Day 136 Wednesday 31 January 2007 Dharmasala to Amritsar, Punjab, India

After a pleasant but chilly breakfast in the garden of the hotel watching monkeys play in the fir trees and the snow capped mountains, we wander around the town which is full of crimson robed monks and Tibetan handicraft shops. We don’t see the Dalai Lama so we set off for Amritsar, our last destination in India around 12.30. Its another pleasant drive on quiet country roads with beautiful scenery, rice terraces and small villages until we hit the Punjab about 100kms from Amritsar. Suddenly the road deteriorates and is full of potholes, the number of trucks intensifies frighteningly and the signposts completely vanish. Steering largely by the setting sun, we plough thru craters, smog and an election rally (a spectacle in India which usually leaves a few dead from the local pollies henchmen) to reach Amritsar by nightfall where we check into the expensive, over priced Ritz.

Distance Today: 214km Trip to date: 21,277km