Taking my parents on a trip was a long dream of mine. I was skeptical about planning this trip, cause they are old and most days their answer is no, but somehow convinced them.
The trip was to Amritsar - Dalhousie - Dharamshala -Chandigarh
Our flight to Amritsar was at 9 in the morning but in true parent fashion, My dad insisted we left at 5 in morning!. Thanks to Air India's long service time, we were not early. In fact it was perfect. They work at grand-dad speed, No need to spend money on in-flight breakfast, mom packed a snack and we ate while in the check-in line. On arriving at Amritsar we were greeted by our cab driver who was going to be our guide and ride through the trip.
The first stop was the Indo-Pak Wagah Border, we took fun pics on the way because there is a sign showing how close Lahore is !. The energy at the Wagah Border truly brings out the next level of patriotism in you. Also to see how different people make the essence of India was humbling.
Next day we visited the Golden Temple. It was a Sunday and it was bustling with life, but when we entered the temple there was silence and peace. We spent the day there, visited the Jallianwala Bagh, ate tasty food and did some shopping.
Evening we decided to move ahead to Dalhousie.We stayed at a resort called Mini Swiss, it was quaint, beautiful, and we could see snow-clad peaks from our room window. The weather was cool as we were in Mid-september, which was good for my parents to bear. We went for strolls and just breathing the fresh mountain air was refreshing. We also spotted many fury friends.
Our driver/guide was very informative. He would stop at certain springs along the road for us to taste the water from the springs. It was sweet! So we started filling our water bottles whenever we got a chance. He even introduced us to pahadi vegetables, and convinced my mom to take makka ki atta from a near-by village.(facepalm).While this was happening we somehow landed in a local food cart, and ate humble dal rice with vegetables. It was so delicious and the cheapest we paid for food. So always eat local!.
Dharamshala we visited most of the touristy places such as HPCA stadium, Dalai Lama Temple. St. John's church but the most interesting part was the cemetery, seeing the beautiful tombstones and reading the inscriptions on them showing how it was a part of a bygone era. We ended the day at a cafe where we saw the sunset.
Chandigarh was mostly to catch our flight back, but we did get in some last minute shopping.
Traveling with your parents is a different experience when you’re older, now they are the babies. Here are some tips which I found helpful . Taking the same cab for the entire tour, we could stop anywhere if we needed a stretch and to use the washroom. We got hotel rooms on the 1st floor mostly for easier access. Choosing a pleasant season to travel. Limited the places we visited as compared to what I would visit with friends and kept the number of days to about a week. We all love food so that was not compromised. Seeing my parents happy made me happy too.
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