India: Amritsar and New Delhi: Them gold in that thar temple.

So India hey. It's like Pakistan but not.

Um, India 's got a different religion, a larger population and a significantly better cricket team. I still have a soft spot for those darn welcoming Pakistanis. Aw Shucks. But let's not put those countries in direct competition. That's done enough already. But India does have a temple made of pure gold! Yes, pure gold! Take that Pakistan! Wow, I'm all over the place.

The Golden Temple.

Anyway so this golden temple is located in the Punjab city of Amritsar and is considered the holiest place in the Sikhism religion. Built in the 16th century it's a temple where all religions are celebrated. You can go there and get a free meal and sleep on its floor and that's exactly what people do... in their thousands.

If you go you have to have your head covered. So I bought a bandanna that bore the Southern Cross encased with the stars and stripes. The bandanna said it was the Australian Flag but I think the local residents were too busy admiring their golden temple and constructing great cricket teams to bother googling world maps.

Walking into the Golden Temple.

The temple was awe-inspiring. Yes, it was made of gold and surrounded by a moat. But it was amazing just to watch the locals pray and be holy. After a few laps of the temple complex I realized that the locals embraced my non Sikh background, not by offering food and shelter, but by asking me if I liked the Australian Cricket team or if I knew their uncle Ravi who owned a carpet business in Sydney. Uh, yes and no... but do you have his card?

Feeling holy and tired I decided not to spend the night on the temple's marble floor but a few tour mates did. They were mobbed by Ravi loving locals and were woken up at 3am by booming morning prayers over the loud speakers, but they said they enjoyed it.

It was a great experience. Then we moved onto New Delhi.

They say that Delhi is overpopulated, polluted and ugly. They were right. Immediately after stepping off the bus I was mobbed by local street beggars. They didn't ask if I knew their Uncle Ravi, but if knew their Uncle Money who lived in my pockets. Wow what a bad example... so let's just say they wanted my money.

And I was going to be stranded in Delhi for a few days... I needed to get away. It wasn't the beggars that annoyed me; it was some of the other bus passengers. They never ask for money but we mob each other for at least twelve hours each day.

So I had to get out.... And I did. (Cue The Great Escape theme.)