April 19, 20, 2009 - Amritsar, India

Well, since my last blog - I left Agra and the Taj Mahal Sunday afternoon and got on a sleeper car to Amritsar, a 14-hour trip. On my last train ride I had the entire compartment to myself. This time I was in the middle of a family - little children, grandparents, moms and dads.

But I had my seat next to the window, and when the cots were let down I had my lower berth, so everything worked out very well. I also think the experience I have gained in my previous three trips helped me out a lot. There was plenty of food for sale along the
way, and I was able to kinda understand about what the food was (that's a big deal!) and made some good decisions, and the next day there were no bad results of eating train food.

I really got a good night's sleep, and the next morning felt great getting off the train in Amritsar.

I hired a Tut Tut at the stations (they are called motor rickshaws here) and headed for the old city and, hopefully, a hotel room.

I got a nice room for $6.00, this town is expensive! because it is a big Indian tourist town.

I was in my room, having just had a shower and was enjoying a cup of coffee when my phone rang! It was Bill McLean! Enjoyed the visit with him.

This town has three big attractions - all important to Indians. One is the Golden Temple of Sikhism, one is the Border ceremony at the border with Pakistan,

and one the site of massacar by the British that was a key factor in Indian Independence It was depicted in the movie "Gandi".

The photos are

One: Three different turbans worn by ALL Sikh men

Two: A restaurant I just couldn't pass up, I bought a couple of snacks from him.

Three: This is for Moultrie - one way to pick up garbage... just throw in one pile per neighborhood, and a week later come by with small curved plates and just scope it into an open trailer.

Four: One of my BFF's here in town!

All for now - will be with more info on Amritsar.

Johnny