India - Day 1 - Friday 4th November

Our flight left Heathrow yesterday, and the trip to Delhi was uneventful. Seat pitch was pretty bad, so we only got a couple of hours sleep! Transfer in Delhi was chaotic. We found the correct queues for e-visa holders, and filled in an immigration form, then joined the queue. Progress was slow, but hastened when several people in front of us discovered they hadn't filled in the right form and had to go back. Passports and visas were scrutinised, finger prints taken, and eventually our passports were stamped and we were in. Then it was a rush to find our luggage, get it to the domestic transfer check-in desk, then find our boarding gate for the flight to Amritsar. All done in just under two hours!

There are 14 on our tour, six couples and two ladies travelling together. We all gathered outside the Amritsar airport where we met our guide for the compete tour, Dilip. Then it was into big white Toyota cars for the trip to the hotel. Traffic was as chaotic as I had been warned about, and why there weren't accidents every few minutes is still a marvel.

The hotel is very security conscious, all cars are checked every time they enter the complex, and all bags are searched and guests put through a metal detector every time we return. We find our rooms, have about an hours rest, then meet Dilip for our first visit into Amritsar. Same cars, same traffic, then we park and depart on foot towards the temple area. 100,000 to 300,000 people visit the temple everyday, and there is now a large pedestrian area in the streets of the temple district. We wander around absorbing the atmosphere and watching the crowds, then it's back to the hotel.

Dinner is provided, a wonderful buffet in the hotel restaurant, then it's off to bed for a well deserved 10 hour sleep.