Diwali

We finally figured out a way to get to Jaisalmer by train but the times of the tickets we booked were a little awkward. However we managed to change them at a train booking office near the Golden Temple.

Next we visited the Jallianwala Bagh. This is where the British opened fire on a crowd of Indians with no warning, killing about 400 and injuring a lot more. As we walked around the memorial gardens, the bullet holes are still evident in the walls and we visited the well where many people died as they fled from the bullets. Inside the monument were the ashes of the man who assassinated the general who gave the order to shoot. Outside was a statue of the same man to show him as a big hero.

After lunch, which was a speciality of the Punjab, we headed to the Golden Temple museum. It shows the history of Sikhism and there were many photos of battles and the Sikh gurus. What was interesting was to learn about the brutality of the battles and the tortures inflicted on the Sikhs. It really was horrible!

At 5 o'clock we had arranged a rendezvous with some people we had met in Kolkata. We chatted for a while before giving in our shoes, covering our heads and preparing to enter the Golden Temple.

Together we walked around admiring the temple from all angles. The lake was already lined with people lighting candles for the Diwali festival. Several people took photos of us and asked us where we were from. They asked us if we were enjoying being there and what our names were. We found a spot where we could sit and watch as it slowly got darker and darker. Darryl chatted to some Sikhs from London who had flown to India especially for the Diwali festival at the Golden Temple. They told him every detail of the Sikh religion and it was really interesting.

At about 6.30 the fireworks started. They were fired above the temple from the four surrounding gates. The show was spectacular with fireworks flying in all directions. We were pretty close to some! The atmosphere was electric. So many people, such a beautiful site. The whole experience was out of this world!

After the fantastic show ended we ate dinner in a quaint little restaurant. From here we could see and hear the Diwali festivities in full swing. Outside the noise of the fire crackers was so load and this is set to continue all through the night. If we want any sleep tonight it's definitely going to require earplugs!

Amritsar

An early start today, woken by the 5am alarm. The auto rickshaw driver was waiting to take us to the train station. There was very little traffic. In fact, we saw more joggers enjoying the cold morning than we did vehicles.

The train seat we had booked seemed to be double booked. An Indian man had been allocated the same seat us us from the wait list. A little confused but we stayed in the allocated seats. Eventually the ticket conductor helped resolve the situation.

"Sir / Madam you are in the wrong seats. You have been upgraded to first class."

So we moved to our new seats and enjoyed the comfy seats and tranquility of first class!

We arrived at Amritsar Junction station and started walking to find our hotel, which was about 3km away. En route we passed a Hindu temple which was set in the centre of a small lake, so we removed our shoes and had a look around.

After dropping off our bags at the hotel we headed in the direction of the Golden Temple. We covered our heads with small, orange Golden Temple scarves and gave our shoes in at the desk.

As we entered the main complex where the Golden Temple stands, we were both speechless. The area is beautifully lit for Diwali and the Golden Temple looked unbelievable! The atmosphere surrounding the lake where it stands was buzzing with people. We took lots of photos and joined the very long queue to go inside. Eventually we made it and the décor was exquisite. The marble was embossed like the Taj Mahal and very beautiful. The whole top of the temple is real gold! What an awesome sight and great place to spend Diwali.

We followed our visit to the temple with hot chocolate, a wonderful Indian meal and an ice cream. Zzzz.

On the buses

After breakfast we walked with our bags to the BCS bus stop. We caught our first bus of the day to the Old Bus Stop Shimla. Here we transferred to the next bus. This bus took us to the New Bus Stop,5km the other side of Shimla.

This is where we caught a big bus heading towards Chandigarh. It was faster than the toy train but the road was being improved, so there was plenty of roadworks. The views all the way down were magnificent. About 4 hours later we arrived at the Section 43 bus terminal in Chandigarh.

We casually walked across the bus park to the local buses. Waiting for us was the exact bus we needed towards our hotel, which was the other side of town. We must have been looking a little lost, as a couple of local lads offered their help. They said they knew where we needed to go and we should follow them. So we did.

They told us where to get off the bus and we followed them down a dark but busy street. After a while it appeared that they didn't exactly know the way. In fact one of the boys appeared to ask for directions in Hindi. We walked quite a way and we checked they were not going out of their way. They said not and kept leading the way ...

Eventually we got to the hotel and thanked them for their help. People are so lovely here. These young lads obviously went way out of their way to help us, just because they wanted to help! The funny thing is, they had no idea where they were going either!

The hotel is great in a nice quiet road. Just around the corner is all the hustle and bustle of India. We dropped off our bags and went walking. The streets were busy in preparation for Diwali which starts in a few days, there are lights everywhere! We found a friendly restaurant, however, no Indian food in sight. Tonight was pizza, 2 for 1 Monday!

Temple on Top

Our breakfast was ready! The call came through to our room telephone for us to attend the breakfast room.

This time we enjoyed an English breakfast with coffee. There was a friendly girl from South Korea staying too and she joined us for interesting conversation. Her English was excellent.

We caught the local bus up to the old bus stand. It was so busy. We were packed in pretty tight for the 10 minute ride. We asked about a bus for tomorrow and then headed up through the markets to The Ridge. This is a lovely pedestrian area overlooking both sides of the valley. We studied many old colonial buildings before viewing the beautiful Gaiety Theate where many people have been on stage including Michael Palin and Lord Robert Baden-Powell.

The sun was out this morning which meant everyone was out enjoying a Sunday stroll. The locals were playing Bingo and had small stalls selling homemade products. We viewed a couple of art exhibitions where we watched one artist painting beautiful portraits.

Next was a steep climb to the Hanuman temple on the highest hill in Shimla. There was a cable car to the top but we chose a 30 minute uphill trek to keep us warm. We had heard that the monkeys can be a little tricky, so were advised to carry sticks. At the top was a huge Hanuman statue and a small Hindu temple dedicated to the God. We watched the monkeys carefully as we walked around the beautiful gardens. On the way back down we saw the monkeys go to work. We saw one that had stolen a shoe. We Saw saw another steal a scarf from a lady. Next we saw one jump onto a man's shoulders and steal his glasses! We continued to watch and were surprised what happened next. The man minus his glasses went to a street seller and bought some nuts. He threw the nuts at the monkey holding his glasses who dropped the glasses, picked up the nuts and ran away. Apparently the monkeys have been trained to do this and it is a bit of a scam! The ladies who lost the shoe and scarf didn't pay up and didn't get them back!

The walk down was a lot quicker than going up. We then relaxed over coffee and chatted to two men from The New Forest. There seems to be a lot of Chinese food in Shimla, so that's what we had for dinner before catching the bus down to New Shimla and a short walk to the hotel.

Shimla

This morning was different. It rained a lot! This meant we had a much longer breakfast at our hotel.

The rain came to an end at lunchtime, so we headed on the local bus from New Shimla up the hill to the Mall. The mall is a pedestrianised street that runs for 7km. It is full of shops, restaurants and old colonial buildings. Sadly some of the old colonial buildings had seen better days. One is where apparently Rudyard Kipling started writing the Jungle Book.

The views are amazing in Shimla and we are up in the clouds. It is cold here so we both needed our wooly hats on. Christine's was made in South Africa by an expert and Darryl's was made by Christine!

A lot of the afternoon was spent drinking coffee and chatting, first to some friendly people from Ireland followed by 2 Indian teachers, who were so kind to us and super smiley!

A different meal tonight, Sweetcorn soup. Very healthy!

Up the Mountain on a Toy Train

Today we left Chandigarh behind. We took an Uber to Kalka which was about an hour away. Normally we wouldn't use taxis but local buses, however, for the convenience and fractional price difference the taxi won the day! The journey saved us hours and was very comfortable. There was only one delay where a bus had broken down in the middle of the road.

Kalka was a tiny station and we got dropped on the wrong side so had to clamber across a few train tracks to get to the right place. The train was a little larger and more robust than the toy train to Darjeeling. All of the carriages looked almost the same even though some were first class and others 3rd class.

The train left slightly late but the journey was amazing. We chugged along the narrow guage track through magnificent scenery of the valleys below. En route we travelled through 102 tunnels as the train climbed the mountains. It was a truly spectacular journey.

When we arrived at Shimla we walked to the old bus station where we caught a local bus to BCS bus stop. We then walked through the darkness to find our accommodation. We took a few steep stair cases to cut corners but got lost amongst the maze of alleyways. There were a couple of people sat in a car and we asked them for directions to where we were trying to get. Not quite sure but a phone call later and they were on to it. In fact they took us to the door which was so kind.

The street where we are staying is decorated beautifully for Diwali with pretty lights on all of the houses. This seems to be a very exclusive area and the people are so helpful. Our room is great and the house is also spectacular!

VR Mall

After a rather late start, we walked about 3km. En route we chatted to a number of locals and posed for several photos with them. In this area of Chandigarh foreigners must be a little rare.

We reached the main road where the VK Mall is located. This was no ordinary shopping centre. It was huge and contained lots of fancy stores. Big high street names such as Superdry, Marks & Spencers, H&M, Zara and Hamley's lined each level. To enter you had to walk through the x-ray machine and be checked by a security guard. We studied the prices in the shops and they were similar to the UK. All we bought was ... lunch!

On the way back we bought lots of fruit to eat. Paying was slightly more difficult than usual as no English was spoken. Money was held up and that is the amount we gave.