshaw to Sadar market to try our luck there. The street was rammed with all sorts but no phone shops. We did pass several stalls selling phone covers which I needed but they either didn’t have my model or the covers were horrible. After searching for an age through the market a few people had told us to try Chandni Chowk so we headed there.

We tried to get a rickshaw but they were all over priced so we just walked which turned out well as we found a tool street and Mark bought a whole load of tools he wanted all for about ten quid.

We got to Chandni Chowk but didn’t really find what we were after certainly no phone shops and the stalls that had covers all had the same ugly ones so we continued walking. 

Eventually we came to another market by Jama Masjid (the biggest mosque in India) they still only had the same tacky covers but at this point it wasn’t looking like I was going to find anything better so I got one and a couple of screen protectors.

Since there were no phone shops about we decided to head to Connaught Place to check there we got the metro which was only four stops and was a dream even if it was crammed full at least it had AC. On the way to the metro station Mark stopped to buy spices from a dude on the street who spoke no English. None of the spices were labelled and we had no idea what some of them were but they were only 10 rupees for a bag so he just bought a whole bunch.

We came out into the sunshine and checked out a few stores before Mark found a phone in the price range. Annoyingly we picked up some guy who insisted on helping us (“all free of charge”) despite us not asking him or needing him and making it pretty clear. Once Mark had the phone he wanted us to go with him in a rickshaw (that we paid for) to a government store so he could het “a gift” from the shop for taking us there. By this stage it was after 4pm and we had been walking out in the sun all day and I had no desire to go with him. He promptly packed a sad when we said no and stormed off.

We weren’t really fazed by his little drama and just got in a rickshaw back to the hotel, where we showered and basked in the AC and packed a little bit. It was lovely to be left in peace for a while as all day in the markets men had been gabbing my arse and brushing my boobs as they walked past. At one point a small child ran up and pinched my butt after a bunch of them followed us down the road for ages begging. (And they were all nicely dressed speaking good English)

Eventually I realised I was actually starving and so we headed out for food. Since it was our last meal we went all out and had a huge feast the food was amazing and there was a little ginger kitten hanging about attacking bugs which was entertaining.

We finished dinner and strolled along the bazar road getting the last few things we wanted. (a colouring book for me, some in since for Mark) once that was done we headed back to the hotel where I was up late trying to find cheap flights back to the UK (which I did)

Thursday 2^nd July 2015

We were off to the airport at 7.30am this morning after waking up and packing our last few things. The bin was overflowing with things that we had decided to sack off.

The drive didn’t take too long but when we got there they wouldn’t let me in as my flight was in the afternoon and I was too early. We pleaded with them to bend the rules for us but the security guy wasn’t having any of it so we had to say our goodbyes even earlier than anticipated. Mark disappeared into the terminal and I wandered down to the visitors lounge to kill several hours until I could get in.

The visitors lounge was pretty ok and at least I didn’t have to sit outside in the heat all morning. I started off reading my book, then did some colouring and generally sat about. A man reeking of booze came and sat right next to me despite there being heaps of space he kept talking to me time and time again asking questions and continuously touching my colouring book.

At one point he told me I was colouring it wrong and grabbed my pencils and tried to help at which point I was super firm and told him I didn’t want to talk to him. He went away but came back saying he was sorry for being middle class and not good enough to talk too as his English wasn’t good enough (his English was actually fine he was hard to understand as he was drunk and slurring his words) I ignored him and he sat too close for a while before heading off again

When he came back he had a print out of his flight he sat down and demanded I give him my phone I told him I didn’t have one and he just asked over and over wanting to call his wife as he had missed his flight. He showed me his flight info and he was very late his flight departed at 4am. He told me he missed it because he was drinking with his only son, he then told me his son was four years old which is a bit of a worry.

By this point I was trying to do some writing and he was all up in my face and I told him again I didn’t want to talk to him about anything and I wanted him to go away. By this time several other people were nearby and they were all staring he left and I didn’t see him again.

Time was passing slowly and I needed a wee but there were no toilets in the visitors lounge so I willed time to go by so I could get inside the actual airport. The security man had told me I could go in at 11am but when I tried he said I had to come back at 1pm. It was so frustrating as the visitors lounge was full of annoying men. There were so many available seats and yet I had a constant ring of men about.

I did some more colouring in and read for a while once I had tuned out all the leerers I decided to just wait there until I could check in as I would just have to find a new place to set up camp inside the airport.

By 3pm I couldn’t hold out anymore I went into the airport and much to my relief I could check in and there wasn’t even a queue there was however an idiot of a woman who wouldn’t let me check in as I didn’t have a visa for Malaysia (which is a VOA anyway so its plain ridiculous anyway!) basically she kept saying I needed a visa and said I wasn’t allowed to transit in an airport via two different airlines. She held me up for an age while she rang a bunch of people and then finally was told that UK passport holders are entitled to a three month VOA. (Which I don’t need as I’m just in transit!)

She then stressed to me about 55 million times that my luggage was only checked in until KL and that I would have to collect it and check in for my next flight (well done sweetheart as if I’m stupid enough to think my bag will just magically make it on to another flight with a different airline)

It was quite a weight off to finally be checked in I then made my way through customs where the guy scrutinised my bag in the scanner for an age before letting me go with a smile. Finally I was in the airport I was absolutely staving having not eaten all day so used most of my remaining rupees to get a sandwich and a muffin with just enough left over to get a “cheap” bottle of water at more than double its regular price.

Feeling fed I found a charging point for my tablet as I had already ran most of the battery down reading and shoved my headphones in to watch some TV on my laptop for a while.

The flight to Colombo was pretty empty and I had an entire row to myself which was nice I ate the meal and watched a movie then went to sleep watching the full moon out of the window. Annoyingly due to weather conditions we arrived about 30minutes early which cut into my sleep time and also made the wait for my next flight much longer.

I got off the plane and followed the signs to transit found a board and looked at which gate I needed to be at, I’m not sure if it changed or I just completely misread it but at 12.30am when it was time to get on the plane and everyone was standing up to go through I looked at the flight number and the plane I was waiting for went to Singapore. When finally I found a board I realised I was on the wrong side of the airport and had to mission it getting to the gate in time to casually walk straight onto the bus that took us out to the plane.

As soon as I found my seat I put my headphones in and went to sleep but it wasn’t longer before I was being woken up by the turbulent landing.

Friday 3^rd July 2015

I got off the plane and followed the stream of people heading to the arrivals hall I had to collect my bags and clear immigration before changing terminals and checking in for my flight to Cambodia.

Getting out of the airport was easy but getting to KLIA2 was a pain in the tit there is no free shuttle but I think there must have been once as there are still signs down to it but once you get out to the carpark there is nothing and I was told the cheapest way to get there is by train which was fine it was only 2 MYR but it meant I had to go down ask how much it was then go back up change money then go back down again for someone who gets annoyed with lifts it was a lot of up and downing.

Eventually I had a ticket and was on the platform the train came shortly and only took about three minutes to get to the other terminal. Once there I followed all the signs to the Air Asia counter and checked in but I was too early to check in my bag so after getting a bottle of water I chilled out to wait 90minutes before I could drop my bag off.

Once I had got rid of it I headed through to the gate it was a huge disappointment to find that there were only two options for food past the security and at both the only vegetarian option was cake. I got a muffin the size of my head that tasted as though it was made with hair and glue with chocolate chips sprinkled on top and ate while trying not to fall asleep.

As soon as I could board I was on the plane in my seat and asleep which is how I stayed until my flight landed in Siem Reap. I got off the plane which took an age as I was right at the back and walked across the tarmac to the airport where I had to fill in a medical questionnaire and have my temperature taken before they let me through to the visa desk.

I filled out the paperwork and got in line for my visa despite being expensive (USD$30) it was easy to do and within minutes I had cleared customs and immigration collected my bag and left the airport where a tuk tuk from the hostel was waiting to pick me up.

I got in and took in the countryside as we drove into the city. It was much smaller and much quieter than I expected but I was pleased. Once at the hostel I checked in and had a shower once I felt a bit more human I walked down the road and got a sim card and then went back to the hostel where I spent the afternoon relaxing and googling things to see in Siem Reap

Around 7.30pm I ventured out and got some dinner it was a bit of faff to make sure it was all vegetarian but it was worth it as it was truly delicious! I sat and ate and read my book and then headed back to the hostel and crashed early.

Amritsar and the Golden Temple

Thursday 25^th June 2015

This morning we were up and at it for once. It was a miserable morning so we waited a bit until the rain cleared so we could walk to the tea house. After the last big rains some work was done on the dirt road that leads from our guesthouse to the tea shop it doesn’t seem to have improved the road at all and today it was a wet slippery mess of mud, jaggared rocks and puddles.

We got to the shop and ate we have fallen into a routine of reading the news while we eat and since we are there every day the guys already know our order as soon as we walk in.

We got back to the guesthouse and packed up most of our stuff ready to head to Amritsar tomorrow.

Once our bags were somewhat packed we went out on the terrace and did our daily tai chi feeling energised we went and had pizza since it was our last day we decided we had to try “the best pizza in town” I’m not sure whose opinion that was but it was not the best not by a long shot and we left feeling a bit sad.

We decided to head back to the guesthouse and get our shoes and go for a walk but by the time we got there we couldn’t be bothered and so we read our books and hung out all afternoon. At several points we thought about doing some more Tai Chi but the thoughts never materialized into action.

In the evening we headed to the Thai restaurant for one last meal there. We bumped into friends and chatted to them while eating but headed back to Dharamkot when the thunder started as we didn’t want to have to walk up the hill in the rain.

Back at the guesthouse we got an early night.

Friday 26^th June 2015

We were up well before our normal wake up time this morning in order to get to the bus station on time. We packed up the last of our things and said goodbye to the big Blue Shanti House that we had come to know and love.

We stopped off for a final breakfast and the tea house and wished everyone happy days before walking down to McLeod Ganj.

The walk wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be with all our baggage and in no time we were making our way through the traffic in the square and down to the bus station. We arrived with about 20mins to kill and set about trying to find out which bus we needed. We asked a dude taking a nap inside his bus and he assured us that we were wrong and that there was no bus to Pattankot from McLeod. Minutes later the bus we wanted pulled up.

After asking the driver how long it would take to get there (three hours) we got on and found some seats. As the morning wore on it became clear that three hours was Indian time and by the time we arrived four and a half hours later we were hot and bothered.

We kept stopping for long stretches of time at seemingly nowhere stops but when we arrived in Pattankot where we were hustled off the bus so quickly it was as if the driver thought he was going to miss out on a prize for kicking people off his bus!

The bus didn’t even pull into the station at Pattankot rather it left us at the end of a long drive. We walked up and the bus for Amritsar was leaving in five minutes. We dumped our bags and I left Mark to find them a place on the bus while I ran to get samosas. I managed to jump back onto the bus just as the driver started up the engine.

Again the time estimate of two and a half hours was wrong and it was after 6pm by the time we pulled up in Amritsar. Immediately we were swarmed by rickshaw drivers but after a long hot day on buses I was so thirsty all I wanted to do was get a dink first.

We walked along the road with several drivers in tow. One cycle rickshaw driver offered to take us to the temple for 50 rupees so after a quick drink we took him up on his offer. It was only about 2km but cycling us in the heat with all our bags must have been hard work. I would have been happy to pay him double had he not tried to drop us at every single hotel along the way that he obviously received commission.

In the end we got out when we were within sight of the temple we got a bit mixed up when a guy was telling us to turn around in the rickshaw and go another way we thought he was telling us to go to a guesthouse but he was actually directing the rickshaw to the temple accommodation which is where we wanted to go.

No matter we walked the last bit and found what we were looking for. At the southeast end of the temple complex lies the pilgrim’s rest houses inside one of them is a special dorm for foreigners. It’s run on a donation base with a maximum stay of three nights.

The sign on the wall above our beds in the dorm.

We went in and were shown to our beds as well as doing the formal sign in. once procedure was out of the way we had a cold shower to wash away the dust and heat of the day. Mark got sunburnt sitting inside the bus and I was still ridiculously thirsty.

Luckily right outside the room is a water filter so after freshening up we filled up our bottles and headed out to find some dinner. We walked along the crazy streets until we came to a dharba and got huge thalis that I couldn’t even finish.

We chilled out in the air-con of the restaurant for a while before heading back to the accommodation and pretty much heading to bed. We were both tired after the long day sitting on the bus and the early start.

Saturday 27^th June 2015

I woke up feeling very unrested. Last night a group sat up talking with the lights on until about 3am and I had some sort of biting insect in my bed terrorising me every time I drifted to sleep. I woke up with red angry welts all over my arms shoulders and neck.

At 7am the staff came in and turned on all the main lights which was somewhat satisfying since I was already awake and it would have disturbed the loud gang the most. Before long we were up and ready for the day heading out for breakfast and then going to see the golden temple.

We put our shoes in the storage place and then joined the masses heading towards the entrance. Everyone who goes inside must cover their head and it provided the locals with a lot of entertainment to see me wrapping a scarf around Marks head.

Pretty soon we were engulfed in a throng of photos. It’s weird to be back somewhere where we a constantly stared at again.

We entered the temple through the main entrance walking through the footbath and coming into the temple with a full view of the golden temple sitting in the middle of the lake. There were so many people about and huge goldfish swimming in the waters. It was already super-hot and the thought of a dip in the healing waters was lovely except woman have to swim inside a tiny building so I passed up the opportunity.

We did a circuit of the temple but avoided going inside the Golden Temple as the line was insanely long (e later asked a local the quietest time to go in he responded that the only time we wouldn’t have to wait in a big line was 4am!!!)

Me and the Golden Temple

Mark looking swish in his turban 

One of the clock tower entry gates

We finished off inside the museum which mostly houses paintings. More than a few of them are seriously disturbing showing all sorts of torture of Sikhs and the martyrdom of many more. We came out into the sunshine and headed off in the direction of the bazar to do some shopping.

It was pretty successful we both managed to knock a few things off our lists and it was interesting to walk through the markets. I was beginning to really feel my lack of sleep so we went back to the accommodation to rest a while.

I read my book and wrote postcards and then when we felt hungry we headed out for lunch. The restaurant had ac so we basked in its coolness for as long as we could before walking to Jallianwala Bagh a park where in 1919 the British opened fire on protesters without warning killing and injuring 1500. There are still bullet holes in the walls and there is a big well into which many jumped to escape the gunfire.

We sat under a tree and tried to ignore the stares coming our way. We took loads of photos with people and watched the squirrels running about like nutters. Eventually it all got a bit much and after walking around the park to see all the sights we headed back to the guesthouse to have a cool down shower.

A bush in the shape of a British army man shooting down protesters

hundreds of protesters jumped in this well to avoid being shot.

Squirrel straight chilling (if im honest i was trying to capture his balls, squirrels have exceptionally large balls and it amuses me greatly)

After a bit of a rest we went out for dinner to a little dharma where we were the only people as we were finishing up they were just starting to watch a Hindi movie and we almost stayed to watch it but it was one we had seen so we headed back.

Sunday 28^th June 2015

This morning the staff at the accommodation let us sleep late even after they turned the lights on no one really seemed to stir so by the time we got moving the day was already hot and dusty. We started off by walking to the train station to find a hotel for tomorrow night (as we have an early morning train the next day) the walk took about 30 minutes and we were hot and dusty by the time we got there.

Annoyingly a tout attached himself to us so we didn’t get as good a deal as we had hoped but we found a nice place to stay and got a bit of shopping done while we were in the neighbourhood.

We couldn’t face the walk back in the heat so got a rickshaw but the guy was so useless he got himself lost several times and the drive took about the same amount of time as walking. We made our way straight to a restaurant and had lunch and cooled off for a while.

By the time we finished eating we only had about an hour until we had to meet our shared taxi to the border to watch the “retreating ceremony” officially it’s the ceremony to take down the flag and close the India/Pakistan border for the night but it’s not very official more like a crazy party.

We met the driver as well as the other passengers and walked to the mini mini van we all crammed in with Mark and I sharing the front seat (which was intended for one person) the border is about 30km away and I think it was the first time we have ever experienced an Indian driver driving at the speed limit.

We stopped along the way at a free drinks stall and then at a dharba (I think the driver had to pee) before arriving about 1km away from the border. We had to walk the rest of the way foreigners had to walk on the other side of the road to everyone else but there was no signs anywhere telling us where to go so we only knew because every time we went the wrong way army personal would blow their whistles and move u where we needed to be.

Security is tight no one is allowed to take bags in but we had to take our passports and went through about three checkpoints where we were frisked and then allowed to continue. It was the hottest day ever with the temperature higher than 40 degree and there was no shade anywhere.

When we finally reached the border we didn’t know where to go so just followed everyone else up onto the stands until an army guy came and got us. There is a special stand for foreigners only next to the VIP section. We arrived early and were the only ones there. We were told in summer the ceremony is 5.15pm so we thought we had an hour to wait in the sun but actually it didn’t kick off until 6.30pm.

Because of the heat Mark bought an India cap that was one size fits all but it was too small for his head and he looked hilarious. The sun was so strong we were both wet with sweat and it was almost too hot to sit on the concrete steps.

As we waited more and more people arrived and eventually around 6.30pm after two hours in the full force of the sun the crowd warmer came out getting the crowd to cheer and dance around. The whole time Bollywood music was playing (on the Pakistan side things were a bit more subdued but they did play a tune or two)

When the actual ceremony started everyone was straining to see what was going on the stands are not set up very well for good viewing but we managed to get most of it. Unfortunately you can’t really see the Pakistani guards but I think the soldiers mirror themselves either side of the border.

The sign for the border

Mark and I in the empty stands

Mark in his newly acquired India hat

Mark was so sweaty he got wrinkle fingers!

The huge crowd!!

Two men each trying to kick themselves in the head!

The flags coming down for the night

The final march out of the stands

chilling hours before the ceremony

When it was all over there was a huge crush for the exit we tried to stay out of the crowd as best we could and walk back to the car without getting stampeded. It took us a while to find the van amongst the hundreds of vehicles but we tracked it down in the end and squeezed in. by the time we got back to Amritsar it was about 8.30pm and we were in desperate need of food and a shower.

We went straight to a restaurant which was pretty snazzy looking but the food wasn’t that great by the time we left there and started to walk back to the accommodation it was 10pm and still 40 degrees so we decided to get an ice-cream.

mmmmmmmm ice-crream!

Thali dinner

Feeling a bit cooler we headed back for a cold shower and fell into bed feeling knackered.

Monday 29^th June 2015

Today we had to leave the Golden Temple accommodation. We got up and since everyone was still sleeping we went to get food and came back to pack. We decided to go and eat at the temple it’s a community kitchen run on donations and is estimated to feed 60-80k pilgrims a day.

We checked in our shoes and covered our heads and then headed in through the main gate. We walked around to the southeast gate noticing already how much quieter it was than the weekend (although it was still rammed) we walked into the dining area and were given a bowl, thali plate and spoon an then we followed everyone else walking towards the dining hall.

We had to sit and wait in a kind of waiting area while the people who were inside eating finished up and the staff cleared up. When they opened the door everyone surged forward in a huge rush pushing and tripping over each other in a bid to get in. the hall is huge and is set up with mats running in rows for people to sit on.

You place your dishes in front of you and then servers come down the rows filling up the plates with rice, dhal, vegetables and chapattis. The servers come along several times and you can get refills if you desire. The food is simple yet pretty tasty, the chapattis were especially good. After eating we made our way past the kitchen where huge vats of curry are cooked all day every day and made our way downstairs to deposit our dishes.

curry for 60-80k people daily!!!

After eating we did a circuit of the temple and then headed back to the accommodation to check out.  Thankfully everyone was now awake so we weren’t disturbing anyone as we packed up and paid our donation for the three nights spent at the temple.

Loaded with our bags we headed to the street and pretty quickly found a rickshaw to drive us to the train station where we are staying for one night before getting the train to Delhi in the morning. There is a free bus service that runs between the station and the temple but it was too hot to spend 20minutes crammed in a bus with a hundred others.

We arrived at the hotel we found yesterday and checked in after having a cool shower and freshening up we spent a while relaxing. I watched a movie while Mark re-packed his bag. Around 2.30pm we were hungry so we set out to find some lunch, the options around the station left a bit to be desired but we found an ok dharba and then a shop to stock up on snacks.

As we were walking back to the hotel the wind was picking up and the sky was dark minutes after arriving we heard rain and looking outside the sky was so dark it was as though the sun had already set. Certainly a far cry from the beautiful sunny day we had yesterday.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and then went and had dinner close by in the evening taking advantage of the air-con room and cable television.

Our last week in the mountains

Friday 19^th June 2015

A pack of monkeys hanging out next to a dumpster sometimes they are friendly most of the time not so friendly...

since the rains started there have been loads of these horrible flying daddy long legs everywhere these two decided to have all the sex on our table while we tried to eat dinner. 

As usual we got up and had breakfast at the tea shop it was super busy in there despite the late hour so we had to squash in at somebody else’s table.

After eating we headed back to the guesthouse with the notion of having a chilled day reading and what not (and me hopefully finding flights!)

We headed out to the Thai restaurant and I spent some time working on a blog post before searching for flights it took an age but I finally found two flights that were somewhat affordable if not very long winded. I booked and paid for them and felt relief that it was sorted.

We ended up leaving the restaurant in a rush to get to Tai Chi and at the worst possible time it started pouring with rain luckily it was a short burst of rain and then hail before easing to a drizzle and we didn’t get too soaked.

We ran back to the guesthouse to grab our shoes and then headed to the nearby rooftop where we meet for class. Today was day four of five and by the end of the lesson we had learnt almost all of the form with just one last bit to add tomorrow before polishing it off.

It feels like it is beginning to flow nicely now and was quite comfortable. I had wanted to go to Kirtan tonight but as the class finished we saw Sandeep and he said that a bunch of people were meeting to have some goodbye drinks so we decided to head to that after some dinner.

We went and ate just the two of us and then I got cake for the road knowing I wouldn’t want to drink and that everyone else would. We didn’t end up staying too long as most of the conversation was in Hindi and we didn’t really know what was going on, then a huge storm started and we couldn’t hear anything over the thunder and the rain on the tin roof and then there was a power cut and we were all sitting cold and in the dark.

We headed home when the rain eased off slightly but were still soaked on the short trip home in complete darkness. Luckily the water was still a bit warm and the laptop had some battery so we showered and watched a movie in bed.

Saturday 20^th June 2015

After a slow start this morning we had breakfast and then did some cleaning and laundry as usual there were a ton of beetles crawling around or dead in the corners!

After booking my flights last night and receiving a confirmation email when I checked my mail today I had an email saying that I needed to send a copy of my passport and credit card for the e-ticket to be issued. The email was worded very unprofessionally with many spelling errors. I booked my tickets around 4pm and this email came at 7pm giving me until the end of the day to send the documents. Obviously I had missed the deadline but I wasn’t even sure it was a real email.

After booking the flights yesterday I logged straight on to request a vegetarian meal and to choose my seat when I logged on today the frequent flyer points I had used to buy the flight were gone but my booking wasn’t there I checked my banking and the money was gone as well.

I emailed Qantas customer care (as I’m writing this three full days later I’m still yet to get a reply from them despite a 24 hour promise) but having emailed them in the past with not a lot of joy I also decided to send them a message on Facebook unfortunately for me the fb page is manned in Australian time and so everyone was done for the day. (When I did receive a response they were somewhat useless)

As annoying as that was I wanted to just get on with my day. We went to McLeod Ganj and had lunch with Sandeep at the Japanese restaurant where they had huge custard filled doughnuts straight from the oven they were selling out quick and we were lucky to get one.

After lunch we strolled about for a bit and stopped off for Mark to get a coffee before heading back up the hill to rest a bit before Tai Chi we managed to get a very quick practice in but it wasn’t very productive as Mark was on a sugar high and was bouncing off the walls. By the time we got to class he had crashed.

Class started a bit late as it was a bit rainy but luckily it cleared and we even got a rainbow which we had also got the first night. Start with a rainbow end with a rainbow!

It was our last chance to get the moves right so I knuckled down and focused on everything Tony said by the end of class I was fairly confident that I had the steps but that I wasn’t exceptionally graceful about it.

We headed for food at a café I had a curry that id had a few times before and loved but tonight it was a bit weird tasting (and later made me sick) the café had live music downstairs but there wasn’t anywhere to sit so we sat upstairs which only has a tarp roof it was windy and cold and pretty drizzly again.

We ate and headed downstairs but it was super packed with nowhere to sit. We saw a friend and chatted a bit but decided we would rather get home before the rain really started to come down.

Sunday 21^st June 2015

Happy International Yoga Day!!

We had planned to rise early and head down to McLeod Ganj to the Dalai Lama Temple as it is his 80^th birthday and they had a long-life puja and the Dalai Lama did a speech. However I was up most of the night with a sore stomach and when the alarm went off at 6am and it was pouring with rain I really didn’t feel like it.

I woke up much later feeling disappointed that we didn’t just jolly ourselves and go but my stomach was still sore and so I sat around in the room while Mark went and had breakfast.

We didn’t do much today just hung out reading and generally mooching about and doing some Tai Chi on the terrace. After the heavy rains and thunder and lightning storm of last night/this morning the day had cleared up to be really nice.

We went out for a late lunch at a pizzeria and sat there for far too long. I continued to try and resolve the issue with the flights I booked on Friday but still Qantas weren’t playing ball and being the weekend it’s unlikely anything will be resolved anytime soon.

After eating we chilled out back at the guesthouse for a short while and then headed to a lecture at the Himalayan Iyengar School the topic was “the importance of the cleanliness of yoga” a special talk on for international yoga day the lecturer was the founder of the institute and he spoke of the five precepts of yoga. Much of his talk was Vipassana teachings which became clear at the end when he said he studied it for years. The talk was interesting but was nothing I hadn’t heard but it was good to have a recap on it all. I was also feeling extremely tired and struggled to stay focused.

After the lecture we spoke to some friends who had also attended and then headed off to get a small dinner before heading back for an early night.

Monday 22^nd June 2015

This morning I was still feeling a bit rough but went and had breakfast anyway. After eating we came back to the guesthouse and I checked my email to see if the Qantas saga had been resolved but it hadn’t. We headed to a café where the Wi-Fi was good enough for me to try and use skype to call the Mumbai office, but when we got there it turns out you can’t call landlines or mobiles in India from within India using skype.

I had another go at emailing them and messaging them on Facebook with much the same result as yesterday. It stated pouring with rain so we were stranded for a while but when the rain ceased we went to the local internet shop to see if they had a phone but had no joy.

It was starting to rain again so we headed back to the guesthouse where we chilled out for a while. The rain started again and didn’t look as though it would stop anytime soon so we watched somethings on the laptop.

In the afternoon the weather cleared and we headed out to have a late lunch. The food was exceptional and the fresh air was beautiful we stayed there a while reading before heading back to do a bit of Tai chi at the guesthouse.

Later on that evening neither of us were particularly hungry but felt we might be so we headed to the Thai restaurant and nibbled on food while abusing the Wi-Fi. Back at the guesthouse we chilled out until it was time to go to sleep.

Tuesday 23^rd June 2015

We started the day off with breakfast as we always do, then spent some time cleaning our room and doing some laundry. After a burst of Tai Chi out in the sunshine we walked down to McLeod Ganj. First stop was a coffee mostly so I could get on the Wi-Fi and check my flight status. Good news that when I logged onto Qantas my flight was there waiting for me. Still the potentially scam email has not been dealt with and when I asked the fb contact for an official email where I could complain she simply sent me to the same customer care form that is still yet to respond to my initial query five days ago.

After I had sored things out as much as I could we headed to some shops having a look at a few bits and pieces before going to the Japanese restaurant as it was sushi day. It was super crowded in there but we found a table in the corner and ate our food. Best of all was the chocolate mousse they had as a special today.

After eating we headed to the temple where we did a circuit the place was rammed and there was a huge line of people waiting for an audience with the Dalai Lama or maybe the Karmapa. There was also a display of all the awards the Dalai Lama has received as well as pictures of him with notable persons and all the books he has written. It was interesting to look at but hard to see much for all the monks with their ipads taking photos of every single item.

We came out of the temple and the clear blue sky that was there when we went inside had been replaced with a thick mist that had rolled in off the mountains and made visibility even a few metres in front of us difficult.

It looked as though rain would be coming soon so we decided to head back up the hill. We meandered up and to our delight when we reached the top the skies were clear and we had mostly blue skies. We stopped for a chai at the tea house and then headed back to the accommodation.

We didn’t have anything to do so we headed to a café and had another drink while we read and then had a ridiculously early bird dinner. We hung around for a while reading and then headed back where we watched a movie.

Wednesday 24^th June 2015

I woke up starving this morning after such an early dinner yesterday. We went and ate our peanut butter toast like we do every day and then came back to let it digest a while before doing some Tai Chi.

Feeling a bit more energised we decided to head into town there was a film showing in the afternoon that we wanted to see and we decided to get some lunch first. We walked down and started off with a coffee so Mark could get his caffeine hit. We ended up having lunch there as the food is actually pretty good.

After lunch we felt like something sweet so headed to the pancake shop and shared an apricot crepe. After that it was time for the film. It was called Kundan and is a Disney adaptation of the Dalai Lamas life. Interestingly the entire cast are Tibetan refugees although it’s all in English.

The problem was it was shown in a busy restaurant and from the start we struggled to hear what was going on over the loud groups of young Indian guy’s subtitles would have been good but they didn’t seem to know how to turn them on. We persevered although it ended up being a waste of time as just over an hour into the film it cut out and the guy who organised the even apologised saying his copy was damaged and that was all he had.

Why they decided to screen a film that they didn’t have in its entirety baffled me but it didn’t stop them handing out their pamphlets and asking for donations to their cause. I don’t think anyone donated.

When we came out it was raining so we hot footed it up the hill and back to the guesthouse where we chilled out for a while waiting for the rain to stop before heading out for a small dinner.