Hey there readers. I know it has been a few months since I last wrote. Yes, I have a lot to tell, but this time around I am going to once again try a more abbreviated format. Some of you will prefer this, and others won’t. Regardless, here it goes.
Getting right to it, from 12-15 September I took a short trip to Amritsar from Bengaluru. Those of you not from India will no doubt assume that these places are relatively close to one another, but you would be wrong. Just the flight itself was three hours.
Then, from the airport, it is about 13 km to the area around the Golden Temple, which is where most tourists, including me, decide to stay. Depending on traffic, this takes around 40 minutes. Coming in at 11:00 AM, it was easy to get an Ola (similar to Uber) for just 638 INR, which is around $6.70 USD. The biggest pain point of this whole maneuver was initially finding the car, as there is not a clearly delineated pickup point at the Amritsar airport. Furthermore, expect to have problems getting all the way to the hotel, as cars can’t go down many of the smaller roads near the temple. Still, with my handy Google maps, it was easy enough to walk the last 250 meters or so.
So, what were my first impressions before even getting to the hotel? I’m not gonna lie; they weren’t great. Certainly it didn’t feel dangerous, but it all seemed a bit run down. Also, it was crazy hot, so keep that in mind for September visits. Thinking that perhaps the driver had simply taken me along a less than picturesque route, at 1:18 PM I decided to go out walking to find a local place for a late lunch.
There had been a brief cloud burst while I had been in the hotel, and it was clear that the infrastructure just wasn’t up to handling the water. Still, it certainly ticked off the “authentic” box which many foreign tourists would hope to find. Just roaming down the alleys and narrow roads was quite difficult at times. There was no clear area to walk, and even with only motorcycles and autos, it was frequently a bit of a chore to get from one spot to another. Between unmarked dead ends, flooded streets, and a fortunately muzzled dog which still did its best to bite my leg, I had to turn around several times. All the while, the heat and the humidity remained oppressive.
Finally I arrived to JS Makhan Fish & Chicken. With 180 Google reviews and a 4.2 star rating, I had expected something a bit bigger. As far as I could tell, there was seating for maximum 8 in a small air-conditioned room and perhaps another 8 in a separate area which was open to the outside. Still, it had taken me 70 minutes to walk there, so I was not to be deterred. I had the Tawa fish and 3 kulcha.
I am happy to report that both the fish and the miniature kulchas were quite tasty. It was perhaps a tiny bit expensive by central Indian standards (650 INR), but definitely cheap for an international visitor (about $7.00 USD). Thus, while it was a bit of a challenge to get there, I think it is worth a try. Feeling a bit worn out, I stayed there longer than was strictly necessary, but finally decided to try to walk back at 3:15 PM.
Staying in the side lanes meant things were a bit more cramped, but it also meant that there was more shade. Furthermore, the temperature had also gone down a bit, even though it was certainly much hotter than I was used to in Bengaluru. Fairly close to my hotel, I decided to grab a Chai in this “sort of” air-conditioned spot: Coffee ‘n’ Teabar.
I forgot to write down the cost, but it wasn’t much, and the interior was decent despite still feeling a bit muggy. Heading out from there at 4:00 PM, I was pleased to see some sites which were a bit brighter, including a fancier entrance to my hotel!
Once back in the room at 4:20 PM, I discovered that even though the air-conditioning wasn’t working due to what I was soon to discover were frequent power outages, for the moment, the high-powered ceiling fan was enough. I recognized that part of my burgeoning irritability was due to being tired after a lot of travelling, so I decided to sleep for a bit. A couple of hours later (helpfully?), there was an insistent knock at the door to tell me the main power was back on, so despite being woken up, I was able to use the air-conditioning again. I had really intended to just sleep through the night, but realized that I definitely needed to get some more bottled water. As such, at 8:15 PM I resolved to get a light dinner at some nearby spot. The good news is that Google Maps definitely didn’t steer me wrong when it sent me to Prem Nath Kulche Wale.
The 350 INR bill for my two kulchas and a sweet lassi was money well-spent. It hadn’t been quite the “lite” meal which I had in mind, but it was definitely satisfying, and I resolved to make sure to return there at least once more during my trip. From the restaurant it was a quick walk back to my hotel room and straight to bed, as I had planned for day 2 of my trip to be the main time for me to see all the major sites.
So, it was perhaps off to a bit of a rocky start, but I was optimistic about what would come.
