Amritsar

Amritsar is a beautiful city. It is special to me because this is where my dad's two brothers live and I have countless memories of our family spending weeks in Amritsar flying kites, chasing lizards and mice and eating some high quality food.

To start, my trip to Amritsar was very eventful. My flight was leaving at 5pm sharp so I assumed getting to the airport for 4pm was a safe bet. When my taxi didn't show up I didn't panic because I knew I would grab a scotter (3 wheeler) to the airport. Leaving home around 3:15pm I arrived at the airport promptly at 4pm. After getting my bags checked by security I approached the desk for Indian Airlines.......and that is where things fell apart. To my surprise, I was told that the flight to Amritsar was not leaving from the domestic airport but rather the interational airport. I said fine, looked at my watch and realized it was 4:15pm.......no need to panic.......so in my broken hindi/punjabi I asked the man at the counter which direction I needed to go in order to get there. I told him I would walk quickly. He laughed at told me that I couldn't walk 10-12 kms with my 2 bags and make my flight...i was forced to take a taxi or scooter and I better move fast or I am going to miss my flight. Now I was pissed.......running outside I don't know what came over me but I started negotiating with taxi drivers and scooters to get a fair fare to the airport. I settled on 60 rupees to drive 10km which was a huge ripoff but what could I do. Anyhow, arriving at the International Airport with 20 mins to go meant I was running through the terminal and begging people to let me jump ahead in line (not something common in India). To my luck, I was fortuante enought to meet some good people who ensured that I was able to board the flight. At 5pm sharp I was sitting in the airplane, catching my breath and recollecting the last hour of panic I had endured. 45 minutes later I was standing in Amritsar happy to have arrived in one piece and realizing that Amritsar International Airport resembled Buttonville airport!!

My first night in Amritsar was spent catching up with family and telling stories from back home and hearing about the antics of my cousins. We lost power a couple of times within a 6 hr span but that seems to be the norm of India. Hot weather means electircity is being used to the max. Alright, time to get some sleep as I have some shopping to do and I'll have to plan my stay here. Gots lots of family to see so the next week should be hectic but bountiful with respect to food:) My stomach is ready!!!