Hey there followers. You may remember that Day 1 in Amritsar wasn’t the best, but I had planned a full agenda for Day 2, so if nothing else, I was pretty sure that I would at least be occupied.
Around 9:30 AM I went out to see if it would be possible to get a simple breakfast at the “sort of air-conditioned” place I had visited the day before. They were closed, so I figured that I may as well try a nearby random spot called Marwari Dhaba. It was a fairly decent breakfast, if not what I would normally have eaten.
I forgot to note down the cost, but it was negligible. From there it was a short walk back to the hotel, where I was met by my guide for the GetYourGuide Amritsar: Small Group Sightseeing Tour with Wagah Border which had a cost of 3794 INR ($39.50 USD) per person which includes all transport, entry fees and guidance, but does not include lunch. Incidentally, you can easily see pretty much all of these places on your own without too much fuss, but I thought that I might have a bit more appreciation and less confusion by doing it with a guide. As most of the places were nearby, our guide Vinayak and I started out walking from the hotel at 10:36 AM and were already at the Statue of Faces at 10:45 AM.
This is some controversy attached to this statue and to the nearby exact site of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. According to the British, “only” 379 were killed when British soldiers opened fire on a group of unarmed people in a walled park. Indian estimates put the number at between 1000 and 1500. There is also some controversy about whether or not the people in the park were willfully peacefully protesting or simply having picnics associated with a local festival. Regardless, there is general acknowledgement that the people in the park were unarmed and that they were given no opportunity to disperse. In summary, it was horrible.
The park where the massacre took place is quite large, but I didn’t take many pictures. While many domestic tourists were taking selfies etc . . . I just felt it was too insensitive. One particularly horrible thing was a large well that people had jumped into in order to escape the shooting. Just from there alone, at least 120 bodies were later recovered.
Around 11:40 AM we left the park and went over towards the Sikh Golden Temple. Interestingly, right near the entrance of the Sikh temple, there is also a Hindu and a Jain temple.
This probably goes without saying, especially if you read about Day 1, but it was insanely hot and quite humid as well. I am sure that visiting here is incredibly meaningful for a Sikh, but as a casual tourist, especially with the heat and humidity, it was all a bit overwhelming. However, I have to say that they have the whole system down to a rather exact science. Furthermore, I was impressed by the lack of any obvious donation boxes or attempts to get money out of visitors. So, while rather physically uncomfortable with a lot of sensory overload, this is a very well-run site. This became even more clear when we visited what for me was probably the most impressive part of the temple, the massive public food kitchen.
This free to the public kitchen serves an average of 85,000 meals a day, going up to as many as 200,000 on major festivals. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is always free to anyone regardless of religion or background. The meals it serves are fully vegetarian, but visitors can eat as much as they like. Despite the massive industrial level food preparations, the food looked good, but I didn’t try any.
Finishing at the temple at 12:44 PM, we then went over to the partition museum where we arrived at about 1:00 PM. The guide did not enter with us, but he definitely wasn’t needed. One big plus of the museum was that it had a good air-conditioning system. Of course the totally expected negative was that it was terrible to get so many gruesome details of the India-Pakistan partition. Once more I felt it was inappropriate to take pictures (I think they may have even been prohibited), but I felt that the museum was very well-done. I vaguely already understood that partition had been bad, and I certainly could have read detailed accounts in a book, but the museum really made it real. As is normally the case with museums, I could have spent much more time there, but at 2:00 PM I walked out of the museum to be picked up again by the guide.
We got in what appeared to be a brand new, comfortable SUV at 2:09 PM and went to our recommended lunch spot, where we arrived at 2:22 PM.
The Yellow Chili in Amritsar has a nice ambiance and decent food, but it is also fair to say that it is probably overpriced at 1000 INR (about $10 USD) minimum per person. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the food, and I also appreciated the comfortable dining space, but I could definitely have found the same level of food for significantly less. Do I regret eating there? No. But if you are trying to economize, you can definitely skip this restaurant.
At 3:30 PM we were back in the car, headed to the border where we arrived at 4:00 PM. This is where arranging things ahead of time with a tour agent really made a difference. Whereas at least a couple thousand people were waiting in twisting lines to get far away stadium seating, just about five minutes after arriving, I was in the VIP section waiting for things to get started.
Incidentally, whereas the VIP section has a much better/closer view of the border, with more comfortable seats, the general public section seems to be a bit more fun. For Indian nationals, I would recommend skipping the VIP section, as the nationalist carnival atmosphere is much stronger in the other areas. While not strictly limited to the VIP section, be wary of the drink and ice-cream hawkers selling items for two to five more times the cost than what you would pay outside. A common complaint in the VIP section is they make you think it is just included in the seating, but then they come around charging you the exorbitant rates. Still, it was a minor inconvenience and it is easily avoided. Around 4:40 PM they started with the cheerleading and women running with the flag.
Then at 5:15 PM, the military pageantry started, continuing until the culmination of the lowered flag at 6:15 PM. The pictures really don’t to it justice. Certainly for Indian visitors, I would say that this is a must-do activity if in the region. For foreigners, it could perhaps be skipped, but it was still something which I definitely had not seen before.
Our guide had asked us to rush out to the agreed upon meeting place the moment the flag came down, because he said that not doing so would mean we would likely get caught in a minimum two-hour traffic jam. So, after some rather daring speed-walking, I was back with the tour group at 6:15 PM and we were on our way, arriving back to the center of Amritsar at 7:10 PM. There had only been two of us on the tour, so it had been more like a private tour and it had been all day. So we decided between the two of us to give the guide a 1000 INR tip and the driver a 300 INR tip. One never knows how much they actually get from the tour fees, and they really had done a good job of shuttling us around, sharing interesting tidbits, and ensuring that we were able to comfortably fit a large number of local attractions into a limited amount of time.
Remembering how I had been pleased with the food on Day 1, I went back to Prem Nath Kulche Wale for dinner.
I could see myself getting tired of it were I to eat this way all the time, but for a couple of days, the all flatbread all the time diet was an interesting and certainly satisfying option. And with that, I had hit all of the main Amritsar highlights and was back to the hotel by 8:30 PM.
What do you think? Was it better than Day 1? Despite the heat (at least in September) would you be interested in visiting? Please leave your comments and questions below, and I will make sure to get back to you as soon as possible.
