Amritsar
I have been reading a book called 'A Fine Balance'. It takes place in India and one of the things it mentions in the book are Coolie's. They are the people that help you carry your luggage on and off the train. I wasn't sure this still existed but when we went to Amritsar I saw many Coolies!!
Above is the best picture of a Coolie I could get. I had a lot of opportunities to take pictures of them but I felt kind of rude taking one as they were trying to lift the heavy luggage of the person sitting in front of me.
Pete doing his best Coolie imitation! In Darjeeling he was also our Sherpa - a member of a traditionally Buddhist people of Tibetan descent living on the southern side of the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal and Sikkim. In modern times Sherpas have achieved world renown attension as expert guides on Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. They tradionally helped carry gear up the mountains.
I hadn't included any cows in the road this trip so I thought I would post one. These are actually water buffalo. Looks like they get the same treatment as cows.
Above is the India side of the Wagah border crossing ceremony between India and Pakistan. Wagah is the site of a nightly flag-lowering ceremony that marks the closing of the gate between the two countries until it reopens the following morning. Tourists from all over India travel to Wagah to see this ceremony - 5,000 on an average nightly and up to 12,000 on holidays. The event has become so popular on both sides of the border that India and Pakistan have built stadium seating to hold the masses. It reminds me of a high school Pep Rally!
The guards in uniform.
Pakistan side.
Pakistan side.
Me and one of the guards.
The crowd. Then down on the street is where they have the 'show'. Guards march up and down the road and there is a guy that yells into the microphone and pumps the crowd up!
Boy in the crowd who wouldn't sit still.
Guards in action.
Flag lowering ceremony.
Sign at boarder - 'India the largest Democracy in the world' - India has over 1 Billion people.
The Golden Temple at night. The Golden Temple is the Sikh community's holiest shrine.
We got a lot of stares while we were visiting the temple at night. Here are a couple guys that were basically standing just like this staring at us for several minutes. I took a picture of them and then they left.
More people that were interested in us!
Entrance to the temple. This was the last point where we could take pictures. The inside was truly beautiful. This is suppose to be all gold.
Another view of the Golden Temple.
The group that went to Amritsar - Dave, Vicki, Kristin, Pete, Courtney, Dan, Kinal, and Riz.
Dan and the Water Buffalo that were staying at our hotel!
Pete and I hired cycle rickshaws but instead of taking a ride on one of them we wanted to drive one ourselves. It was a lot of fun. We drove them a few blocks before Pete's bike went out of control and the real drivers took over.
Notice the guy on the motorcycle doing a double take on the driver of the cycle rickshaw - what they don't see white girls driving the rickshaws that often?
I always told Matt that I'd take a picture of someone peeing!! It has finally been done! This is a common occurrence in India - more common than pulling over to a rest stop and using the bathroom in the US!! When nature calls!!
Pete and his rickshaw just before they went off roading!!
After the rickshaw drivers took back over they insisted on taking us to this cave temple called Mata Temple. It is considered one of the poor man temples. This was a very interesting temple. I considered it the Disney World of Temples. It was very decorated and had a specific path that you followed to get through the temple. There were many places we had to get down on all fours to climb through the caves. Once we got to this part I drew the line. It is a section of the cave filled with water and we were suppose to wade through it but the water was absolutely disgusting.
Pete's rickshaw driver was the one taking us through the temple and he kept saying to me - 'This is a good photo' so I took plenty of pictures of things I wouldn't necessarily take pictures of to please him. Here is one of the shrines in the caves.
After we met back up with everyone we ate lunch at our favorite place in Amritsar - Crystal's! It had a good variety and was cheap. From there our group broke up. Some wanted to see the Golden Temple during the day and others went to Jallianwala Bagh - the site of an infamous massacre that took place in 1919. Hundreds of unarmed demonstrators were gunned down in the enclosed garden (a scene from the movie called Rung De Basanti - which I strongly recommend). It was an event which helped hasten the end of British rule in India. I chose the Golden Temple. I was glad I did. One of the auto rickshaw drivers that was with us took us on a tour of part of the temple that I would have never seen on my own. See the onion shot below.
Thankfully we had come the previous night and gone inside the actual temple. The line to get in was really long - people were shoulder to shoulder and it was probably around 100 degrees outside. When we went the previous night we didn't even have to wait in line!
It is hard to see from this picture but people are bathing in the water around the temple.
Volunteers are cutting up onions, garlic, ginger, etc which will be used in the dal-roti. The Guru ka Langar is a free kitchen where all visitors are fed a meal. The entire place is run by volunteers - the kitchen can feed 10,000 people a day.
Volunteers preparing the chapati.
Volunteers washing all the trays.
I'm the volunteer now! I am stirring the dal.
Above - the dining hall which can seat 3,000 people at a time. I was amazed by the number of people here eating - but even more amazed by the number of volunteers. The notion of kar-seva (voluntary manual labour for a cause) is an important part of the Sikh order. Tasks such as sweeping the temple precincts, cooking at the langar, or looking after the pilgrims' shoes, are enthusiastically performed by volunteers either as penance or as acts of worship.
When we had come to the temple the previous night I was amazed by how clean it was. When we showed up that day I was amazed again at how dirty it was compared to the previous night. As we left though they started cleaning the whole place. The picture above is a ton of people dipping buckets into the water to throw around the temple to clean it. They then had gigantic squeegees that they ran through the place to clean the water up. I'm guessing we had come the previous night just after they had cleaned. It was amazing once again how many people were helping out to clean the place.
Overall I was awed by the Golden Temple complex. There were no fees to enter and there were so many people there helping to keep the place beautiful. You got a really good vibe from the place. I didn't feel like I was site seeing but taking part in a religious event - it was truly amazing.
One thing that we noticed right away in Amritsar were the number of women on mopeds by themselves. I didn't notice that I didn't see that in Delhi until we were here, but it really stood out. Someone was telling us that Amritsar is a very rich city and very modern and that is probably why.
Another female on a moped.
This is a common site in India - fresh squeezed sugar cane juice.
I have been reading a book called 'A Fine Balance'. It takes place in India and one of the things it mentions in the book are Coolie's. They are the people that help you carry your luggage on and off the train. I wasn't sure this still existed but when we went to Amritsar I saw many Coolies!!
Above is the best picture of a Coolie I could get. I had a lot of opportunities to take pictures of them but I felt kind of rude taking one as they were trying to lift the heavy luggage of the person sitting in front of me.
Pete doing his best Coolie imitation! In Darjeeling he was also our Sherpa - a member of a traditionally Buddhist people of Tibetan descent living on the southern side of the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal and Sikkim. In modern times Sherpas have achieved world renown attension as expert guides on Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. They tradionally helped carry gear up the mountains.
I hadn't included any cows in the road this trip so I thought I would post one. These are actually water buffalo. Looks like they get the same treatment as cows.
Above is the India side of the Wagah border crossing ceremony between India and Pakistan. Wagah is the site of a nightly flag-lowering ceremony that marks the closing of the gate between the two countries until it reopens the following morning. Tourists from all over India travel to Wagah to see this ceremony - 5,000 on an average nightly and up to 12,000 on holidays. The event has become so popular on both sides of the border that India and Pakistan have built stadium seating to hold the masses. It reminds me of a high school Pep Rally!
The guards in uniform.
Pakistan side.
Pakistan side.
Me and one of the guards.
The crowd. Then down on the street is where they have the 'show'. Guards march up and down the road and there is a guy that yells into the microphone and pumps the crowd up!
Boy in the crowd who wouldn't sit still.
Guards in action.
Flag lowering ceremony.
Sign at boarder - 'India the largest Democracy in the world' - India has over 1 Billion people.
The Golden Temple at night. The Golden Temple is the Sikh community's holiest shrine.
We got a lot of stares while we were visiting the temple at night. Here are a couple guys that were basically standing just like this staring at us for several minutes. I took a picture of them and then they left.
More people that were interested in us!
Entrance to the temple. This was the last point where we could take pictures. The inside was truly beautiful. This is suppose to be all gold.
Another view of the Golden Temple.
The group that went to Amritsar - Dave, Vicki, Kristin, Pete, Courtney, Dan, Kinal, and Riz.
Dan and the Water Buffalo that were staying at our hotel!
Pete and I hired cycle rickshaws but instead of taking a ride on one of them we wanted to drive one ourselves. It was a lot of fun. We drove them a few blocks before Pete's bike went out of control and the real drivers took over.
Notice the guy on the motorcycle doing a double take on the driver of the cycle rickshaw - what they don't see white girls driving the rickshaws that often?
I always told Matt that I'd take a picture of someone peeing!! It has finally been done! This is a common occurrence in India - more common than pulling over to a rest stop and using the bathroom in the US!! When nature calls!!
Pete and his rickshaw just before they went off roading!!
After the rickshaw drivers took back over they insisted on taking us to this cave temple called Mata Temple. It is considered one of the poor man temples. This was a very interesting temple. I considered it the Disney World of Temples. It was very decorated and had a specific path that you followed to get through the temple. There were many places we had to get down on all fours to climb through the caves. Once we got to this part I drew the line. It is a section of the cave filled with water and we were suppose to wade through it but the water was absolutely disgusting.
Pete's rickshaw driver was the one taking us through the temple and he kept saying to me - 'This is a good photo' so I took plenty of pictures of things I wouldn't necessarily take pictures of to please him. Here is one of the shrines in the caves.
After we met back up with everyone we ate lunch at our favorite place in Amritsar - Crystal's! It had a good variety and was cheap. From there our group broke up. Some wanted to see the Golden Temple during the day and others went to Jallianwala Bagh - the site of an infamous massacre that took place in 1919. Hundreds of unarmed demonstrators were gunned down in the enclosed garden (a scene from the movie called Rung De Basanti - which I strongly recommend). It was an event which helped hasten the end of British rule in India. I chose the Golden Temple. I was glad I did. One of the auto rickshaw drivers that was with us took us on a tour of part of the temple that I would have never seen on my own. See the onion shot below.
Thankfully we had come the previous night and gone inside the actual temple. The line to get in was really long - people were shoulder to shoulder and it was probably around 100 degrees outside. When we went the previous night we didn't even have to wait in line!
It is hard to see from this picture but people are bathing in the water around the temple.
Volunteers are cutting up onions, garlic, ginger, etc which will be used in the dal-roti. The Guru ka Langar is a free kitchen where all visitors are fed a meal. The entire place is run by volunteers - the kitchen can feed 10,000 people a day.
Volunteers preparing the chapati.
Volunteers washing all the trays.
I'm the volunteer now! I am stirring the dal.
Above - the dining hall which can seat 3,000 people at a time. I was amazed by the number of people here eating - but even more amazed by the number of volunteers. The notion of kar-seva (voluntary manual labour for a cause) is an important part of the Sikh order. Tasks such as sweeping the temple precincts, cooking at the langar, or looking after the pilgrims' shoes, are enthusiastically performed by volunteers either as penance or as acts of worship.
When we had come to the temple the previous night I was amazed by how clean it was. When we showed up that day I was amazed again at how dirty it was compared to the previous night. As we left though they started cleaning the whole place. The picture above is a ton of people dipping buckets into the water to throw around the temple to clean it. They then had gigantic squeegees that they ran through the place to clean the water up. I'm guessing we had come the previous night just after they had cleaned. It was amazing once again how many people were helping out to clean the place.
Overall I was awed by the Golden Temple complex. There were no fees to enter and there were so many people there helping to keep the place beautiful. You got a really good vibe from the place. I didn't feel like I was site seeing but taking part in a religious event - it was truly amazing.
One thing that we noticed right away in Amritsar were the number of women on mopeds by themselves. I didn't notice that I didn't see that in Delhi until we were here, but it really stood out. Someone was telling us that Amritsar is a very rich city and very modern and that is probably why.
Another female on a moped.
This is a common site in India - fresh squeezed sugar cane juice.
posted by Angela Cooley at 4:42 AM
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