that is the sun to the right












Golden Temple, Amritsar


train station in Johdpur

I forgot to mention that on my last night in Jaisalmer, I took a share jeep out to the Sam sand dunes, 45 km from town. It turned out to be a real tourist trap with women and children begging, hundreds of Indian tourists, lots of camels, piles of trash, and pushy men with cold drinks to sell. I met a young French guy in the jeep, though, and we had fun laughing at the whole spectacle before us. He noticed immediately that I have a way of handling all the begging by just not responding at all, and he asked me if it worked. I told him that it is absolutely the best tactic in all situations in India; no matter what they are trying to sell you or get from you, just pretend you don't hear them. If you argue with them or say 'no', they only become more persistent. If I don't respond, they eventually give up and walk away. The French guy said he was incapable of this, and he would yell at the really aggressive sellers and tell them to get away, but that was like egging them on somehow. When we first arrived at the dunes, a group of beggar children starting hanging on my arms, and I just kept walking and talking like nothing was happening.

I left Jaisalmer on a comfortable morning bus, returning to Johdpur in the afternoon. I had many hours to kill before my night train, so I wandered around the old town some more, and then returned to the "Ladies Second-Class" waiting room at the train station. Another woman and I had fun chasing a few persistent mice out of the room.
Later, I would travel 19 hours to Amritsar in Punjab in northern India. Amritsar is the home of the Golden Temple, the holiest site for the Sikhs. It is a really wonderous and incredible place; one of the highlights of my trip. I saw it first at dusk, and then again after dawn, hoping to catch the perfect light. In order to enter the temple area, I had to leave my shoes behind, cover my head, and walk through a pool of water to clean my feet. Inside the courtyard/square, there are hundreds of pilgrims walking around the temple, bathing in the pool, and lining up to enter the temple via the bridge. I ate on the floor in the communal dining hall with hundreds of other pilgrims. For free, they served me chapati, dal, rice, and curry. It was quite good food, and the experience was unlike any I have had. Near the temple, the loudspeakers play live music that is coming from within the temple; the sound of prayers being sung. I really like the Sikhs, and Amritsar is full of them.

Still in Amritsar, I walked over to a nearby park memorial, and 20 school girls started following me, giggling, and asking me my name and where I was from. They walked in unison with me around the entire perimeter of the park; they told me that I was beautiful and some of them pinched me arms. I didn't mind at all because I was glad to see these girls were going to school, learning english, and hopefully some day some of them will lead this country of India.