A bit low on energy this week after a pretty intense weekend. One of my oldest and best friends, mAD Max Andersson, came down to India on a short visit. He arrived on Thursday morning and I took him straight out of his Swedish comfort zone by bringing him into the Old Delhi meltingpot where we took a short cycle rickshaw ride to the Jama Masjid area and had lunch at Karim’s (the famous Mogul diner that I previously have written about here).
After some sightseeing from the backseat of our dedicated driver, Mr. Johny, we checked into the Imperial Hotel for some afternoon cocktails in the garden atrium. After building a decent appetite over a few well-chilled G&Ts, we got back into the waiting car and headed up to the QBA restaurant at Connought Place for some deserts and ambiance of Delhi city centre.
Later on Thursday we went out into the Delhi night and made our mark at several of the cities establishments: Gymkhana Club, Urban Pint and the Roxbry.
On Friday I took Max to Khan Market, which is the most exclusive marketplace in the Delhi and sports some of the most expensive square feet prices in India (more than 3x the sqrm price at Stockholm’s premier shopping street Biblioteksgatan).
On the way back to Green Park and our preparations for our flight up to Amritsar, we had time to stop by the Oberoi hotel for some well deserved rejuvenating, relaxing and pampering of our day-after minds and bodies. Now we were ready to gear up and get ready for some serious 24h-sightseeing in Amritsar!
For the trip to Amritsar we met up with Moa (my colleague) and Sofia (H&M) who joined in for the fun. So the four of us sat of with “ammunition in our eyes” as someone so eloquently put it… Arriving in Amritsar an hour late (one hour flight from Delhi) we checked into the hotel and went straight to bed since we were supposed to be at the Golden Temple by 4.15am to see the “awakening of the book” and the spiritual sunrise over the gold coated temple.
Said and done, we followed the flow of the crowed to the temple where we sat down and listened to the prayers that are sung and broadcasted over the entire temple area 24/7. It’s a very particular experience to sit there in the break of dawn and listen to the hypnotic chanting and to see all of the Sikhs deep in prayer all around you, its a very strong experience indeed.
Later on, we went to the Jallianwala Bagh garden where the infamous massacre of 1919 took place. The massacre was a direct response to the growing discontent of the British rule. The demonstrations were organised in large part by Gandhi and his followers as an answer to the passing of the Rowlatt act, a law that ‘indefinitely extended emergency measures’ to control public unrest and root out conspiracy, effectively giving the British the rights to apprehend and imprisonate anyone up to two years without a fair trial.
Later on in the afternoon we sat of towards the main attraction of the trip – the closing of the border crossing between India and Pakistan. The Wagah Boarder is the only road crossing between India and Pakistan, and every evening since 1959 there is a closing ceremony when the respective flags are lowered and the gates are closed for the day. It has now turned into a well orchestrated public spectacle, even though there is still a degree of seriousness due to the chilly relationships between Lahore and Delhi.
I’m very happy that we made it up to the ceremony and that we got to witness the surreal atmosphere you can only find when two nuclear nations are jointly exhibiting their nationalism. To give the whole thing just a bit more spice, you also know that they are pretty serious about their disagreements up in Kashmir which makes this showcase just even more out of place…
With an ice cream in my hand and Punjabi music from the speakers we took our cab back to Amritsar and onwards to the airport only to find that our flight was delayed (so much for the Delhi Nightlife 2.0!). We finally made it back to Delhi well after midnight and by then all of us where ready to get some rest. Amritsar was a great experience and something that I would highly recommend to anyone who comes to India.
Sorry for the extended post this time but I felt that it was needed to give some more light on the things we saw and did during Max’s stay and the trip to Amritsar.
Now I’ll relieve you with the much awaited pics. And thanks for reading!
Tips från Coachen 