Amritsar, Punjab, India

Home to the Golden Temple and centre of the Sikh religion, Amritsar absolutely teems with Sikh pilgrims and worshippers who flood the temple day and night, often sleeping on the white marble terraces or in the free hostels nearby. Though welcome, foreigners are an oddity in Amritsar: you are continuously stared at by curious Sikhs - whether walking on the street, at the temple itself or in local restaurants. It is unnerving.

A highly inclusive religion, Sikhs welcome non-Sikhs with free accommodation and free communal meals in Amritsar. It is a powerful religion with unyielding beliefs and a history of militancy and martyrdom. Khalsa is one fundamental: a belief in a chosen race of soldier saints who abide by strict codes of moral conduct and engage in a crusade for righteousness. It was easy to find bullet holes marking the 1984 siege by Indira Ghandi's troops. Amritsar is also the site of the Jallianwala Bagh, where in 1919 British troops slaughtered hundreds of unarmed protesters, sparking Mahatma Ghandi's civil disobedience.