INDIA & BANGLADESH 2014: 4 From Leh to Delhi, India

Monday, September 29, 2014

Ali and Amo picked us up at 6 AM to take us to the airport for the 55 minute flight to Jammu on an Air India A319. Even exit row seats were cramped – I've no idea how anyone could be expected to get to the exit in case of emergency, and not so much as a glass of water was available. The flight was on time, however.

Once we had our luggage we took advantage of seats outside the airport to wait for our driver and guide. When they didn't show up, we asked where we could get a taxi to the hotel and were told to go outside the high steel airport gates. As we neared the gate we could see a sign waving above it with our names – the guide & driver were there, but were not permitted in, something airport people neglected to mention.

Jammu is a city of about 1.2 million and is located at about half the altitude of Leh in a rich farm area. This is an ancient city, first founded around 460 AD.

John, our guide, and Mr. Singh the driver drove us to the wonderful Fortune Inn Riviera Hotel - a major step up from the Grand Himalaya. Everything here worked and it was sparking clean. I went down for the count again, so the hotel manager arranged for a doctor to come to the hotel. Another set of medication was prescribed, which the hotel sent an employee to purchase and deliver to the room. The doctor's fee for the house call was $20.

I went to bed while Marilynn visited the Raghunath Temple, dedicated to Lord Rama, with John & Mr. Singh. When we went to dinner I was very sad not to be able to avail myself of the nice bar and lounge, however Marilynn had a couple of glasses of wine while I managed half a dozen small slices of watermelon.

There was no doubt about the quality of care – the phone kept ringing from all hotel departments, the manager and even a call from Bestway in Delhi who the hotel had notified, to see if we needed anything. Marilynn finally had to ask that there be no more calls so we could sleep.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

My breakfast was a few more bits of watermelon before we started the 5 hour driver to Amritsar, a city of 1.6 million, or 2.5 million if the outlying areas are counted. This is near the only border cross between India and Pakistan and is the most holy city for the Sikh religion. During the drive John kept us fascinated by his knowledge of history – it seems all empire builders throughout history ruled here at one time or another.

It was also interesting to learn about the Sikh religion. It was founded in 1575, well after the Hindu caste system had been established, as an alternate to that system. Singh is the last name of all Sikhs, so all are equal, and they respect all religions. The temple was started in 1577. Amritsar at that time was a walled city with 12 gates, each named after a profession practised in the city.

Before arriving at the city we noticed horses are decorated – henna is used to paint spots or designs on them. The love of design also goes to covers for the water tanks everyone has on the roof – some are giant birds, others footballs or aeroplanes.

The six month old Holiday Inn Amritsar was home for the next two nights. The hotel is very nice, and once again the staff went out of their way for us. They are having a few debugging and training challenges, but that is expected in such a new operation. The room was great, and the main restaurant had a huge buffet. We were supposed to watch the ceremony at the border between Pakistan and India this afternoon, however I wasn't feeling up to it, so we took the rest of the day off.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

This morning we went to the holy Sikh site of Sri Harimandir Sahib, or the Golden Temple, where the most holy text of Sikhism is kept. It is called the Guru Granth Sahib, and is treated as a living God, even being put to bed in a special room with great ceremony each night. To enter the temple it is necessary to put shoes and socks in a storage area, which is just as well as there are several wet areas, foot baths and so on. It is necessary for both men and women to cover their heads, so John assisted me in installing a head scarf. Giant screens show the words to hymns being played through a speaker system in the Hindi and English.

The temple welcomes all faiths, and cameras are no problem. The Golden Temple is surrounded by a huge continually flowing rectangular body of holy water where Sikhs immerse themselves. There is also an enormous kitchen where free meals are prepared for between 40 and 60 thousand people of all faiths daily. It is staffed by hundreds of volunteers who give what time they can. They wash the thousands of stainless steel plates, bowls and cutlery in a dozen long sinks with about 8 people on each side, flinging them into containers with crashing sounds. They prepare food for cooking, stoke the fires under the huge cooking vats from mountains of firewood, serve water to those dining in the enormous eating halls or at the many water stands located around the temple. The final cooking vat was prepared rice pudding in mind boggling quantities.

Baptized Sikhs are not permitted to cut any bodily hair, must carry a dagger, which can range from a sword to a small ceremonial dagger, and wear a metal bracelet. For women, carrying the dagger is optional. Many faithful Sikhs do not get baptized but are thought no less of – they generally have neatly trimmed beards.

On leaving the temple we were surprised to see a McDonald's down the street. No juicy hamburgers here, it is the only vegetarian McDonalds I've seen.

I was pretty worn out after a lot of walking exploring the huge temple, so was taken back to the hotel to rest while Marilynn headed off shopping with John & Mr. Singh. Prices on many things are very good, including electronics, so she bought a Samsung charging device that will charge her iphone or ipad about three times.

They picked me up in time to head for the frontier with Pakistan for the Retreat Ceremony, started by agreement between generals on each side of the border in 1953. It is about 30 km (19 mi) from Amritsar and attracts about 15,000 people each night. There are permanent bleachers set up – the area for foreign tourists is miniscule compared to that for Indians, but the whole place was packed. On the Pakistan side there were no more than 500 attendees with a lot of empty seats. The military part of the program is put on by the black clad Pakistan Sutlej Rangers with black fans on their hats and the Indian Border Security Force dressed in khaki with large red fans on their hats. Loud martial and patriotic music blares from speakers on each side, accompanied by cheering and arm waving from the stands. A drummer is perched above the proceedings.

To begin the two side by side metal gates to the border are closed. Two armed soldiers from each side quick march to the gate and stand close together facing each other. Then the gates are opened and soldiers quick march to face one another inches apart, making all kinds of threatening gestures, from high kicking to raising fists. These are greeted by loud cheers from the supporters of each side – much like a football match. There is the sounds of bugles in perfect time with each other while this carefully choreographed event goes on. It ends with the two flags being lowered from opposite sides of the road from the flag poles, so the flags cross one another. When the flags are carried off, the gates are closed.

Back at the hotel the chef invited us to dinner in the Italian restaurant, even though it is not supposed to be covered by our food plan. He had made a delicious tomato soup he thought would sit well, and Marilynn had a fabulous chicken scallopini. Unfortunately the soup set me back rather badly during the night, so not much sleep.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

We were picked up at 4:15 AM and taken to the train station. John arranged porters, and accompanied us onto the train to get us settled in our seats before saying goodbye. I now know that we were not in the first class carriage on the first train. This time there were airline business class type reclining seats 2 abreast, a full breakfast service and we had a table where I got caught up on writing. It was very comfortable and clean. We were sitting across from a Sikh bank manager, Harjinder Singh Virdi, his wife & two young boys. I was quite impressed with their 9 year old, who took one of the English language newspapers and read it right through. They were very nice people, and good travel companions for the 6 ½ hour trip.

Once in Delhi Gagan was standing on the platform to get porters organized to get our luggage and us to the car for transport to the upscale Welcomhotel Dwarka, not far from the airport. We had the afternoon free, which we took advantage of to relax and catch up on communications.

Tomorrow we fly to Guwahati then have a three hour drive to Shillong, in the far east of India. Internet is likely to be difficult once again.