One month ago today I was standing on the rooftop of a hotel in dreary, drizzly Amritsar, admiring the Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple).
I'll tell you what, though I had only two days in Amritsar, and it rained the whole time and was freezing cold and dirty and generally I found nothing lovely about the city to redeem it, it may be my favorite part of the entire journey. My reasons are both simple and absurd; Amritsar was the backdrop to the movie that made me want to visit India, Rab Ne Bana di Jodi. Silliness aside, there was something about the Golden Temple that I felt I just couldn't miss. I only visited Harmandir Sahib once while I was in Amritsar, and flew in the face of what all the guide books advise, which is to go see it in multiple stages so that you can appreciate the sun's positioning or avoid lines or whatever insane suggestions they make that lead to someone showing up to the Taj Mahal at 6AM and not being able to see it through the fog.
No, seeing the Temple once was so special I felt I couldn't go back. I took my shoes off at the complimentary storage facility and made the long slippery walk across ice cold marble to the entry stairs.
Streams and streams of pilgrims visit Harmandir Sahib every year, more than the Taj Mahal sees on an average day. The contemporary temple was built in the end of the 16th century and was opened with the first reading of the Guru Granth Sahib in 1604. The Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh holy scripture, a book compiled by the Fifth Guru of Sikhism from enlightened Sikh Gurus, Muslims, and Hindus over a number of centuries. The book reveals the wonder of God and the ways to worship and live as a Sikh. Each day a Hukam is randomly chosen by divine will and read aloud in verse at the beginning of each day. When I arrived, the Granthi (readers) were well into their readings, which can be watched live on television or online throughout the day. I walked slowly around the Pool of Nectar, following the other pilgrims' clockwise paths. I felt entirely fulfilled and circumspect, about my entire trip and particularly this experience. No one took my photo, no one paid any attention to me, and I was left to soak up the beautiful and solemn experience of the Golden Temple.
As I try to type this up I'm realizing I can't convey how special the visit was to me, so I'm going to keep quiet on that topic. In any case not only have I jumped ahead days, I've started a month away from the last time I posted so I'd better catch you up.
We flew into Jaipur on January 10, many rehydration packs into the day, and I was feeling much better about walking, not yakking, seeing straight, etc. We checked in to Hotel Karni Niwas on Motilal Atal Rd (fun to say!) right off the main road through the city. The hotel was nice enough, though a freezing change of pace from Trivandrum. We did the tourist beat, visiting the City Palace and Jantar Mantar, a scientific observatory of astronomical AND astrological themes. Massive clocks counting the minutes within seconds of GMT, ways to research fortuitous dates for weddings, contracts, and births, Jantar Mantar is filled with very strange large equipment of steel and marble, but is entirely fascinating.
But while Jaipur is a lovely cultural city, it is most famous for the bazaars. What could we do but endless shopping? Everything is available for purchase on the streets of the Old City, from grains and bangles to kitchen appliances and jewelry. The morning of the 12th, I set out for the gem cutting district and spent a few hours looking at bags of loose stones, and meeting a store full of jewelry salesmen who knew nothing about the gems they sold. At first they thought I was a no-nothing woman looking for pretty things, but when I pulled out a bag full of gemological tools, I caught and held their attention. I showed the store manager how to use a Chelsea filter and support filters, explained how a dichroscope worked, and why I was back lighting the gems I examined. An older gentleman approached me with a necklace and asked me to take a look at the emerald on it; then went in the back and came out again with a box. He introduced himself as the owner and said he wanted me to look at something through the Chelsea filter. This is what he showed me:
A 240 carat (think golf ball-sized) Colombian Emerald that tested well under the emerald filters. I think this photo skews a bit blue, but this rock was a gorgeous green, though it had a rather significant "jardin" (sexy term for inclusions and interior crystallizations). We both oohed and ahhed at it's beauty, I may have squealed in delight, but that's between me and him...
I did not buy the emerald, but I found a few loose stones that were very cheap but were not fakes. I also managed to find some bracelets, textiles, wood carvings, and juti. I drank tea and ate sweets, we all drank a lot of beer. Jaipur was a good city to end our trip as a group. On January 13th Lizzie, Gareth, Amarilli and I escaped the city for a day of adventuring. Our first stop was Amber Fort, a red sandstone and marble creation perched on the hills of Amer. It is enormous, with four incredible courtyards and endless staircases, hallways and darkened rooms that are at once romantic and isolated.
There is a footpath up the steep hill to the entrance, but never one to do anything simply, I found myself skittering amongst the parade of painted elephants who carry tourists up the hill in an endless stream for $18 a ride. Having evaded an elephantine stomping, I paid my entry and got lost in the fort.
After the fort we moved on to the highlight of the day, Dera Amer Elephant Trek! Lizzie had met owner Udaijit through a colleague, and we were very graciously attended to on our hour-long elephant ride and delicious buffet lunch.
The day was spectacular, crystal blue skies and gorgeous breezes and our only lament was that we would miss the elephant polo games happening the next day. I can't imagine the thunderous spectacle that would be.
We returned to Jaipur for a last frantic shopping spree, and sat down to a final enormous thali dinner at Copper Chimney on MI Rd. After stuffing ourselves we rolled downstairs into the dark mod bar, where we downed Kingfisher after Kingfisher in a last show of tourist solidarity before we all parted ways.
And so we come full circle on this post, up to Amritsar and then back to the US. Why was I so delinquent in writing this last entry, well, I suppose it's for the same reason I keep a physical travel journal up until the last few days of any journey. If I write it down I acknowledge that it's over. It's more fun for me to look back at a journal and think "yeah, and what happened next?" but I know that's no way to leave anyone reading this blog.
The past month also allowed me to process my thoughts on India, which are as follows:
I'll tell you what, though I had only two days in Amritsar, and it rained the whole time and was freezing cold and dirty and generally I found nothing lovely about the city to redeem it, it may be my favorite part of the entire journey. My reasons are both simple and absurd; Amritsar was the backdrop to the movie that made me want to visit India, Rab Ne Bana di Jodi. Silliness aside, there was something about the Golden Temple that I felt I just couldn't miss. I only visited Harmandir Sahib once while I was in Amritsar, and flew in the face of what all the guide books advise, which is to go see it in multiple stages so that you can appreciate the sun's positioning or avoid lines or whatever insane suggestions they make that lead to someone showing up to the Taj Mahal at 6AM and not being able to see it through the fog.
No, seeing the Temple once was so special I felt I couldn't go back. I took my shoes off at the complimentary storage facility and made the long slippery walk across ice cold marble to the entry stairs.
 |
| 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and no shoes. |
As I try to type this up I'm realizing I can't convey how special the visit was to me, so I'm going to keep quiet on that topic. In any case not only have I jumped ahead days, I've started a month away from the last time I posted so I'd better catch you up.
We flew into Jaipur on January 10, many rehydration packs into the day, and I was feeling much better about walking, not yakking, seeing straight, etc. We checked in to Hotel Karni Niwas on Motilal Atal Rd (fun to say!) right off the main road through the city. The hotel was nice enough, though a freezing change of pace from Trivandrum. We did the tourist beat, visiting the City Palace and Jantar Mantar, a scientific observatory of astronomical AND astrological themes. Massive clocks counting the minutes within seconds of GMT, ways to research fortuitous dates for weddings, contracts, and births, Jantar Mantar is filled with very strange large equipment of steel and marble, but is entirely fascinating.
But while Jaipur is a lovely cultural city, it is most famous for the bazaars. What could we do but endless shopping? Everything is available for purchase on the streets of the Old City, from grains and bangles to kitchen appliances and jewelry. The morning of the 12th, I set out for the gem cutting district and spent a few hours looking at bags of loose stones, and meeting a store full of jewelry salesmen who knew nothing about the gems they sold. At first they thought I was a no-nothing woman looking for pretty things, but when I pulled out a bag full of gemological tools, I caught and held their attention. I showed the store manager how to use a Chelsea filter and support filters, explained how a dichroscope worked, and why I was back lighting the gems I examined. An older gentleman approached me with a necklace and asked me to take a look at the emerald on it; then went in the back and came out again with a box. He introduced himself as the owner and said he wanted me to look at something through the Chelsea filter. This is what he showed me:
A 240 carat (think golf ball-sized) Colombian Emerald that tested well under the emerald filters. I think this photo skews a bit blue, but this rock was a gorgeous green, though it had a rather significant "jardin" (sexy term for inclusions and interior crystallizations). We both oohed and ahhed at it's beauty, I may have squealed in delight, but that's between me and him...
I did not buy the emerald, but I found a few loose stones that were very cheap but were not fakes. I also managed to find some bracelets, textiles, wood carvings, and juti. I drank tea and ate sweets, we all drank a lot of beer. Jaipur was a good city to end our trip as a group. On January 13th Lizzie, Gareth, Amarilli and I escaped the city for a day of adventuring. Our first stop was Amber Fort, a red sandstone and marble creation perched on the hills of Amer. It is enormous, with four incredible courtyards and endless staircases, hallways and darkened rooms that are at once romantic and isolated.
There is a footpath up the steep hill to the entrance, but never one to do anything simply, I found myself skittering amongst the parade of painted elephants who carry tourists up the hill in an endless stream for $18 a ride. Having evaded an elephantine stomping, I paid my entry and got lost in the fort.
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After the fort we moved on to the highlight of the day, Dera Amer Elephant Trek! Lizzie had met owner Udaijit through a colleague, and we were very graciously attended to on our hour-long elephant ride and delicious buffet lunch.
The day was spectacular, crystal blue skies and gorgeous breezes and our only lament was that we would miss the elephant polo games happening the next day. I can't imagine the thunderous spectacle that would be.
 |  |
We returned to Jaipur for a last frantic shopping spree, and sat down to a final enormous thali dinner at Copper Chimney on MI Rd. After stuffing ourselves we rolled downstairs into the dark mod bar, where we downed Kingfisher after Kingfisher in a last show of tourist solidarity before we all parted ways.
And so we come full circle on this post, up to Amritsar and then back to the US. Why was I so delinquent in writing this last entry, well, I suppose it's for the same reason I keep a physical travel journal up until the last few days of any journey. If I write it down I acknowledge that it's over. It's more fun for me to look back at a journal and think "yeah, and what happened next?" but I know that's no way to leave anyone reading this blog.
The past month also allowed me to process my thoughts on India, which are as follows:
- I'm so glad I went.
- I enjoyed what I saw but wish we'd done more adventuring, ie. swinging from jungle vines, riding a train in Darjeeling, lasso-ing tigers, jumping off low bridges into chemically iffy waters, eating more street food, et al.
- The trip was equally as much about spending time with an old friend (Lizzie, though technically younger) as it was about seeing India.
- I wish I'd taken more photos with families on my camera; now I understand why they want to look back on the white person they met. Think of the stories!
- Kerala was by FAR the friendliest state we visited, also the most communist and Christian. Huh!
- South Indian food is a real 180 from North Indian food, which is what has been exported to the US and UK. There's no better between the two - they are simply different and I would happily eat either or both for the rest of my life.
- As a tourist you can be exposed to the poverty and filth of India as much or as little as you want. I didn't see any horrors I have not witnessed anywhere else, though with a population of 1.2 billion people, the scale is larger.
- India seems much lovelier in Hindi films (excepting Delhi 6, which is probably more accurate).
- I probably wouldn't go back.
