2nd Nov SAT: More Walking around Amritsar

Apologies for this over-long post.
When we got to our hotel late afternoon, David had a nap whilst I wrote the blog and downloaded photos.   I'd just about finished when the whole post disappeared - It was a Blogger issue but everything was lost, despite me having saved it several times throughout the session.   I was not a happy bunny.   We went out to a local restaurant for a very quick meal and I've redone the post.  It was meant to be in two separate sections but I've lost the will to live and its bed time now.

This is it for today:

We have arranged a full day tour with an English speaking Guide tomorrow to 'officially' show us around the old town, The Golden Temple, some out-of-town attractions and then to witness the closing of the Border ceremony between India and Pakistan at Wagah.

In the meantime we spent 5 hours today just wandering around the local narrow streets/lanes, getting lost and meeting some lovely people.    We're certainly doing more than our 10,000 steps per day at the moment.

Its quite obvious that tourists mostly stay in the 'new town' area very close to the Golden Temple and don't venture into these back streets.   We didn't see any 'non-Indian' people on these streets during our walks and we were the centre of attention a lot of the time.    

I purposely chose this hotel because of its location - we enjoy exploring and seeing everything that goes on here.   We've been left alone and haven't had any problems with touts or hawkers until we got close to the Golden Temple area today …

More street scenes, sorry but I never tire of these, mainly because they thwart just about every health & safety rule we are used to.   The people are ingenious and they keep their 'vehicles' running for years and years.

and you come upon shrines and tiny temples in all sorts of places

Fit for Royalty?

His mates asked me to take a photograph of him

Waiting for a customer.    We made a short trip on one of these cycle rickshaws and they're very uncomfortable when there are two people sitting on the wooden seat (not much room)

Resting Cow

Naughty calf!

and can you spot the naughty street dog?

I don't think these are likely to be moving any time soon

and various tradesmen we saw today

This tiny shop was full of old-fashioned sewing machines

Shoe repairer … he was holding the twine with his toes

Machinists/Tailors

These guys were embroidering intricate designs onto sari material using real gold thread

I tried to get a close up but just couldn't do it justice

Woodworker - I love the smell of real wood

Street food being cooked on a large scale

We needed a break and a sit down so stopped for masala chai at a small café (I suppose that would be the polite term for it).   They were very pleased we stopped there and we got our tea served in cups rather than the usual glass beakers or paper cups.   It was so good we had an extra cup each

We'd been curious about some black skinned/shelled 'things' on sale on several of the fruit/veg carts.   We were told yesterday that they are 'water nuts' and today we decided to try some from a vendor who was baking sweet potatoes on his cart - he had some 'water nuts' that had been cooked and the skins had partly cracked open.    He peeled half a dozen, added some fresh lime juice and salt and asked for 100 rupees (just over £1).    David paid him then a couple of guys came out of a tiny shop across the road and started haranguing the vendor, saying he was cheating us and should give us change from the 100 rupee note.    The vendor was reluctant to do so but eventually handed over 50rupees.    Apparently the going rate (for locals) is about 10 rupees so they were angry we were being overcharged!

We are aware that we are watched as we wander round the alleys with our cameras but its good to know that people are looking out for us in a nice way!

By the way, these are a type of water chestnut  but much crisper and tastier than the sliced ones we buy in tins to put in Chinese dishes at home.

The school run …

Some kids walk …. I don't think that's their bodyguard, I don't actually remember seeing him at the time I took the photo!

some get a lift from dad (note, helmets aren't normally worn in India)

Most cram into auto rickshaws (Tuk Tuks) …. its amazing how many kids can squeeze into one of these

We headed towards the Golden Temple.   We didn't plan to go inside the temple today as we'll be visiting it with our guide tomorrow.   But we wanted to have a look at the general area.    Its much cleaner and more spacious than the area we've been exploring and its obviously geared towards devotees and tourists although, again, we saw very few non-Indian visitors here.   There are lots more shops, hawkers and  beggars  here  although they aren't too persistent or aggressive and the atmosphere was buzzing.

You can't enter the temple grounds unless knees, shoulders and heads are covered.   Shoes must be removed.    For those who haven't got head coverings, there are any number of vendors selling orange bandana style scarves (patkas).   David has bought his in anticipation of our visit tomorrow so he can practice tying it tonight!

These are what the patkas look like

And one of the pakta sellers - loved his smiley face

It is a great place to 'people watch' and the colours are fantastic - lots of pretty saris and colourful turbans.      This is the tiled square outside of the temple premises.

We gatecrashed a demonstration of turban tying and I took a couple of photos - A turban length is normally between 5 and 10 metres

After a lot of twisting and turning …..

Head coverings and turbans come in all shapes and colours

They take security seriously here - there's a very visible police presence here

Later in the day the crowds thickened … I think early morning is the best time to visit

I think I posed for photos with every single individual in this group - so I got a reciprocal photo

As has happened before, we were called upon to appear in photo shoots.   Its amusing to watch some of the people trying to surreptitiously get us into the background of their selfies.   Most people just ask if we'll pose for pictures with them/family.   Today I was more in demand for photos than David!

Another group I posed with ....