The flight from Delhi to Amritsar only took about an hour and we were soon at the hotel. 5 of us have done the extension, Mr & Mrs Wolf and Mr & Mrs Been Everywhere, so I'm a bit out on a limb now as the only single.
I went out alone for a quick walk and took a couple of snaps - Amritsar is one of the filthiest places I've ever seen - even by Indian standards. It had recently rained heavily and the streets were awash with dirt and rubbish.
Our first stop the following morning was the Jallianwala Bagh memorial garden which commemorates the massacre of April
1919 when British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians killing approx
379 people and wounding about 1,200 more. It left a permanent scar on Indo-British
relations and was the prelude to Gandhi’s full commitment to the cause of
Indian nationalism and independence from Britain.
It's not very clear but this wired plant support will eventually produce a piece of topiary in the shape of a man with a rifle.
Bullet holes in the wall of nearby building. There were about 10,000 people, including women and children, in the small area and only one way out.
The memorial - incidentally Prime Minister David Cameron visited the follow day, allegedly in a bid to get the UK Sikh community onside (I also saw him at the Vaisakhi celebrations in Gravesend in 2015).
We then had a walk through the old streets, which was a terrifying experience. Our guide, an arrogant young man (red turban), lead the way and was obviously used to all the pushing and shoving that went on and not remotely phased by the tuk-tuks, rickshaws, handcarts, motorbikes etc laden with goods often piled so high you thought they'd topple over on you. It was so awful, I only got a couple of snaps.
But we did have the good fortune to bump into this wedding party.
