2025: Northern India

5. Amritsar, the Pakistani Border, and the 'Toy Train' to Shimla

It was another early start - hopefully the last one of our holiday - for the long train journey from Delhi to Amritsar, but at least the train was comfortable with meals served at the seats, and it even had a 'Western-Style' washroom. Instead of the usual coach, we were met at the station by a fleet of taxis which took us to our hotel for an afternoon's rest (Debbie had a massage and said it was wonderful).

The next morning the taxi fleet took us to the Golden Temple. Now, that really was an impressive sight!

The Golden Temple is still very much a place of worship, being regarded as the holiest place in the World for Sikhs, and was crowded with people waiting to enter (which we did not). Also there were a great many people bathing in the waters around the temple, to purify themselves; this activity was carefully guarded by the extremely smart guards - many of whom carried large swords or even scimitars!

The entrance tower at the Golden Temple	The Temple is really impressive	One of the guards beside the holy waters	Inside the Temple's food hall

The Golden Temple also has the most incredible food hall, where all visitors regardless of religion, caste, wealth, etc, may all sit together and eat freshly-prepared food. This incredible facility, which is 98% run by volunteers, feeds up to 20,000 people per day! All the food is prepared on-site from fresh ingredients; they even have their own flour mill on-site.

Fresh carrots being prepared	Making chapatis (flat-breads)	Debbie had a go at rolling them	The washing-up hall was busy	Stacks of clean plates!

After the Golden Temple we went to the Silver Temple, so-called because of its solid silver doors. Maybe not quite as impressive as its golden big-brother, the Silver Temple was still very beautiful and at least we were able to see inside it.

The Silver Temple	The solid silver doors which give the Temple its name		Inside the Temple	Guards outside the Temple

After a hurried lunch we set off for the India-Pakistan border, between the villages of Attari on the Indian side and Wagah on the Pakistani side. We had to make a stop back at the hotel to fetch our passports for ID (we had omitted to take them this morning amidst the confusion of one of our group becoming ill and having to be taken to hospital) which meant that our 20-mile drive to the border was extremely rushed. We only just arrived in time, which meant that we did not have a particularly good view, but at least we saw the whole of this unique ceremony.

The hour-long border ceremony takes place every single night of the year at sunset, and is attended by huge crowds. It consists of a display of exaggeratedly gymnastic marching that I can only describe as being inspired by the Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch 'The Ministry of Silly Walks', whilst the crowd is encouraged in a frenzy of chanting which greatly resembled Country Joe's 'Fish Cheer' from the Woodstock Festival of 1969 (if you do not know these two classic performances then I can only suggest that you search for them on a site such as YouTube). This may sound somewhat disrespectful, for the soldiers and crowds clearly take the ceremony very seriously, but that's how we saw it; check on these two items, and then I strongly recommend that you watch  MY VIDEO  and see if you don't agree!

After the hour of marching, during which the Indian and Pakistani soldiers often mirrored each other's actions across the border, the two flags were lowered to the sound of the Last Post being played before the gates were finally closed for the night (a similar ceremony takes place at dawn to re-open them).

At the Attari-Wagah border	Crowds watch the festival every night	The marching display (watch the  VIDEO)	The border gate has been closed

Our journey to Chandigarh the next day was by car, giving us the opportunity to stop and observe the making of 'Jaggery' from sugar-cane at a small road-side shack; we also tasted the delicious result, which was rather like fudge and is widely used in Indian cookery to balance the sharpness of the spices.

Here they were making Jaggery in the farm field	Their pumping and crushing machinery	The sugar cane is first crushed to release the liquid	The liquid is boiled in three heated pans	The final product, which we tasted

We stopped for lunch at a smart-looking restaurant - but by now we were so longing for some food that was not curry that together with several other group members we opted to go to the next-door KFC (where a meal for the two of us plus coffees cost just £5) while other group members instead went to the nearby Burger King.

Chandigarh is a modern city, designed with a grid of roads and a large central lake - rather like our home town of Milton Keynes We spent a short while relaxing by the lake, before an hour wandering around the nearby rose garden. This peaceful garden, in the middle of the city, is 30 acres in size and contains nearly 50,000 rose bushes. With the onset of warm, dry weather many of the roses seemed to be past their best, which was rather a shame.

The lake at Chandigarh	A fine piece of topiary by the lake	The fountain in the rose garden makes its own rainbow	A signboard at the rose garden	There were some beautiful roses to admire

The following day featured our ride on the 'Toy Train' which is a narrow-gauge railway that winds its way 7000ft up the foothills of the Himalayas to the town of Shimla. When the British first ruled India, they did not like the summer heat of Calcutta, their nominated capital city; instead they preferred the cooler climate of the tiny village of Shimla, and so they enlarged it to be a whole town and declared it to be the summertime centre of government. Twice a year the entire government made the trip between the two cities; they also built a fine boarding school for their children so that they could leave them there the whole year round, thus avoiding the less healthy environment of the more southerly areas. Road access at the time was virtually non-existent, hence the construction of the 'toy train'.

The engine of our mid-day 'Toy Train' is ready	The route passes through over 100 tunnels ...	... crossing over 180 bridges as it climbs to 7000 ft	The views from the train are simply amazing	How to get the engine ready for its return trip

Our hotel here was a few miles outside the city, in a wildlife protection area with amazing views. In particular the view from our balcony was simply stunning, especially as the sun set over the mountains, contrasting with the sight of the sun rising over the ice-capped peaks of the Himalayas the next morning.

Deb & another group member wearing hats that the hotel gave us	On our balcony as the sun is setting	Sunset over the mountains, as seen from our balcony		Sunrise over the distant ice-capped Himalayan mountain-tops

The city of Shimla clings to the mountainside, with many of the modern buildings having no road access but merely steep flights of steps. The older city is filled with Victorian-style buildings and, after visiting another temple - this one dedicated to Hanuman the Monkey God - and then ascending by lift into the old town for lunch, we strolled along the old Victorian main street which is now a market.

The town of Shimla clings to the mountainside	The Christian church dominates the old town	The market was even selling Christmas items!	We were warned to avoid the monkeys in Shimla	A beautiful elephant statue outside the morning's temple

We also visited the old Christian Church, with its impressive stained-glass windows, while in the far distance, high on the mountain-top, a giant pink statue of Hanuman the Monkey God overlooked the whole city.

The statue of Hanuman the Monkey God looks down from the mountain	The Christian church dominates the old town	Inside the Christian Church	A modern artistic piece in the garden of the old Viceroy's house	The old Viceroy's house is now used as a university building

The next morning we visited the Viceregal house (ie the Viceroy's residence) which was built in 1888 at the top of the hill to provide a wonderful view of the town. Only a few rooms are open to the public, as the building is used mainly now as a centre of advanced learning. We wandered around its gardens, noting that unlike in Chandigarh just a few miles away but 6000 feet lower in altitude, the roses had not yet even started to bloom. At the centre of the rose garden was a poignant ironwork which represented the partitioning of Pakistan - in that the cut-out (absent) section is in the form of a small statue which was discovered in Pakistan in 1926.

Finally our series of visits had come to an end as, descending from Shimla to Chandigarh by road, we caught the afternoon express train back to Delhi. Arriving at Delhi in the rush-hour, the 5-mile coach trip to our hotel took well over 2 hours, leaving us all wondering why we could not have been booked into a hotel that was nearer the station or, better still, near the airport.

The next morning the coach took us to the airport and we bade farewell to our wonderful tour manager Vishu, before checking in for our return flight to England. Once again the flight was very comfortable  (thank you, Virgin Atlantic) and with the effect of the time-zone difference we were home in time for tea.

Looking back, it had been an absolutely amazing 2 weeks, filled with incredible memories. We agreed that we had thoroughly enjoyed  the wonderful experience and would not have missed it for anything - but we also agreed that amongst all the positives there were many, many negative features which would discourage us from visiting India again. But to anybody I would say, take this trip, it is fantastic! Anyway, I will conclude here with a repeat of the pictures that, for me, represent two memories that will without doubt remain deeply embedded in my brain forever.

All pictures on this site are © Allan Jones unless otherwise stated.