This will be my last post for over a week. My train, car and camel of the state of Rajasthan tour begins bright and early at 4:30 am on Saturday. I have to pack up and move out of my apartment to save a weeks worth of rent. Here is to staying healthy.

Golfing

Anindo hitting out of the trap.
Jason hitting across the water.
A lotus water lilly in one of the ponds.
Jason hitting out of the trap.

I played golf at a Greg Norman designed course called JayPee Greens in Greater Noida with a coworker, Anindo. It was a very nice course full on sand traps and water hazards. I only hit the sand twice and found the water twice. All in all I was happy with my round. Especially since I rented what I think is the only set of left handed clubs in India and I wore tennis shoes. Some of the grips were held together by electrical tape. They were McGregor specials. The round included a cart and a caddy for about $60 US dollars. That was the weekday rate. The weekend rate was closer to $100 USD. It is expensive for India standards, but a decent price for US standards, especially since it was a private course. It was the first time I have had a caddy. He figured out my distance right away and pulled out the right club selection. Plus he helped in reading the greens. I ended up shooting a 94 on 18. My partner shot a 118. In a competition of US vs India, the US takes home victory.

There were a number of lotus flowers in bloom around the course. I took a few pics and posted them out to the picasa site.

Plus it was about 85 degrees and I wore dress pants for the round. It was the first time in my life that I have worn pants golfing in that temperature range.

I have the rest of this week to get healthy before my 8 day trip around Rajasthan. I thought I would come down with something on that trip not the week before it. In the paper over the weekend was an article that the lake in Pushkar has dried up. The lake was the main attraction in Pushkar. Next Monday is a holiday, Guru Nanak Day, for the first Sikh Guru. It is an official work holiday also. Many of the people that go to Pushkar in the past would bath in the lake as it is said to be holy on this day. Now there are just a few muddy pools scattered around the lake bottom, hardly enough for the camels to drink out of. The paper said there would be 400,000 visitors there next weekend with about 35,000 of them being international visitors.

The coworkers told me to be cautious of the food in Rajasthan as it is extra spicy. It is a test of manhood to see who can eat the strongest food. In Pushkar all the meals are provided for at the camp. I am hoping it is safe. We will also be sleeping in tents. I am hoping the celebrations will not go long into the night so I can get some sleep. I will be bringing ear plugs just in case.

On Saturday I took enough Imodium and Pepto to bind myself up for a while to be able to go out. Good thing I brought so much of it with me. I think I will be using it all also. The stomach issues stopped the entire time I was out on Saturday, but started again on Sunday. I took my last ZPAC pill on Sunday and continued to have issues through the rest of the day. I stayed in and watched tv the entire day heading in and out of the bathroom. I drank 5 liters of water and mixed in some Gatorade Mix Packets to stay hydrated. This Delhi Belly was rough. To think all of this from a little piece of bread. I woke up Monday morning feeling slightly better, my stomach was no longer gurgling or in pain. Plus I did not feel the need to run into the lube.

The weather is cooling off here at night. I even felt a slight chill in the air Saturday night. Although it was only 60 degrees it does feel cold.

I will also have to pack up my stuff from my apartment for the week to save on rent. At least the apartment will let me store my luggage in a backroom for safe keeping. It will be a good time to check on how much extra room I will have. I still have not done any shopping.

Tughlakabad

Saturday afternoon I went to Tughlakabad which was the third city of Delhi built in the 1320's with a couple of coworkers, Jonaki, Amar and his wife. Now the fort stands in ruins. It is not a popular tourist destination, but I enjoyed it. It has been untouched and unrepaired. It is in south Delhi. There were monkeys hanging around the tomb. The fort had a number of donkeys, a cow, some cranes and goats around it. It was very quiet there, only about 10 other people all together. The fort also had a great view of the city. However with the smog, it was not the clearest view.

After the sight seeing we went to eat at KFC. The prices were a little cheaper than the US, but the flavor was the same. Plus they were the biggest pieces of chicken I have had since being here. The only difference is the locals would dip their chicken in ketchup for a little extra flavor.

Afterwards we went to a Blues Bar to listen to one of Amar's friends bands. She was the lead singer of the band. I was suprised to here that kind of blues music coming out of the locals. The place is empty though. They said it was from the poor economy. We left around 10:45 which was about half way through her set. I had to take a cab home. I returned home around midnight.

Then at 5 am the crackers started going off. One of the religions here celebrated the sun god yesterday. The crackers were part of their morning afterwards ritual to go to a river for pooja, prayer. It was a early wake up call for me.

Tughlakabad

Wall of the Tughlakabad fort. It is a large abandoned fort back in the 1300's. It is in ruins now.
Tughlakabad Tomb in the background standing in the fort.
Some of the ruins around the fort. The circle on the left center was to grind herbs and seeds.
It was a wild night afterwards. The riot control vehicle was called in. The machine gun had me worried.

Tughlakabad

Tughlakabad Tomb
Monkeys hanging out.
Baby monkey
Underground chamber at the fort. We heard chirping and I thought there were bats. I found out with this pic. After taking the pic, I looked and ran.

Now I know why they said don’t touch the street food. Yesterday at lunch I tried a kind of bread called parantha that one of the coworkers had. I had it before on my trip to the Golden Temple. It is like 2 thin soft tortillas stuffed with a thin potato crème in the center. I took a very small piece. It was very good tasting. Then I was told it was street food. They were all happy they finally got me to eat some street food. I thought the piece would be small enough not to worry about. Come around 10 pm my stomach was grumbling and I was heading off to the bathroom. Delhi Belly had hit and it was a long rough night. I took 6 Imodiums during the night and it still did nothing. For some reason I decided to come into work, the bathroom is only about 20 feet away and I can make a mad dash for it if necessary. This morning I opened up a ZPAC and it finally calmed things down around 4pm. I hope that episode is over with, but now I have a pain in my stomach.

My coworker driver chewed me out for eating that yesterday. He said all street food is full of infections. If I would have known to start off with and not afterwards, I would not have touched it. My fault for not asking enough questions.

I only have two free weekends left. This weekend and one in November. I will see how I feel if I will be heading out or not. I was invited out to see an old fort that was once one of the 7 cities of Delhi. I will try to make that.

I have everything set up for my Pushkar trip. That starts on Halloween. I think Halloween is one of the few days they have never heard of here. I don’t think the Hindu religion has a devil. Just many gods.

I also bought my plane tickets for Kerala and booked my first two nights. Now I have to figure out where else to go and what to see and try to keep the price down. I waited 2 days to buy the tickets and it cost me an extra 2,500 rupees.

I am down to 33 days left here. Time is marching on.

The US operations team is in India this week. As a result of them being here I have had the chance to go out to eat at a few different places. Tuesday we had lunch at a hotel and the food was a Mexican theme, Taco Tuesday. Mexican is pretty close with Indian cuisine to start off with, so it was not that much of a change. I know I must be getting use to the food though, as I had no issues with it and the guy sitting next to me was sweating away from the spiciness.

This happened again for snacks that night. One of the local coworkers was complaining about the heat of the green chilies in one of the snacks. I had no issues first eating it. They were all amazed. Then the chilies kicked in about 5 minutes later. My mouth was on fire. I was off to get a Coke to help cool down my mouth.

Last night we went to a 5 star hotel of hors derves and dinner. We started off on the rooftop which overlooked the Humuyan Tomb. It was a great view. I sat down with a couple guys that have been working in Nigeria for there last assignment. They have a temporary finance opening there and were trying to convince me to go to Nigeria for 3-6 months. I politely said no to that one.

The food at the hotel was westernized, but very good. It was non spicy. Today I feel like I am getting some of my energy back. All it took was some good quality food instead of rice and curry for every meal. My cold is still hanging on though.

The air quality has also become much worse. Smog has rolled in. The coworkers say it is from the crackers from last week. My eyes feel gritty and when I blow my nose it is now black. That has to be good for my health.

The temperatures have cooled off too. Winter is here! It is a high of 90 and a low of 60 right now. The only problem is the mosquitoes are hatching and they are everywhere.

Sunday night turned out to be another cracker filled night. It definitely did not compare to Saturday night, but there were still a few boomers in the mix.

Today is another festival day, a brother sister day. The sister gives the brother a teeka, the red ink dot on the forehead and adds some rice and oil to it, and the brother gives the sister an expensive gift.

From a Yahoo article: “It's the traditional bond of brother-sister love. Bhai dooj was celebrated across India today. Known by different names in various parts of the country, Bhai dooj is celebrated on the second day after the new-moon (Amavasya), or Diwali day. This day is also the third day of the Kartik month, according to the Hindu calendar.
Though Bhai dooj is a traditionally a brother's pledge to 'protect' his sister while she prays for his long life, there are several legends on the origins of this celebration.
The most common legend is the one of Yamraj's (the God of death) visit to his sister Yami. Yami applied a special tilak on his forehead. Yamraj became so happy that he announced a tilak applied by a sister to her brother, would make the brother immortal.
Another legend is based on Lord Krishna. After killing the devil Narkasur, Lord Krishna paid a visit to his sister Subhadra on the second day after the new-moon day, or the dooj day. Subhadra greeted her heroic brother by applying a tilak on his forehead. Since then, Subhadra's acknowledgment and gratitude for the heroic brother has been celebrated as Bhai dooj.
The tradition of the teeka: The teeka which a sister applies on her brother's forehead symbolises respect and faith in his ability to be the protector. Through the teeka, the sister prays for her brother's good health and long life. The unbroken rice grains used in the teeka represent inner peace and commitment. The teeka is also contains vermilion, sandal paste, roli or kumkum (red turmeric).

Different names:
Bhai phota among Bengalis:
Among Bengalis, the sister fasts till the ritual is complete. The composition of the tilak differs slightly among Bengalis—it is ghee, sandalwood (chandan) paste and kaajal. The elder of the brother and sister blesses the younger one with rice and durba, a type of grass. Brothers and sisters then feed each other sweets.
Bhav Bij / Bhaubeej among Marathis:
Bhai dooj is popularly known as Bhav Bij or Bhaubeej in Maharashtra and Goa. The highlight of this celebration is the delicious Basundi Poori or Shrikhand Poori.
Bihar's unique Bhai Dooj:
This may sound incredible, but in Bihar the celebration begins with sisters actually cursing their brothers. They then ask for forgiveness and are blessed by their brothers. A few grains of bajri with water are served to brothers before sweets are served.
Yamadwitheya:
In some parts of North India, Bhai dooj is known as Yamadwitheya, associated with the popular legend of Yamraj, the God of death.”




Here is an email that someone sent to me. I get most of them now.
You know you are in Delhi
When you have honed your negotiation skills over the years by never ending haggling with the autowallahs and rickshawallahs over amount as minuscule as 1 rupee.
When you know more about your neighbors rather than your own family. And you see that your neighbors remember your aunt’s son-in-law’s birthday.
When bus passes and Metro cards become a currency.
When community buying becomes the norm and vegetable seller takes the place of the chaupal where ladies gathers to share gossip.
When U special buses are followed by bikes. And cars.
When any one wearing a skirt is stared at by everyone. Even the person wearing the skirt starts staring himself/herself.
When autowallahs simply refuse to go by meter. And they dare you to do anything about it.
When people drive as if the road is their personal property and they can do anything they want to on those roads. And they mean it.
When you have to bribe for any small government work. And to even pee.
When everyone knows someone big and throws attitude because they know someone.
When you spot a chole kulche bicycle in every nook and corner of the city.
When hanging from DTCs buses becomes a norm and your day feels incomplete without it.
When you use a student bus pass even after you have graduated from college 5 years ago. And you are ready to go any lengths to get it renewed.
When you boast of awesome infrastructure the city has all the while screaming profanities at Sheila Dikshit and Congress govt.
When spotting a celebrity adds to your coolness factor. And you weave stories around it and repeat them at every speaking opportunity.
When you buy and sell books at Nai Sarak and hope to spot girls doing the same thing, strike a conversation and leave as a couple.
When giving seats to old women and kids in Delhi Metro becomes a fashion statement. And then curtly asking them to hold your bags, suitcases etc.
When sealing and policing takes a new meaning altogether. Shops are sealed, de-sealed and sealed again.
When there is some sort of strike, procession, movement is being staged at Jantar Mantar and you start assuming that it was build to host these rather than tell time.
I love Delhi and there is no city like Delhi. The tone might sound derogatory but trust me its not meant to be like that.

May the glow of earthen lamp fill your life with peace, joy and prosperity. Happy Deepawali. Another way it spelled and pronounced.

Last night between 7-12:30 it sounded like a war was going on. The sky was lit up with fireworks and the sounds of firecrackers. There is no such law as size of the firecracker.

I talked to the guys at the receptionist desk and they said they were planning to shoot off some crackers around 11. I went down around 10:50 to go outside and watch the crackers going off behind our building. Just from the residents at 5 apartment buildings, it was the site of a small cities firework display on the 4th of July. However this went on for 5 hours straight.

As I am watching outside I hear an excuse me sir. It was one of the receptionist guys and he asked me if I wanted to go buy some crackers with him. I said sure. Then found out I would be riding on the back of his motorcycle. I had my first motorcycle ride as the crackers were going off everywhere. We get to a display. I bought some rockets for 150 ruppees, the receptionist said too much, but that is all there was left. We ride back to the apartment.

It was about 11:15 now and the noise outside is deafening. It sounded like a war. The receptionist has me light the first of everything. First was a mini bullet. That was about 5 fire crackers put together. Then the mega bullet which was about 3 times the size of the mini bullet. IT packed a punch. Then we let out a couple of rockets, they just went up in the air a 150 feet but did not do anything else. Then another guy came with a bag of other goodies. I will now call this the dynamite bag. The first thing he lit off was about a 2X2 inch square thing that was wrapped in straw with a wick. He lit that thing and 5 seconds later my ears were ringing.

Then they had me light one of these dynamite sticks. The wind started to pick up. First match went out. Second match I had close to the wick and went out. Third time has to work, but once again it went out. I should have known something was telling me not to light this thing. 4th match I am hover over this stick of dynamite to block the wind. The wick catches, but the wick is like paper and within a half a second it is done. My life flashed before me in that half a second. I couldn’t even get the word “Oh, shit” out in time. With my catlike reflexes I got about a foot away from it before it went off. My right ear is ringing like never before. I don’t feel any pain so I say a little thank you to god. I look around and the hair on my right arm is half fringed off. I feel my face and my right eyebrow, eyelid and right side of the beard are fringed. Once again, something looked after me on this. My hand definitely could have been blown off with that one or even worse. I was done lighting things after that.

Another guy lights another dynamite stick on the grass and it put a 1 foot by 3 inch crater in the ground.

After that I just watched for a little bit. It was 12:30 before I knew it and things were quieting down. I went inside and took a couple pics with the guys around the decorations on the floor. They were all excited that I joined them for this festivity. One even invited me to his siter’s wedding on 11/4, but I will be on a trip then.

This morning I woke up around 6 to the sounds of crackers again. I fell back to sleep and got up around 9. I look outside to where the kids usually play soccer and where most of the crackers were let off. It looks like a war zone. No one cleans up after themselves and there were burn marks all over the grass. 5 hours of lighting crackers does some damage.

My right ear is still not 100% but no major issues yet. The hair will grow back.

Various October Pics

THe bad spirits of Dushera. This three guys were lit on fire and were full of firecrackers. Each one burned and blew up as the crowd cheered.
Temple in Delhi that I caught driving by.
THis little girl was doing acrobatics in the middle of the road for change. The sign is for the Commonwealth Games that will be in Delhi next October. I still haven't taken a ride on a rickshaw yet.
Safety conscious cooter drivers. The lady rides with only one hand on the thigh of the driver. No helmet is needed.

Diwali pics from Cabana

Setting up for a party and apartment lights
Apartment lights
Candle decorations at the front door of Cabana. It took them 4 hours to set this up. They will light the candles on Saturday night.

I am down to my final 6 weeks. Yesterday gifts were handed out to everyone for Diwali – a box of dried fruits and nuts. I now have healthy snacks for the weekend. I also know what the song by cab driver plays over and over again on his cassette player, it is about Diwali. I couldn’t figure out what the word was before that they kept on repeating.

I was invited out to eat last night with the Operations group to a local restaurant. The restaurant is about 20 blocks away but took 45 minutes to get there. Traffic is a mess with everyone out shopping for Diwali. People ordered for me, it was family style. I had mutton, chicken, rice, dal, and naan. It was a one spicy dish after another. The rice was the worst of all though. My lips were burning for an hour afterwards. Plus there was no silverware so it was only eating with your hands and naan. The curry for the mutton was like a spicy sloppy joe mixture. It was fun to eat with my hands. I made a mess using several napkins. Also I had a runny nose, watery eyes, and my forehead was beginning to sweat. At least the coworkers got a good laugh out of it. It cleared out my sinuses though.

When I got home for there was a big part outside for an early Diwali party. Fireworks went off from 10:30 to 11:15 with no breaks. If this is for a small neighborhood pre party, Saturday is going to be a long and sleepless night.

Today’s holiday is called Dhanteras. Everyone is supposed to go out and buy metal objects for good luck. For the rich this means gold and silver. For everyone else it is metal household utensils. Today is supposed to be the biggest shopping day of the year. From the morning newspaper article, Dhanteras is celebrated with gusto and Enthusiasm. “Lakshmi Puja” is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of clay are lit to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. Dhajans – devotional songs – in praise of Goddess Laxmi are sung and Naivedya of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess. There is a peculiar custom in Maharashtra to lightly pound dry coriander seeds with jaggery and offer as Naivedya. In villages, cattle are adorned and worshiped by farmers as they form the main source of their income. In south India, cows are offered particularly special veneration because they are though of as incarnations of the Goddess Lakshmi.

Another part of Dawali is the cleaning of your house to appease one of the gods for good luck and prosperity. It is basically spring cleaning in the fall. From what I hear from some people it is the only time during the year that the house gets cleaned.

I was reading a summary of a book and it said Hindu’s have over 380 million gods. I also saw a man with a full design of the dot on his head. This was a unique design that covered his entire forehead with yellow and red. The coworkers said he was from Southern India and that is how they show they have recently honored a god.

I feel like I have returned from the dead. Friday I completely ran out of energy. Over the weekend I just stayed at the apartment and took it easy. I still have the head cold, but am feeling slightly better.

Some of the coworkers told me not to go out the next two weekends anyways for safety reasons. This Saturday is Diwali, the festival of lights, the biggest holiday for the Hindu’s. It is like Christmas in that people exchange gifts and lights are hung from most buildings. They also light candles and shoot fireworks all night long. I will have to get the ear plugs out. The safety reason that I was mentioning is a few terrorist groups like to strike this time of year since most people are out in the markets shopping for gifts. I have not heard of any bombings yet this year, but last year there were a number of them.

I ended up going to the Expat Group meeting this morning. Once again it was a 1.5 hour car ride, but without air conditioning this time. I truly got to hear the sounds and the smell the air, I mean smog, with the windows down on the car. This time I was the only guy with about 50 women, most were in the 50 year old age range. They are all road warriors following their husbands around from country to country. The group I was speaking with had lived in various third world countries following their husbands. From their experience Delhi by far has been the biggest adjustment because of the hygiene and the very little value that life has. I also met a couple people that are coming on the Pushkar trip at the end of this month. One lady is my age from Italy and the other 5 are in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. It will make for an interesting trip especially with all the walking we are supposed to do.

I signed up for a 7 day trip to Pushkar, 3 days in Pushkar, 2 in Jodpur, and 3 in Jaiselmaire. I was hoping to take one more stop in Udaipur, but that would have taken another 3-4 days and 2 more days away from work. I will have to skip out on that one. It is know as the most romantic city in India. It has a couple of palaces on a lake and one of only a few 7 star hotels in the world.

I am also working on my trip to Kerala, trying to hit the beach towns and the backwaters. Since November is now peak season, the hotel costs have now doubled from when I originally booked. Plus they charge an individual the same price as dual occupancy. That trip is adding up fast.

Then the dollar has tanked in the last week. I was supposed to exchange $200 last Thursday and get 9,700 rupees. However the forex guy never showed up. I then waited until Tuesday and only received 9,200 rupees for the same $200. That was a shock.

ANother interesting thing I saw yesterday was a rikshaw driver drove where a police officer did not want him to drive. THe police officer started yelling at him and then slapped him right across the face. The rikshaw driver just kept on driving.

I saw another slapping incident a couple weeks ago at the Lodi Garden. A guy started yelling at another guy and walked up to him and slapped him. It echoed it was such a loud slap to the face. Then he continued to yell at him. I don;t know what he was saying, but the other guy did not fight back at all.

The ladies told me the moon came up at 7:45 last night. They were happy it was up so early and were able to end the fast. There is another fasting holiday next week for the long life of their children.

On Tuesday I attended the 13 Day Ceremony for the deceased that I attended the cremation for. The ceremony involved the priest working directly with the daughters of the deceased saying prayers and mixing different herbs and plants. The only thing I recognized was a banana. This lasted about an hour. Then the priest walked around and splashed us all with water that he dipped in a bowl with a flower. This was the final cleansing of the ceremony. We were then given lunch and were on our way. I believe this is the last ceremony for the deceased.

Later in the day my manager was telling me that when a widow loses her husband she then only eats vegetarian. Apparently eating non veg creates heat in the body which leads to sexual desires. A widow has no use for that.

Also this week I attended my first movie at the theater. It was an American movie by Quentin Tarintino. It had a Brad Pitt in it and was about killing Hitler. There are a few theater differences. Once again I had to go through a metal detector and a pat down. The movie was only $2. Popcorn and pop were about $1 each. The seats were assigned. Finally mid way through the movie there was an intermission to get snacks.

Married women of America, be happy you are not Hindu today. Today is a day in which the wife will fast from sun up to sun down without eating or drinking water in order to please the gods and wish long life to their husband. The office was about half empty today. The few married women that were in were dressed very nicely and had henna tattoos on their hands with matching bangals to their outfits. When the moon rises they are able to eat once again. Apparently the moon isn't suppose to rise until 11pm tonight. It will be a long day for them. See Pics below.

Rakhi's hands.
Vibhuti and Rakhi.
Vibhuti from facilities and Rakhi from Business Inteligence.

Amritsar Weekend Journey

Last weekend’s adventure started with a 6 hour drive to Chandigarh. Nandan and his older brother took me on the adventure. There seems to be a temple off the highway every 0.5-1 miles. We stopped for breakfast about 4 hours into the drive which consisted of dal and paranthas. Parantha is like a quesadilla but made fresh to order. It is used to scoop up the dal.

We arrived in Chandigarh and it is the cleanest town I have seen here. All the streets were wide and had trees on the sides. The town was engineered by a Frenchman and uses the block system. We ended up at Nandan’s uncles house. I was treated like family. The Indian’s have a custom to treat all guests like gods. I was always served first and treated very well. We picked up one of his cousins and headed north about 40 km to the timber trail. This 24 mile drive took 1.5 hours and was on a windy road. It had a great view as the hills started in this location. We arrive at the timber trail which is a cable car ride up to a top off one of the hills where there is a park and restaurant. The cable car ride had great views and 1 kid that screamed and cried the entire way. We get to the top of the hill and start to walk around. They had a small area with a couple rides. Three of the 4 of us went on one ride that spun is around and had you dangle off the side of the mountain. Then we headed off to lunch at the restaurant on the mountain. It had great views and I tried all new food again. I did not take any pics of the food on the entire trip though. The menus were interesting as they were in either Punjabi, Hindu or English.

On the way back the cousin was taking about 3 things that would fulfill the dream life of every Punjabi, the state they live in. First was the Golden Temple, which I saw on Satruday. The next was to own a bullet, a scooter, and the third was to live or visit of all places Canada. I told them that I was living the dream then. My parents own a scooter, I have been to Canada a few times, and I was going to see the Golden Temple. I was then honored with the name of Jason Singh.

We then went to the Rock Garden in Chandigarh. It was made by an eccentric artist in the 1950’s by creating a park by using only recycled materials. He created little statues of people all over the park and a few waterfalls. It is in the Guinness Book of World Records for all the statues in the place.

It was dark by the time we left the Rock Garden and we headed to my hotel room to check in. It was 900 rupees or $18 a night for a double room with a good ac. I stayed there by myself as the others stayed at the unless house.

We then went to the uncles house for dinner. It was a big spread or different vegetarian foods. I liked every thing but the curd, to me it tastes like rancid milk. Plus they specially did not make anything spicy for me. It was like an all you can eat buffet. As soon as I took a scoop of something, the aunt would fill up my plate again. I ate more in the three meals than I usually do in 2-3 days. I would pay the price of a bad stomach ache on Saturday. This region also uses a lot of butter and ghee, which makes the food very heavy.

Around 10 they drove me back to the hotel and I was fast to bed.

We left about 7 the next morning for another 6 hour drive up to Amritsar. We stopped after about 3 hours for breakfast and had paranthas and dal. This area was more known for farming. It was mile after mile of sugar cane. The area had many rivers and swamp areas. It was green and clean until we got to Amritsar. A storm rolled in at the same time and it was a 5 minute sand storm followed by a 30 minute rain. I was happy as the temps cooled off a little.

We then headed to another family members house which was in an exclusive area of town. I again was treated to snacks and drinks. We picked up a different cousin and headed to the Golden Temple. The roads in Amritsar are very narrow and crowded, but it only took about 15 minutes to get there. Once there I was told to take my shoes off at the car and walk the way barefoot. First we passed the dining area where anyone can sit down and get a free meal. The we walked down a walkway to the gate. This walkway consisted of a water way of about 3 feet that you walk through to cleanse your feet before entering. At this same point I was told that anyone that enters must cover their heads. Nandan wrapped a bandana around my head. It is the Sikh custom to not to show their head to the sky. All Sikh men must follow 5 rules 1. Always wear a turban, 2. Have a beard, 3. Always carry a knife or sword with them, 4. Wear special underwear and the 5th was something that I did not understand. The Sikh are know as the protectors of India and are highly respected. Then as we continued to walk the gold of the Golden Palace stood out. The second thing I noticed were men in just their underwear were in the waters taking a bath. The water is considered holy as is this is the holiest Sikh place in the world.

We continue to walk around and I continue to take pictures. The reflection off the water followed me around and looks great in the pics. We decided to wait in line to go inside the Golden Temple. As this was one of their bigger religious holidays, there were many people their. We waited in line about 1.5 hours to see the temple. I noticed in line many people were carry a bowl with a leaf over it. Nandan said this was to cover the water that they were carrying around. I was not allowed to take any pictures in or around the temple itself. It was beautiful though. The parts not covered in cold were inlayed marble with flower designs. Inside were 3 people playing songs that echoed through the entire complex and people bowing to the ground and praying. As we left it said to scoop up a handful of water to drink. I noticed people scooping up water and washing it over their hair. I followed as I could use some devine intervention.

By the time we went through it was already 3 and we wanted to be at the Pakistan border by 5. We headed back to the family house for what I thought would be a quick lunch, but it lasted a good hour and was another heavy meal. At this point it felt like everything from yesterday was still settling and my stomach was hard as a rock. After the hour drive to the Waga Border, we begun a 1km walk to the site. With this being a festive weekend, there were about 20,000 people there and we were too late to be able to get a seat or a good view. We walked around to try to find a spot but no luck. I held the camera as high as I could to get a few pics, there is a Pakistan flag in one pic. We ended up on an outer border that had no view. It was right next to what the guys called no man’s land. The actual territory border. I stuck my hand through a couple inches just to say I touched the Pakistan border. At this point in was 100 degrees, 100% humidity and my stomach was not cooperating. I began to sweat and could not stop. They guys were getting worried and we left early since there was nothing to see anyways. However we could hear as the Indian people were yelling out battle cries to Pakistan and they were yelling back. Then there was a one man how long can you yell contest with Pakistan. That got the crowd all riled up. We decided to walk back and our car was blocked in. What do we do? We picked up the other car and dragged it out of the way. Only in India with all the sand and a small car can you get away with this.

We headed back. I was not feeling well so I told the guys to drop me off at the hotel and I would skip supper. It was already 7 anyways. This time I spent 1200 or $24 for a room. The room was slightly nicer, but it was against a main road and I fell asleep to the honking of the traffic.

We left about 7 the next morning. The guys told me that the supper was the heaviest meal yet. I am glad I skipped out. Who would think the vegetarian would be so heavy. It is all breads and gravy type dishes though.

IT was a long journey back. We stopped at one more family members house for an hour. I got back to my place around 9 at night. I don’t think I have ever been in a car for so long over a 3 day period without any night driving at all. It is dangerous enough driving during the day, I would not want to drive at night.

It was my favorite trip yet. Just seeing the family dynamics and the way I was treated was the highlight of the trip for me. There are little things like when Nandan and his brother would great his elder family members they would touch the feet of the elder family members. I got away with shaking their hands.

Side view with surrounding buildings
Water is considered holy for the Sikh faith. Man just getting out from taking a bath.
Wagha border - border with Pakistan. About 20,000 people there to see the daily closing of the India - Pakistan border.
Barbed wire . This area is considered "no mans land". It is the border of Pakistan and India. I stuck my hand through the fence and was not shot. I was lucky.

View from cable car about 40 km north of Chandigarh.
Waterfall from world famous Rock Garden in Chandigarh.
Golden Tempel in Amritsar.
Golden Temple.

AMritsar Weekend Recap

Quick recap of the 3 day weekend. 1400 km, 28 hours sitting in a car, was a vegetarian for the weekend, all new food and it was very heavy, great sites, and great memories. Left at 4:30 am on Friday and got back at 9pm on Sunday. Will write more later. Here are a few of the better pics.

I finally escalped from work at about 9:30 tonight. My latest night yet. Now I have to pack for my 3 day weekend trip to Amritsar. The journey begins at around 5am tomorrow to miss some of the traffic. We are also going to see the closing ceremonies of the Pakistan Indian border. Hopefully I will make it back. Until then.