Following two negative comments from members, I re-read this first review of mine on Mouthshut. I agree that it is not a review in the first place. Actually, I worte it as a narrative because before I travelled to Amritsar, I looked at the different reviews to gather some information as to how to go about the trip.
While most reviews gave me information about the Golden Temple itself, I did not find what I was looking for. Which was, is it required to stay at Amritsar, is a one day trip by train possible, are there places to leave your baggage (minor things) and so on. I thought, it will be useful to give it as a narratve about the trip so that someone who plans to travel the way I have, without staying over at Amrtisar would find it of some use.
So, if you are looking for reviews on the magnificient Golden Temple or on the beautiful city of Amritsar, this is not the review. This is just about the logistics of travel. So, here it goes.......
Two families which included seven members (three children) visited Amritsar (Golden Temple, Jalianwallah Bagh, Attari Boder) in August 2008. We boarded the Chattisgarh Express which leaves from Hazrat Nizammuddin around 8:00 p.m. We reached Amritsar around 8.00 a.m the following morning. As soon as we came out of the station, the three wheeler drivers surrounded us. I looked around for the free bus service that is reported to be available to go to the Golden Temple. But we did not find any. Finally, for Rs. 50/-, we were taken to the Golden Temple.
Drivers and touts approached us when we reached the Golden Temple for fixing a deal to the Attari border. They even give you a slip of paper giving their mobile number. It is best to ignore them at that point of time.
We needed to freshen up before we could begin sight seeing. We checked out the two temple administered guest houses but rooms were not available. We came out and checked into a hotel close by. The room rent was Rs. 950/- for a day but it was reduced to Rs. 300/- for two hours of use. By the time we left the room, it was around 10.30 a.m. We left our footwear and the suitcase in the designated places outside the temple. The service is excellent. Breakfast was at the temple langar. It was a simple but tasty breakfast.
Then we went around the temple. I am not writing much on the temple, because Mouthshut has got some good reviews about the temple. By the time we came out of the temple, it was 12.45 noon. We collected our footwear and left the suitcase behind and proceeded to the Jalianwallah Bagh which is just a five minutes walk from the temple. It drizzled a little while we were at the Jalianwallah Bagh. At 2.00 p.m. we had our lunch at a restaurant (the name I forget), but is probably the first one on one’s left just as you come of the Jalianwala Bagh gate.
By 3.30 p.m. we were ready to go to Attari Border. As we were going to the cloak room in the Golden Temple premises, we were approached by a driver who asked Rs.400/- for the trip. A little bargaining and it was down to Rs. 350/-. We collected the baggage from the cloak room and took the Maruti Van to the border. We reached the border by 4.45 p.m. At the start of the journey to the border, the driver tried to persuade us to visit a couple of temples and the Beas river as he said we had sufficient time. It was his attempt to escalate the fee to Rs 400/- or more. But we declined.
The show at Attari Border finished at 7.00 p.m. and by 8.30 p.m. we were back at the Railway station to take the Golden Temple Mail that leaves from Amritsar at 9.35 p.m. We had a lousy dinner on board the Golden Temple Mail. But in all it was a nice trip.