A Train Journey to Amritsar

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December 24, 2010: A Train Journey to Amritsar

Sam Wrote:

Well, another early morning. Our tour colleague, Gurpreet, picked us up from the hotel at 6:15 am and drove us to the Delhi Railway Station. He slept on-route to the train station while we took in the early morning sights.

I was pleasantly shocked – New Delhi actually is a very pretty city. Wide bolevards, beautifully landscaped, amazing architecture. And the street names : Akbar Ave, Indira Gandhi Chowk, Connaught Place, etc. Early in the morning without all the automobile and pedestrian traffic, you actually get to appreciate the city. Another surprising fact, the City is spotless. There is no litter anywhere and the roads and sidewalks have been swept. I had heard from the locals that the sanitation crews completely clean the city overnight but frankly, I didn’t believe it. But it is true. Sadly, as we approached the Delhi Railway Station, the City was coming awake and you could already see the early commuters starting to litter and pollute.

The train station isn’t as impressive as I had imagined it though. We were efficiently processed and boarded the train in ample time. The train departed a few minutes
later than its scheduled departure time of 7:20 am. It was scheduled to arrive in Amritsar @ 1:35pm.

The train rambled on for about an hour while we kind of took it all in when it made an unscheduled stop in Karnal. I initially took this as an opportunity and get some local pictures but quickly realized that we were stuck here because the locomotive was having some mechanical issues. Our unscheduled stop in Karnal lasted over 90 minutes before we moved on again. I tried to ask the train staff for an update but they were not interested in discussing the issue. Finally, a local Punjabi man raveling with us told me that since we were already late, the Railway Authority will give priority to other rains travelling on the same track that were running on schedule. This was becoming a problem because not only were we schedule to visit the Indian – Pakistani border closing ceremony at 4:30pm, but more importantly, Tejas had started to feel ill. He had a slight fever and a total lack of energy.

After a long, tedious train journey, we finally arrived in Amritsar @ 5:30pm – fully four hours behind schedule. At the train station we were met by our city guide, Mukesh, who confirmed that our visit to the Whaga Border was definitely cancelled. He then took us to our hotel, The Rajni Svassa, an old colonial home turned it to a heritage hotel.
The hotel was very interesting. There we were advised that dinner would be served either in their restaurant where we could order of a menu or if we wished to eat a Punjabi Thali Dinner, it would be served on the terrace at 7:30pm. We opted for the thali dinner but the wait was unbearable since all of us except Tejas were famished. Although the train served all sorts of meals (part of our ticket) we had opted not to eat any of it. We are being typical foreign snobs.

The thali dinner was well worth the wait. Only my mom could cook better. The dal and the roasted eggplant were to die for. Matter of fact, Shivani had three helpings of the dal and rice, though she did not try the other curries. Well, her loss. I finished her eggplant. Meanwhile, Tejas had a bit of food but complained that he was very cold. We therefore decided that I alone would go visit the Golden Temple. Yamini would take the kids to the room and call it an early night.

I connected again with Mukesh, the guide and we drove the 6 km journey to the Golden Temple. When I got inside the complex, it took my breath away. Even though we had seen the temple in plenty of movies, I was impressed by the whole scene. The guide on the other hand did not impress me at all. When I asked him what religion he was he said Hindu but Agnostic. I don’t quite know what an agnostic is but I know that I don’t like him.

I spent 30 minutes walking around the temple complex before heading back to the hotel where I found the kids fast a sleep. Tejas no longer had a fever and we wished he would be back to his normal happy self in the morning. The guide was scheduled to pick us up at 9am.

Oh, by the way. Today is Christmas eve. I almost forgot.


Shivani Wrote:

Today was an early start. I woke up at 5, ate breakfast at 6, and left the Hotel at 6:15. All I had for breakfast was Corn Flakes… oh well, I wasn’t that hungry anyways.
We thought that yesterday was the last day that we were going to see Ashfaq, but we were surprised to see that he was driving us to the train station. The train station was nice- except for the fact that there were beggars sleeping in the station.

Once I caught a glimpse of our train, I was worried. It looked dirty, old, and it smelled really bad. Good thing we were 1st Class! 1st Class on a Train is like Economy Class on a Plane. The Train ride so far is nice, except for this kid that is sitting behind me. He is screaming and kicking both my Mom’s chair and mine. He keeps on pulling my hair…ouch.

I am trying to fall asleep, but this kid is too loud.

HALF HOUR LATER:

HE HAS FINALLY FALLEN ASLEEP.

Tejas has been sleeping for a long time. How can he sleep?
He (Tejas) just woke up. He has a fever. I asked him if he needed to go pee, and he said Yes. I had to take him.

When I had gone to the bathroom earlier, I almost got locked in, because of the silly lock. So I had told Tejas not to lock it, he didn’t. He had been in there for a long time, so I opened the door. He had thrown up. I told him to wait there, and I quickly got Mom….poor kid, he has thrown up thrice on this trip.



Yamini Wrote:

Up at 4 am and out just after 6 am! We meet our Sita Rep to take us to the train station. He was awfully quiet…..he slept the entire way there!!! It was nice to see clean Delhi first thing in the morning while driving to the station. Our train was to depart at 7:20 but left shortly after. We had reserved 1st class a/c seats (which were mediocre), thank goodness as I would hate to see what the economy compartment was like. The train journey included meals, but fortunately we overheard another guide telling their clients not to eat anything on the train. The train ride was pretty boring. Our seats were not proper window seats so we couldn’t see much outside. Sam would venture off the train when it stopped at all the stations to take photos. I am sure glad he did. At one point the train started to move and we didn’t see Sam get back on the train. Shivani was hysterical as she thought he did not make it back on the train. While I tried to calm her down as she cried profusely, I told her we had a plan already that we would meet at the hotel in Amritsar if this was to happen. Even that didn’t calm her down. Luckily Tejas was sleeping through this whole ordeal. I told her to stay seated next to her brother and I would be right back. I went to the train door to find Sam happily snapping away photographs as the train moved along. Boy, was Shivani ever ticked off at him for a while. When Tejas awoke, we pulled a prank on him and told him that Dad had not made it back on the train…what does he do….laughs! Tejas through this whole train journey had a fever but never complained. He went with his sister to the bathroom when he woke from a nap and she comes running back to tell me he is getting sick. Tough little guy, still smiled when he saw me and said he was okay.

This felt like the longest journey ever. We pulled into the Amritsar station four hours late! This meant we would now not be able to witness the Retreat Ceremony at the Wagah Border (This is a flag lower ceremony at the end of each day on the India/Pakison border). We met our Amritsar guide, Mukesh, who took us directly to the border. I didn’t have a good feeling about him from the very beginning as he seemed quite impatient and in a rush to get somewhere. We went directly to the hotel, Ranjit Svaasa. Our hotel is a beautiful heritage guest house converted into a retreat and spa. Unfortunately, we did not stay long enough for me to enjoy the amazing spa facility.

We were to see the “Golden Temple” the following morning, but since we missed the Wagah Border visit, we asked Mukesh if we could see the temple at night. He told us he would be back after we had dinner to take us. Tejas really wasn’t himself and we felt it was best if he called it a night. Sam then went on with Mukesh to see the “Golden Temple” in the moonlight. The kids were out as soon as they hit the sack. With Tejas’s fever coming and going, I tried to get whatever sleep I could. Sam was back not long after he left but got what he wanted….some great shots of the temple in the evening.

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