Mike and Cathy Travels

Amritsar The golden temple in the sunset We traveled to Amritsar and arrived at the poshest but least characterful hotel - it was nice to have hot water on demand, fluffy towels and a warm environment for a change. e stopped at a restaurant for breakfast in the rich countryside of the Punjab that was growing crops, veg and flowers with dairy farms. It was noticeably cleaner and more prosperous than the area around Delhi. At first the fact that this hotel was far from the centre was a disappointment but we quickly saw that with our excellent driver we were able to visit the center as much as needed without having another sticky, noisy hotel.  After a short rest we were off to the centre of Amritsar - a large pedestrian only area full of people and speakers relaying the prayers from the temple. Although crowed the atmosphere was very gentle and easy going with a lot of good will, even towards some obvious western tourists. We had over an hour wandering around but...

Mandi 'sunken' market A very windy road across the hills to Mandi - still high and cool but not completely freezing. We stayed in an old Raj palace hotel that was very traditional, if a little run down. We had a walking tour of Mandi, to see temples and the burning ghats on the edge of the Ganges. The atmosphere was of a busy and prosperous town, without much tourism. We also saw donkeys loaded with material for repairing the road, slowly making their way to the worksite all on their own. There was a great sweet shop just outside the hotel where we had some sweets and a lassie. Next day we loaded up and headed further into the hills towards Dharamshala. Long, small and very busy roads - a huge cement works contributed to the lorry traffic on winding, crumbling roads. The countryside was beautiful with increasingly clear views of the far mountains (a small range to the south of the Himalayas). ...