I have not been writing about my travel as prolifically as I was hoping to. Thank you to friends and family that have been prodding me to get off the lazy train and share the next post. For the past week, my trip has been the topic of discussion on the evening walks with Ravinder (my better half) and Eevee (our dog.) Every evening, we have covered a segment of the trip. While that has kept the memories of the trip fresh, it has not contributed towards penning them down.
Some friends called me, and we talked about one aspect or another of the trip. Some of the most often asked questions were: How many miles did your travel? How many cities did you visit? How did you travel? Why did you do it? Where did you stay? What was something that inspired you? What was something that broke your heart? Did it change you?
My original plan was to document the trip chronologically, along with photos, anecdotes, and maps. As I discussed the trip with family and friends, I came to the (now obvious) realization that a thematic treatment of the trip would be far more interesting for those who choose to read the posts. And though it will be more effort, it will give me the opportunity to reflect on the trip more deeply. That said, I feel there is still value in putting together the maps and routes and sharing that information.
Amritsar, Tarn Taran Sahib, Khadur Sahib, Goindwal Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi, Baba Bakala, Anandpur Sahib, Kiratpur Sahib, Rupnagar (Ropar), Chamkaur Sahib, Machhiwara, Raikot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Talwandi Sabo, Bhatinda, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Kotkapura, Jaito, and Dera Baba Nanak are just some of the cities and towns I visited. As I went to the different cities and gurdwaras, I saved them to my Panjab Yatra list in Google Maps. The distribution of more than 100 markers on the map below, showing the different sites I visited also gives a clue to the phases of the journey. (More on that later.)
There are 23 districts in Punjab [1]. In 26 days, I logged 2,650 km and visited gurdwaras and places of historical interest in 12 districts, viz., Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Rupnagar, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Bathinda, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Faridkot, Moga, and Gurdaspur. To get to those places, I traveled through seven additional districts viz., Jalandhar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar, Hoshiarpur, Sangrur, Mansa, Barnala, and my home base, Sahibzada Ajit Singh (SAS) Nagar. In the end, there were four districts (Fazilka, Firozpur, Malerkotla, and Pathankot) that I was not able to visit.
References:
- “List of districts of Punjab, India”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_districts_of_Punjab,_India, visited June 10, 2023.
First published
Last updated