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Golden Temple (Amritsar, India)
by lights84 I'll be frank here and point out that I was glad when my first visit to India, comprised of 3 weeks in total, was over. I stayed in a village with relatives in the Punjab for part of the time, and travelled around North India for the rest of it. On our final day in India I was more than glad to leave- in fact I was yearning to be back in ... Britain. My parents however had other ideas. The airport we had to fly back from was in Amritsar, and this, they pointed out, was 'near' The Golden Temple, which none of us had visited before. They meant 'near' in Indian terms though, as it was actually more than a 3 hour drive away. I reluctantly agreed to visit the temple with them, though it meant getting up at a ridiculous hour as our flight was due to leave at 6am. The Golden Temple is predominantly a Sikh 'gurdwara' (place of worship). It was built in 1574, and it is called The 'Golden' Temple because the outside of the temple and the floors inside it are coated with real gold. The temple is considered holy because the original and ancient religious text of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept there. The Golden Temple was built at the instruction of Sikh leaders in order to welcome and provide sanctuary for all people, and there are four entrances to the temple to represent this. The temple is surrounded by a large lake which contains holy water. As with many religious places in India, people entering The Golden Temple have to remove their shoes and wash their feet before entering, and cover their heads as a sign of respect. Headscarves for men and women are provided outside the temple for those who turn up without any (which we did), and they cost just a few rupees (less than a few pence or cents). There are pools of shallow water at each of the entrances, and stepping in them constitutes washing one's feet. After my negative experience of the Taj Mahal (see my review of it if you're interested), I was not prepared for what Amritsar had in store for me. I was tired and I just wanted to return home. But The Golden Temple really woke me up, as it was simply breathtaking beyond words. It also constituted one of the easiest and least stressful experiences I had during the 3 weeks I spent in India. Anyone who visits the country can tell you how chaotic and stressful it can be, and how the oppressive heat only makes things worse. I cannot be thankful enough, then, that we visited The Golden Temple before leaving. It was roughly 4am, and yet here was a mass of people, hundreds upon hundreds of peaceful, mindful Indians, starting the day or week in their usual way. Almost all of them were kneeling or sitting in prayer, heads were bowed low and families were simply sitting quietly overlooking the lake. The atmosphere felt meditative, and I was deeply touched by the peace I felt there. In fact I had not experienced such peace like that in India at all, or indeed anywhere else in the world. We had intended to look around the temple, but instead we ended up sitting silently with everyone else, taking in the beauty of the lake and the temple. A short while later, people walked by carrying the sacred text, the Guru Granth Sahib. Others stood up and stretched out their arms to touch it as it went past. I had never seen such reverence before, or such genuine worship, en masse. I was grateful to leave India with this view in mind, as it is a side that can be difficult to see on the bustling streets of Delhi or the chaotic roads of the Punjab. If you're going anywhere in North India, I highly recommend visiting The Golden Temple, even if it's at the expense of seeing something else, for example, the Taj Mahal. The Golden Temple offers a glimpse of India that tourists such as myself often overlook, yet I won't ever forget my experience of visiting it, and I would even like to visit it again. Read the complete review |
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Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Area (Hanoi, Vietnam)
by Essexgirl2006 Ho Chi Minh is a key person in the recent history of Vietnam and for that reason we were keen to visit his mausoleum and house which is in Central Hanoi. Ho (sometimes referred to as Uncle Ho) was born in 1890 and was president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (aka North Vietnam) until his death in 1969. He was a key figure in the ... movement for independence and a unified Vietnam. It was his wish that, upon his death, he would be cremated and his ashed scattered across North, South and Central Vietnam. Instead he has been embalmed and lies is state for much of the year in Hanoi where the people can come to visit him. We got a taxi to the mausoleum - it is only a dollar or two from most city hotels, and the taxi driver dropped us at the gate. We could see it was busy and that there was a queue, so we set about heading towards the back of the queue. This part was quite confusing, as the queue seemed to end and was blocked off, there was still an hour or so until the mausoleum closed (it is only open in the mornings for a few days a week) so we wondered if the queue was so long that they had shut it off and hovered about, trying to find someone 'official' to find out what was going on, but they were all distracted and waved us away. Eventually we spotted that the queue continued across the road and set off to see if we could join it. It basically took 15 minutes from where the taxi driver dropped us off the get to the back of the queue, although there was some faffing due to lack of signage or information. By this point we were the last in the queue and very few people joined it after us. If you want to go, you need to be in the queue by 11am on weekends (it shuts earlier midweek so try for 10/10.30am). Once in the queue it does move fairly quickly and it took us 45 minutes to get into the actual mausoleum building, which was a lot quicker than some of our friends who took over an hour in some cases. The mausoleum part was free to get into but there will be bag searches - no cameras phones or recording devices are allowed, these will have to be checked into the left luggage security booth and will be waiting for you as you leave. I was worried that I may never see my camera again, but all was fine. No food or drink is allowed either and these will have to be thrown out. Due to the humidity we did carry a bottle with us which we had to give up. There are guards at various points keeping an eye on proceedings and the staff are very strict - they knew that someone in the queue behind us had some crisps which their children were eating. The visitors tried to discreetly pass them to someone else so the kids could finish it, but the staff held the queue until they had got the crisps. They had to wait back until they had finished - this was a good half an hour queueing away from the actual building. You are queuing outside, and sometimes in the sun so bring sun cream, a hat (remove it when you get in the building itself) and sunglasses. I have heard that dress should be respectful also - i.e no short skirts or shorts, no strappy tops. The building itself is a large, dark grey stone structure and you will still find yourself queuing as you walk in and up the stairs, there are guards here and they demand that you are quiet. Finally you walk into the room where he lies. He lays peacefully in a glass case, smartly dressed with a dark cover over his lower body. I had never seen a dead body before, let alone an embalmed one, but he looked a bit unreal and waxwork like. You don't get close to the case, you are at a distance of a couple of metres and the lighting is subdued. It is very sombre and respectful within this room. Once you leave this room you then exit the building to collect your camera and then leave the grounds. It is worth noting that Ho travels to Russia every year for 'restoration', I think this is usually around September time, but you may want to check. Whilst it is free to go into the mausoleum you pay a small fee of approx VND 5000 (approx 15p) to go and see his home. I believe going into this part is optional but we were herded here by the officious guards, at this point most of the visitors were Western, the locals had disappeared whilst I was collecting my camera. We followed them through into the grounds of Ho Chi Minh's former home. Within these grounds you can see the Presidential Palace, but you are not able to visit it, but you should be able to get a reasonable side-on photo if you wish. The grounds are pleasantly landscaped with a central lake and attractive trees. You will see where Ho worked and his (rather modest) collection of cars. In addition you can go to the modest stilt house that he lived in. It is allegedly as he left it with simple sixties furniture and a single bed. He preferred this residence to the official palace. It is in a lovely situation in the grounds by the lake. I enjoyed my walk around the grounds which is very green and pleasant in contrast with the rest of the bustling city of Hanoi. As you leave there is a gift shop and a cafe. I was unsure of the food offerings but we elected to just have a sit down and a cold drink. If you are in Hanoi then this is worth a visit, the embalmed body of a former national leader is an unusual tourist attraction to say the least, and he does look good for a man who has been dead for 40 years! Why this may seem macabre to some, but I think this is something that you wouldn't usually get to see in any other country so we took the opportunity when we got it. The mausoleum is only open a few days a week, depending on the time of year, and only in the mornings from about 7.30am. We went lateish, so we were towards the back of the queue, so it was quieter but the guards do try and rush you. Be prepared to wait and for your camera to be checked in - you will still want it if you visit the stilt house and grounds. The mausoleum is closed when Ho or the building are being restored or on holidays when there are parades here. Read the complete review |
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Moti Bazaar (Haridwar, India)
by koshkha After lunch on our second day in Haridwar we were feeling pretty lazy and we'd already 'done' most of the more accessible sights. My sister was determined that she wanted to find the Moti Bazaar and with nothing else looking more urgent, we agreed to try and track it down. I think Moti means 'pearl' but then I also thought at the time ... that it meant 'fat' so best not to pay too much heed to my dodgy translations. She'd read in her guidebook that it would be a great visual treat and somewhere we'd be sure to get some great photographs. With plenty of time to spare, it seemed as good an idea as any other so we set off hunting for the market. As I may have mentioned before, my sister and I are genetically programmed to be completely rubbish at finding things even if we've got a map so with no map it was pretty sure that we'd get lost. As usual my sister had consulted the guidebook and then left it in the hotel, clearly intending to make the search all the more 'fun' by avoiding the obvious convenience of having a map. All Aileen could remember was that it was by the river - but then almost all of Haridwar is by the river so that wasn't a big help. It's also a city where very few people speak English so we decided to just follow our noses and see what happened. What resulted was a very pleasant and sometimes amusing stroll around the holy city. ~Never ask for directions - it's a sign of weakness~ We set off down a side street away from the crowds and noise, snapping a few photos as we went. There were beautiful old buildings that must have once been very grand but are now badly decayed and run down. I couldn't resist a photo or two of one of the most disgusting public urinals that I've ever seen or the sign for a travel agent called Vee Dee Tours that made us all snigger. A family of small pigs were lying on a patch of waste ground sun bathing and at one point we spotted a cat so big and muscular looking that he carried his lack of tail like a war-wound. We were saved the worry of whether or not to ask for directions by not actually seeing anyone which also meant nobody spotted us taking pictures of pigs, puss-cats and pissoirs. By a combination of luck and my husband's superior sense of direction (he does come in useful) we did eventually find the bazaar, only to realise that we'd already been there the night before when it was crowded with pilgrims. Being there in the mid afternoon was quieter and made it a lot easier to get around. There's nothing touristy about the bazaar and since so few tourists (rather than pilgrims) ever go to Haridwar, the shopping is definitely designed to meet the needs of locals and religious visitors rather than people looking for souvenirs. A certain member of this site will confirm that the small wall hanging that my husband bought her which shows the baby Krishna suckling a cow whilst having his bottom licked by the happy bovine, is not the sort of souvenir you'll find in Blackpool or Marbella. The bazaar is laid out along a single long street of small shops and businesses either side of a narrow street, made narrower by the shop-keepers hanging their wares out in the street, cutting into the space. We saw some strange sights. A stall was selling possibly the ugliest furry dolls that I've ever seen. A sadhu (holy man) on a bicycle came flying towards me moving too fast to avoid the blur on my camera. Pilgrims in their best clothes jostled to buy brightly coloured religious pictures whilst my sister and her partner continued their retail therapy by buying yet more tunic tops that were almost guaranteed to run in the washing machine or the first time they got rained on. Sweet makers boiled up sweetened milk in giant iron pans as a base of their range of brightly coloured tooth-dissolvingly sweet treats. A pair of roadside barbers waved and smiled for the camera as we deftly avoided carts of highly polished vegetables being pushed up the middle of the street. A small bakery was rolling and heating breads on a hot-plate at the roadside and vegetable stall holders piled their pristine fruit and vegetable into Himalayan heaps of shining glory, exhibiting a real pride in what they had to offer. One stall had a conical heap of bright red dye piled up in the middle of the counter. The dye is used in religious ceremonies and sold in small tins or paper packets. I didn't dare go near for fear of sneezing and sending it flying across the street. A second stall had a smaller cone of dye and was guarded by a little old lady who beamed a toothless smile as we passed. ~End of the Road~ The bazaar ends near the Har Ki Pauri area where the nightly Ganga Aarti ceremony takes place. We turned back on ourselves and walked along the riverbank to take some more photos - the souvenir sellers with their massive mounds of plastic water bottles, small children playing in the dirt, gangs of monkeys bouncing around the trees and electricity wires, and ash-covered sadhus sitting under trees were all captured by our cameras. As we set off to find an auto-rickshaw to take us back to the hotel we came across one of the biggest monkeys I've ever seen. This fellow was sitting on one of the crowd barriers near the entrance to the area where the Aarti ceremony is performed. A giant amongst his furry monkey friends, he sat with his feet up on the barrier as passers-by brought him packets of food which he deftly unwrapped before devouring only the best bits. A policeman stood by laughing and an elderly lady beggar shook her head in frustration that someone would feed a monkey but wouldn't feed her. It was just one of the many bizarre things we saw in this crazy, wild, religious city. Read the complete review |
Asia Sightseeing International |
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1 review Sightseeing International / Recently opened enormous temple in New Delhi, next to the Commowealth Games village. |
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1 review Sightseeing International / Botanical Gardens in Bangalore, India |
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1 review Sightseeing International / Palace built in 1887 |
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1 review Sightseeing International / This tomb is surrounded by a 1500m wall and is located in Hue, Vietnam |
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Sightseeing International / Bridge dating back from the early 17th Century |
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Sightseeing International / Ancient Bagratuni fortress situated on the slopes of Mount Aragats |
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1 review Sightseeing International / Monastery dating back to the 10th Century situated in the Lori region of Armenia |
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Sightseeing International / Monastery dating back to the 10th Century situated in the Lori region of Armenia |
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1 review Sightseeing International / Archery grounds located in Paro, Bhutan |
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Sightseeing International / Kumbhalgarh Fort is located in the Rajsamand district of Rajasthan state in western India |
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