I hope this posts sums up our amazing wedding weekend with Barb and Jeff at Rockwater Resorts on the Sunshine Coast, BC.
The weather didn’t look like it was going to hold up as it rained for a solid 3 days. But mother nature blessed everyone in Vancouver on lucky 10/10/10

Enjoy!

Stating off with the ladies,

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Amristar
// December 11, 2009

Today’s train ride to Amritsar was going to a little different than previously documented trips. We missed our advanced booking methods of a week and got these only 3 days prior to. Which should have been sold out but we were left with no choice and two confirmed seats on public seating. These were not overnights, so we were prepared to watch over our stuff even more cautiously now. At the terminal it was just another gong show as people crowd the waiting area and some even jumping on before the train came to a complete stop. If you were left without reserved seating, it was pretty much a total free-for-all at that point. The public seats provided us with a place to sit but we would have to bare waist-to-waist discomfort for 8 hours.

Lets say I jumped to conclusions a little quickly by judging the worst about the public seaters before giving it a chance. But let me say, this was by far my favourite train ride and I’ll tell ya why. The AC Carts are nice, all seats and beds are reserved. It’s the safest, civilized, cheap & comfortable way to travel around India. Not only that but paying for train overnighters is the best way to save money on guesthouses. The unreserved public seaters accommodates everyone with wooden or padded plastic seats which are not recommended for long distance journeys, but quite acceptable for daytime travel of up to a few hours. I’ll admit, little awkward bumping elbows and having almost everyone look at you, but it’s part of the culture shock. With an open mind and a big smile you could change curiosity into a open invitation *bobbles head*. Once the communication barrier comes tumbling down, you quickly felt the warmth from the Sikh’s. Not speaking of just now but the driver me hire and later at the Golden Temple.

Just across from me sat a very distinct Sikh man with some pronounced features but his striking turban, glasses, turtle neck, striped blazer and dress shoes. Before taking a photo, I made sure to strike a conversation and learn a little about who this wise, soft spoken individual was.

Couldn’t decide which edit I liked more, B/W or colour. What do you guys thing?

8hrs was a long time to kill being on a train so I decided to walk around to stretch my legs. I put a little video together for all you to see how cramped these compartments felt. Not the typical train ride in North American where everyone’s quietly minding their own business either. What chaos! Not to mention it seemed endless, 10 minutes of video from a random spot and no end in sight!

At the Amritsar station, Mel and I were expected to be greeted by a crowd of persistent and hungry taxi drivers the second we walked out of the terminal. Prior to engaging any drivers to hassle out a price, our homework in terms of cost to the temple and immediate departure to Dharamshala was set. Thank you internet forum for this. Again though, it was the exact opposite. Agra for example was a tourist deathtrap for uneducated travellers ready to be hustled into spending quadruple the price. Here, the first driver who came up to us, gave us a no hassle price we were looking for – including a free ride to the temple.

It was time to fuel up first and our driver, Deedee (nickname for him) knew just the stop. “The Brothers Dhala” was the name and the sign outside quote, no joke, “#1 food in Amritsar”. Now that’s tough to keep a reputation for. But as the facts showed already presented itself, it was busy, fast, cheap and good! I apologize, no food photos for all my foodie readers.

Next trip, swear!!

A bit of back-story about Amritsar was that I didn’t have it on the final itinerary until just a few days before the trip. A lot of the popular guides which structured this trip didn’t feature the city, or temple for instance. I forgot how the opportunity presented itself but I’m glad I found it. The experienced I took home with me could never be summed up in any book and/or couldn’t be shared until one actually sets foot here.

Before entering the grounds all bags and shoes had to be dropped off by the entrance. In exchange, you were handed a flashy yellow handkerchief which required you to cover your head when in the Gurdwara (temple). It was recommended to wander through museum, so decided to polish up on our already amazing Sikh religion/culture history; as if. Marvelous pictures show great detail in the hearts of battle, victory, struggle, history and pain. Nothing I’ve ever seen in a painting before; blood spraying from limbs, tortured victims, vivid expression of battle and pain. Some were hard to take in while others impossible to move your eyes off. Not sure if their history was destroyed because a few of the paintings looked recent. Looked within 10-15 years recent because of the clarity and modern day style. The last three rooms filled every inch of the wall with portraiture’s; where these great men throughout Sikh’s history? None the less, each painting broke the repetitive layout by presenting a unique look to each portrait.

Now the main attraction,

Finally, the sight I and probably many of you have been waiting to see. The grounds themselves were magnificent. Floors polished with milk, fluffy red carpet lined the bridge, crystal clear waters; which might as well had flowed down from Himalayas themselves. Large Carp, Rohu, Mrigal and Katla accommodate the pool that surrounds the temple beautiful reflection. Read that some of them have a gold ring through their nose that suppose to bring good luck.
As for inside the temple, intricate patterned textures line every millimeter of wall/ceiling space – nothing was left unpolished. All the better reason to not give me an excuse why you couldn’t get a good photo!

Food worked as an offering or donation. Pick up the offering before the bridge entrance, share half at the temple (or full like I saw some) and other half you maybe sit down eat with everyone else at the temple. Finding space to sit was worse then parking downtown on a weekend. Once found though, you can then just sit to enjoy your sweets, admire the architecture and share a few talks with others around you.

Off to Dharamshala
The rest of our night was spent cramped in a small car enduring the bumpy roads and windy hillsides of the Himalayas. The few rest stops along the way made it enjoyable to stretch our legs and grab some snacks but it never felt like we were getting closer. The only thing hinting our arrival was ease of plummeting temperatures as we got hirer into the ranges. What seemed like already the next morning, we arrived without problems. I had my doubting at first because the drivers seemed too friendly, but throughout the entire way we were treated with up most care and attention.

I can truly say after just spending a few hours in Punjab, I found the people remarkably helpful and warm. Even my future Dharamshala blog entries confirm this as we meet some friendly Sikh’s throughout our stay.

Barb + Jeff // Beautiful

Previously we showed you a highlight from Arisa and Josh’s Stanley Park Engagement Tour. Two photographers and an assistant later, we got all these.

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For this session we were able to use the new beautifully designed Vancouver Convention Center as our backdrop. We used both the inside and outside

Leaving this entry with a simple but cute three piece film strip.