Last few days in India

Our next couple of days in Varanasi were uneventful and we spent most of the time wandering along the ghats. There were lots of hawkers along the ghats, including a man who tried to sell us a parrot in a tiny cage so that we could release and get good karma. It was probably trained to return to him. I also got a massage. The masseur told me 10 rupees for a shoulder massage, of course he kept going and it was impossible to get away, before I knew it I was pinned to the ground getting a back massage. I did eventually get away at which point he demanded 50 rupees, we laughed and gave him 20. Another thing we did was go on a row boat along the Ganges at 6 am to see the sunrise.

We left Varanasi early in the morning and went to Lucknow on the train. We had mutton kebab at a very famous restaurant and saw the Residency, where the siege of Lucknow took place in 1857. The ruins were in a nice park and it was a relaxing place to be.

We left Lucknow that same afternoon and took a sleeper train to Rishikesh. Rishikesh is in the Himalayan foothills and is the global yoga capital. I was sick the whole time so I mostly stayed in bed, but the hills were lovely even though the whole town stunk of incense. There was also a pedestrian suspension bridge but everybody with a motorbike just drove across really fast honking their horns to warn you to get out of their way, it was really obnoxious.

From Rishikesh we took a sleeper train to Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple.

The Golden Temple is the holiest place for Sikhs and attracts huge numbers of pilgrims from around the globe. The Temple itself is not very big. You could just about fit a basketball court inside. It is in the middle of a holy pool with a bridge leading to it. The walkway surrounding the pool, and the substantial buildings around the walkway are made of marble, and combined with the gold on the temple, the effect is blinding. The entire upper half of the Temple is plated in pure gold. I read that the very small central dome alone has 750 kilos of gold! One feature in Sikh temples is the communal kitchen, where everyone sits together on the floor and are served a free meal by volunteers. The kitchens are not for feeding the poor but to bring people together, a man I met said he comes once a month. The kitchen at the Golden Temple can serve up to 100,000 people on weekends. We went on a weekend and the place was crammed, there were people chopping, washing, cooking and serving everywhere. Not only was it a good experience, but the food was delicious too! There were two very spicy curries and a sweet warm rice pudding with coconut.

The inside of the temple is very gold, even the ceiling fans! There was a group of men chanting, and the focal point of the whole thing was the original copy of the Sikh holy book, kept shrouded and guarded over by the head priest. It is a very beautiful place and is not to be missed.