A Silent escape to quietude | Kangra and Chamba (Jan 2014) – Part 7

[ Earlier posts in this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6]

 

 

Day 5 : Amritsar & Wagah

A non Himalayan day

 

This day’s account is not typically Himalayan – but nevertheless a part of my trip to Kangra & Chamba.

It was around 6o clock in the morning when the bus reached Amritsar. From the bus stand, I walked towards the temple. I had heard that the temple offers rooms – but when I got there, I saw a massive queue wrapping around the booking desk. So I decided against waiting and initially headed to a hotel (which was super expensive). A good natured rickshaw guy guided me to a guest house, which looked clean and fitted my budget too.

Though I had wanted to take bath and leave to the Golden Temple immediately, I guess I was too tired with the previous day’s adventures in Bharmour and two continuous night journeys in bus. I just crashed on the bed and got up only by 930

I then got ready and went to the temple. Unlike other temples, you can carry your camera and mobile phones into the temple, no restrictions on that [I had initially thought that the camera may have to be deposited, so I left it back in the room]. So, it was a good darshan, prasad and some exploring around inside the temple.

 

 

 

 

It was around 11:30 now and I was also hungry – so the natural place to head to, was the Langar  . Sitting down among thousands of pilgrims, I enjoyed the awesome lunch there [kheer, roti, Dal, rice…]. I made a small donation and then headed back to the hotel. I then picked up my camera and took a rickshaw to Durgaina Mandir – the temple had just closed, but I was also ok just looking around. The structure looks similar to the Golden temple, and on first look, you may as well mistake it to be the golden temple.

 

 

 

Jallianwala Bagh & The Beat of Wagah

 

After that, I took another rickshaw to Jalianwala Bagh [actually, you could walk to Jalianwala Bagh from the golden temple – not very far off]. There were hundreds of agents swarming there, offering to take you to the Wagah border for a fixed fee – I was keen on going there, so I took the offer – 300/- if I remember correctly, per head, for an auto ride to and fro. He then told me I had exactly one hour to see Jalianwala and come back to get to Wagah in time.

 

 

The place has been maintained well, with a garden around, and key places marked. A memorial has also been constructed there.

 

The memorial:

 

 

I was out in time, and we then set off to Wagah/ Attari border [there’s a train also from Amritsar that runs upto Attari]. It took a little over an hour to get there. The retreat ceremony is scheduled at 4:30pm and takes about half an hour. Gates open by 3:30 or so; People are let in early to settle in, and there are cultural programmes to keep you entertained and to exhort some patriotism. The next day was Republic day, so there were more events today. It was fun, and the BSF guys making you outshout the sound from the Pakistan side. The show at Wagah is completely free - all you need is to exhibit some patriotism and cheer our BSF guys..

 

 

 

Apart from the usual song-dance-drama, there was this performance by school kids which was outstanding – they wielded sword fight [it was real swords] and some weapons, a boy blew some fire and what not..

 

 

 

And then, after that the actual retreat ceremony started – the Indian soldiers and Pakistani counterpart lifting their heels upto the head, each trying to outdo the other; and the crowds going crazy with all the happenings …

 

 

 

 

A Golden Evening & The Journey Home

 

We then started back towards Amritsar – enroute, we were to visit a Vaishno Devi shrine (not the originl one in Jammu).

 

An orange colored sky at Sunset:

 

It was only 8:30 now and I had a lot more time to kill.. I thought it would good to visit the Golden Temple.

 

Illuminated under thousands of golden night lights, the shrine looked absolutely breathtaking—a fitting star attraction to wrap up the day.

 

 

It was time for dinner and I went to a place [don’t remember name now], where I had some Amritsari Kulcha and some Lassi. I got out of the hotel, and the Kulfi on the roadside was sooo tempting  to resist - so a Kulfi to top up my dessert. I wanted to have another glass of Lassi, but I was full. I walked a bit to see if I could still have some Lassi, but I guess I was just being greedy  

I then got back to the room. There was still time – my train to Delhi was at 11:15pm only

I just killed some time watching the TV in the room, and then headed to the railway station. The train left around 45minutes late, but then, surprisingly, reached Delhi on time the next day. I was supposed to meet a few friends for breakfast, but guess on Sunday morning, everyone has their own things to do. Suited me well since I was anyways tired. I headed straight to the airport, waited out my flight and boarded the plane back to Bangalore.

 

Reflections on Quietude

Looking back, what started as a quick, official Monday court hearing in Delhi transformed into one of the most memorable 5-day solo journeys I have ever undertaken.

From riding the historic Kangra Valley toy train for ₹30, to dodging mountain torrential rains in McLeodganj; from walking through unexpected landslide breaches and leaving my laptop at a roadside tea stall to standing knee-deep in fresh snow outside the ancient Chaurasi Temples of Bharmour—every single day brought its own brand of spontaneous magic. Beyond the dramatic peaks and winter vistas, what stayed with me most was the quiet honesty and warmth of the locals along the way.

Traveling solo through the Himalayas teaches you to embrace uncertainty, step out of rigid itineraries, and trust the road ahead.

As I returned to the everyday rhythm of city life, I knew I’d left a piece of my heart up in the quietude of the Himalayas. I was already praying for more such journeys to come soon…

 

(End of Kangra & Chamba Series)

 

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