India / Thailand / Cambodia / Vietnam - CHAPTER 5 - Amritsar

Amritsar started out rough. The hotel I was booked to stay in was horrible. Super creepy front desk guy who started going off about Trump because I was an American (a recurring theme on the trip). The hotel was located down an alley way that the cab driver refused to drive down. It was bad enough for me to contact the travel agency and cancel the rest of my trip. But I wasn't in Amritsar for the hotel room. I was there for the Golden Temple.

the entrance to the Golden Temple, the largest Sikh temple in the world.

once inside, you see a large pond or lagoon with a golden temple in the middle of it, connected to the side of the pond by a bridge / dock / waiting area.

you have to cover your head, and they provide these scarfs at the entrance. you also have to be barefoot, so there is a free shoe check. it's crazy. thouuuuuuuusands of peoples' shoes.

A beautiful, peaceful place. Stark contrast to the chaos of the city outside its walls. They feed tens of thousands of people every day, for free. A major tenet of Sikhism is service. Helping others. I think that's beautiful. This place was a highlight of my time in India, and I'm grateful for having seen it and experienced it.

note the color of the sky in the photographs. the pollution in new delhi and amritsar was UNREAL. due to a combination of factors, including geography and human impact, this part of India just has horrible air quality. I didn't see the sun the entire time I was there. The next city was the first inkling of a blue sky, but still not clear by American standards. We are very lucky to enjoy the clean air and water that we do. And we take that for granted. Go to India. It will change your perspective. Next city? Jaipur! One of my favorites...

.j.