It is every girl's dream to go on an all girls vacation. It took me enough time to find such girls who had a taste for travelling and adventure. But once I did, I did not let that opportunity slip from my hands. Being a group of three ultra level foodies we decided Amritsar as our destination. Also we chose to travel in the valentine's week just for the kick of it 😂 . So here's a complete guide of all that Amritsar has to offer you and why you should visit it once with your girlfriends and not partners. And what precautions or measures we took to ensure our safety while travelling .....
We reached New Delhi in the morning. Our train for Amritsar was in the evening so we decided to wander around the streets of old Delhi for a change.
Our first stop was the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah. We wanted to experience a blend of different cultures on this trip and this was the perfect beginning of what would become one of the best experience of my life.
Visiting the Dargah turned out to be a great decision as we got to experience something very beautiful and pious.
Located not very far from the dargah is the India Gate. We wandered around the nearby streets, had some finger licking good street food, took photographs and finally boarded the train to the food heaven i.e. Amritsar.
A trip is never complete without the IRCTC making you suffer a bit. We were to reach Amritsar in the morning but the train was more than 10 hours late and it was almost dark when we reached the city. So we just ordered food at our hotel room and dozed off as it was a long and tiring day.
The morning started with strolling in and about the narrow lanes of Amritsar. It looked beautiful. Most of the shops are open even in the early morning and it felt like the people were so active and hard working. Our mission was to find a nice place to have the famous Amritsari chola kulcha.
I can't express the beauty of the Golden Temple in words. You have to be actually present there to know how splendid it is. The moment I stood before it, the whole experience was surreal. Something that I have been seeing in books or on the internet was right Infront of me. This feeling always has me at a loss for words. The temple looked more beautiful than it did in the books and pictures. Although photography in the temple premises is prohibited but they are lenient and will let you click some photos. It becomes a problem when they catch you taking photos over and over again.
This place has a painful past but that's what makes it so famous among tourists. I couldn't imagine how terrible it must have been for the martyrs. There were bullet holes marked on the walls and it gave me chills down the spine.
An evening walk on the heritage street is a treat for the eyes. It's beautifully illuminated and the whole ambience is just perfect. It's crowded but you can find a sense of peace in that crowd. From domino's to McDonald's to street foods, you can find everything here. Beside that there are several clothes and momento shops. Do buy a phulkari duppata if you're there. We went to this street almost everyday on our trip. It was like an evening routine. The whole street depicts the glory of the city and its past in a very beautiful way.
It was our destination for the breakfast. I had heard that the pooris they make are the best in whole Amritsar. It was 5km away from the golden temple but the visit was worth it. THEY. LITERALLY. MAKE. THE. BEST. PURI. SABZI. CHOLE.
Till this date I haven't had anything better than what I had in Kanha sweets. I had never seen pooris so puffed and tasty. Just writing about it makes me hungry. I think for me the best thing about the trip was those Pooris.
The whole day was scheduled for a visit to the famous Wagah border. We booked a government run Ho-Ho bus a day before and it cost us 200 per person. The whole ride was just amazing. We had the privilege of getting the upper decker seats. After reaching our destination it got even better. I had never seen a crowd so crazy. From shouting slogans to the top of our voices to dancing on the border with hundreds of other girls, we did everything to get the best out of that trip. And we did get the best. A sense of patriotism and respect for the soldiers and army personnel gripped our conscience. The fact that on the other side of the gate it was Pakistan, was very thrilling. We danced, jumped, shouted and returned with a smile on our faces, an appraisal for Indian army for pulling out such grand show everyday and sore throat because of all the shouting. 🇮🇳
The day started with another round to the Kanha sweets. We just couldn't get enough of that. Since it was valentine's day, we had a nice and adventurous day planned we woke up to the sound of the rain. It did put us off a bit but couldn't stop us to go out there and have fun.
I was not very sure about visiting the fort. Besides it was raining heavily and there was no chance that we could explore the fort like that. The architecture did not appeal to me at all but the fort had something in store for us that made the visit worthwhile. There was a 7D show which was a whole new experience and perhaps it was the adventure we were seeking that day. It just made us all cheered up. There are several museums inside the fort campus. Photography is prohibited inside those museums. The kind of arts, statues and painting they have it will make you wonder if its real. You definitely need to see them and praise the talent of the Artists. Photography was allowed in the pagdi museum though.
There are various stories associated with this temple. It's structure kind of resembles the golden temple. It's just a walking distance away from the gobindgarh fort.
We saved the best for the last. Eating at the famous kesar da dhaba was on the top of out list. This dhaba is several decades old and it is the most famous dhaba of Amritsar for all the right reasons. The food was simply awesome. I had never tasted something so good and so pure. It marked the end of our trip to Amritsar.
The first all girls trip of my life! It was good but there were certain shortcomings of it too. Once while coming back to our hotel at night at 8:00pm there were a few guys who chased us. Some shopkeepers stared in a very creepy way. Since it was our first time all of this did scare us a bit. We were three girls alone in a strange city ... India is definitely not safe for solo women. But we also met some great people who helped us with the roads and gave us valuable information. The kind of fun and adventure we had in the city overshadows the negative aspects. I am proud of myself and my girls to have pulled off something that seemed impossible.. Here's to many more trips we will do together 🥂🍾🍷🍹