Electric Cycles in Amritsar

Twelve old gates still show you where the walled city's lanes squeeze. Around Hall Bazaar and the final stretch to the Golden Temple, pilgrims, cycle-rickshaws and handcarts pack every lane, and you thread through them slowly. At the temple itself you'll end up pushing, because the plaza belongs to pedestrians. Find a secure spot and take the helmet with you.

Outside, things open up. Offices, hospitals and newer housing sit along Lawrence Road, Ranjit Avenue, Green Avenue and Majitha Road, and Guru Nanak Dev University lies towards GT Road. Amritsar MetroBus, a rapid bus system that began in January 2019 with 93 air-conditioned buses, runs on its own corridor across town and calls at GNDU. Pedal to a stop, hop on the bus, and students and staff get across town without a car.

NH 3, the old GT Road, takes traffic east towards Jalandhar and west to the Attari border; NH 54 goes south. On the city's edge, Chheharta and Verka generate industrial and dairy traffic of their own. Getting to either from the centre means 8 to 12 km, dead flat, with lorries and tractor-trolleys for company.

Weather swings hard. May touches a 39.4 °C mean high. Most of the roughly 690 mm of rain falls in the July to September monsoon. Respect the winter. December and January nights fall to about −1 °C, and heavy fog from the Punjab plain frequently lingers till mid-morning. Riders here treat lights, reflective gear and a late start as ordinary kit. Spring and autumn are the sweet spots, dry and clear, ideal for a long ride out towards Attari.