After our early morning visit to the Golden Temple and about the worst breakfast I have ever had we decided to explore the back lanes of Amritsar.
Off we went, not really knowing where we were going, brushing off offers of a chauffer-pedalled rickshaw tour - we preferred to walk in the 105 degree heat! So walk we did through the crowded streets filled with shops selling every imaginable object with the face of Guru Nanak on it, swords, steel bracelets, special Sikh underwear, turbans, wool-trimmed fly swishers, leather slippers and, of course, the ubiquitous "pashmina" shawls.
Somehow we ended up way off the beaten track and found ourselves transported back to the middle ages down a quiet, narrow lane lined with blacksmith shops where the smiths were bent over their fires hammering out hoes, trowels, plows; printshops with the guys setting the actual pieces of metal type with tweezers; and small mills grinding flour between stones.
These were the most interesting things I saw that day, even more meaningful to me than the riches of the golden temple. It was a simple glimpse into the lives of real people and it felt like a trip back in time.
Somehow we ended up way off the beaten track and found ourselves transported back to the middle ages down a quiet, narrow lane lined with blacksmith shops where the smiths were bent over their fires hammering out hoes, trowels, plows; printshops with the guys setting the actual pieces of metal type with tweezers; and small mills grinding flour between stones. 
These were the most interesting things I saw that day, even more meaningful to me than the riches of the golden temple. It was a simple glimpse into the lives of real people and it felt like a trip back in time. 
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