Durgiana Mandir - The Guide Hog

After being mauled at the massacre memorial, we needed time to decompress. How do Brad and Angelina handle it? Exiting the Jallianwala Bagh, we hired a few bicycle rickshaw drivers to take us to lunch. I was looking forward to dining at a restaurant recommended by the brother of my colleague, Shafali. He visits Amritsar frequently and raves about this place. The rickshaw drivers merged into the busy traffic, and off we went.

After darting through alleys, zipping around corners, and pedaling up and down a highway overpass (well, technically, we got off and walked for that part), the rickshaws pulled up to our destination. Closed.

“We can take you to Crystal Restaurant,” said our driver.
“Sure,” said Tony. “Why not?”
“Why not? Why NOT? Well, maybe because he is a RICKSHAW DRIVER,” I said to Tony as we hit the road again. “Are we really taking restaurant recommendations from a rickshaw driver?”
“I bet he’s taking us to his favorite place,” said Tony, who obviously hadn’t thought it through.
“Yeah, I bet the Crystal Restaurant is a popular hangout for the rickshaw crowd,” I muttered. Still, it was an adventure. For the second time, we hiked up the hill to the highway overpass and reboarded the rickshaw for another wild ride.

The Crystal Restaurant turned out to be a typical packaged-tour eatery with a thick menu catering to the culinary preferences of various nationalities. Katrina snapped this shot.

After lunch, we asked our drivers to take us back up and over the highway to the Durgiana Mandir, a Hindu temple that was lovely but a bit anti-climactic compared to the Golden Temple.

You can ring my be-e-ell, ring my bell! (Nancy’s photo)

Returning to our rickshaws, we decided to head back to the hotel. That involved another trek up and over the highway, but at the end of our journey, we all agreed this impromptu tour was a highlight of our Amritsar visit.

Katrina was terrified, but Nancy kept her calm.