.. again. Exactly two years after the last kick-ass trip. This time only six days.
I have a policy of not goin to d same country twice, coz there’s too much other shit to see. Gotta make an exception here. Beer Lao, i come!
See yar!
Off to party for 3 days in JB’s duty-free area, The Zon. Partied there 2 years ago, and it was phat! Gonna do it all over again…
While there, we hit d road a few times. The state is much smaller than it used to be in its glory days under its famous Maharaja & general. First the Brits, then India, totally carved it up, n looted it.
It’s also seen lots of bloodshed. First by wars with the Moghuls, then more recently by battles against India and its fucked-up police n military, which routinely committed brutal war crimes.
On d road
Anyway, went to Punjab’s capital, Amritsar, to the Golden Temple. Altho it was destroyed by the Indian army in 1984, its been restored, and is a beautiful, tranquil place. Its lies in the middle of a lake, with a bridge leading to it.
The main complex area
The front
Inside
On d roof
Punjab means Five Rivers (panj = 5; arb = river), but i only saw one. The turquoise waters come from the Himalaya mountains to the plains of Punjab, and canals channel them to the farmlands.
Fresh water supply
Uncle enjoyin a TB
Havent talked about d booze! The well-known beer is Kingfisher, but Thunderbolt is good. Smooth n strong (abt 7%), i cdnt get enough of it. Easy to drink as carbonation is low.
Their local whisky is good too, and the famous ones are Bagpiper and Blender’s Choice, considered premium.
The default beer on this trip
Transaction at the booze shop
But booze is only available at the designated booze shops, and almost all are just take-away. U wdnt really find ’em at local restaurants / stalls.
Our host, Hidayet, also took us to his wife’s village for dinner. It was 2 hours away, but worth it. Food n company was great. Met his in-laws n all.
Dinner & drinks in d courtyard
Bobby, a kid who doubled as our waiter/bartender
Sunset, when i was chillin on their roof
Cant recall the name of their village
Clear skies averyday
It has a huge Sikh temple
We headed back to our host village, ready to head back to KL the next day.
Stopped at the ice cream parlour for dessert
The next morning we sere set the nine-hour drive south to Delhi.
Took one last look around.
Kid gettin a morning ride
Kids off to school
Spinach field
Our host Hidayet escorted me all the way there.
Hidayet enjoying a beer at a rest-stop
A typical breakfast - wheat bread with a lil mashed potato inside, white butter, pickled chili
My first trip to India was many years ago. My whole family got sick, except me, altho they were very careful with food/drinks. U know what they say right? Dont drink the water. Only take bottled water, even to brush yor teeth! This time, I DRANK THE WATER. Dont know why.
Not only that, ate at stalls all d time. Somehow escaped any stomach/ass problems. Was hoping to lose some weight. Fail.
Quite an interesting trip, and who knows, i might head there someday to chill (and put on weight) again.
Just got back from North India for a visit with my old man and his brothers. They still there for a while longer tho.
Wuz a lil more fun than i anticipated. Lots of eating n drinking. We landed in Delhi n headed to Punjab further north to check out the ancestral village. Celebrated my birthday there too!
Funny thing is my dad n uncles (four brothers in total) still have some farmland there which they inherited form their dad (who got it from his dad, etc), which me n my bro are supposed to inherit, but they just gonna go ahead n sell it all.
Seeing as how i dont plan to hang around there, i have no objections.
Uncle no 1 + dad
The villages in Punjab are real cool. I luv d houses – they are quite closed n walled up from d outside, but once u enter, there’s always a nice center courtyard to chill at.
And they all have stairs that lead to the flat roofs that i luv, where they chill. And drink. Or sleep in summer. Mexican-style. Haha
Its basically farmlands as far as your eye can see. There’s usually not a cloud in d sky, not good if u get sunburnt easily.
Mostly grains, like wheat are grown in Punjab. It’s India’s richest state and is its wheat basket. Water for irrigation comes from the Himalayas.
Our pad, from d outside
Newly-planted crops, view from roof
D plan was to stay in a motel in d town nearby, but the guy who’s renting the farmland insisted that we stay in his village. Niice.
So we stayed in a spare house. Thank God there was hot water, coz it’s freezing at night, as winter is approaching.
Kids, billy goat and combined-harvester
Uncle chillin
The guy’s name is Hidayet, and the village is Chopkiti. He’s the sarpench in these parts (village head). They all farmboys here. Hidayet’s wife is an amazing cook!
Quite a cute village, with a lil lake in d middle. Took a walk immediately to check it out, and then realized i had a bodyguard following me everywhere. Felt like Michael Corleone in The Godfather when he headed back to his village in Sicily. Haha!
Spinach patch
Kiddies
The local bar
Came across whole lotta shitcakes. More details later
Some new friends
Small kid, big gun
D local Sikh temple
D local clinic. The doctor was in, all by himself, staring into space. Was probably high, cos it's right across the bar
In every courtyard, there'll be chairs and a traditional bed to hangout / warm-up / drink
A fave mode of transportation in these parts
The courtyard in our crib, and that's the morning warm-your-body spot
Our front door
Drinking water, etc, is from underground
Typical local food (restaurant) - baked bread, lentil + kidney bean curry and mashed spinach + cottage cheese cubes
Uncle no 3 havin a drink
The top local beer. On d left is a slow-cook stove, specially reserved for meats and mashed spinach, and the fuel source is wood and buffalo shit-cakes, which works like charcoal
Part 1 of 2 (Next: On da road)
The top local brew. On d left is a slow-burn stove, used to specially cook meats and d local delicacy, mashed spinach. The fuel is wood and dried cow shit-cakes, which works like charcoal
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