All of us got up early the following day and left for Amritsar. Our time at Ludhiana can be referred to more as a time of rest, preparation and fun with family. On this particular occasion, the driver of the Toyota Innova we were travelling in was giving us live demonstrations of the vehicles capability to move faster than anything else on the road. I must say his control and judgement were superb. We were at the Golden Temple in record time. I had never seen so many Sikhs at one place before and being able to see them in worship was a special experience. We then visited the historic Jallianwala Bagh, where, on April 13, 1919, the British Indian Army soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children killing more than 1000 people. I realised many of us do not even know of how India gained independence!
We searched almost all of Amritsar for its special Fish Amritsari dish but ended up having something I’m sure was not what we were looking for! If anyone does know where this delicacy is available, the information will be accepted gratefully and I shall treat you to it whenever I’m in Amritsar next.
We left for Wagah Border in time to catch the lowering of the flags and I must say the experience was something you won’t get at any border post around the world. Thousands of Indians sing and dance on our side of the border everyday, and like Philip says, it’s more like a celebration. In contrast, the Pakistani side had few people and was less colourful. The border fences are not a pleasant sight and made me wish partition had not taken place. Our cricket team would’ve been stronger too!
We saw this sign board according to which Lahore was only 47km away. It was near Amritsar that we crossed the mighty Beas – one of five rivers that feeds Punjab and rises in the Himalayas. We were to ride alongside for a long distance till after Manali.
We stopped at Haveli Restaurant in Jalandhar for dinner on the way back. Even if you do not take the food at Rangla Punjab into account, just the ambience of the whole place is mind blowing – a neat little Punjabi village, complete with live bhangra and camels, just like how it actually is, has been built into the restaurant.The day was tiring and we were glad we could laze around and do nothing the next day.
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