Wild Wild Punjab -

You see it at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. In the midst of the chaos of the city, there is a serenity that is almost aggressively peaceful. You see it at the India-Pakistan border at Wagah, where the energy is a competitive sport of patriotism.

It evokes images of roaring yellow tractors, thumping dhol beats, golden wheat fields stretching to the horizon, and perhaps a young man on a Bullet motorcycle with a royal turban flying in the wind.

The "wild" is the wind. It never stops blowing in Punjab. It hits you at 100 km/h as you roll down the car window, carrying the scent of wet earth, manure, and sarson ka saag cooking on a village stove. Let me tell you about a Tuesday night in a village near Ludhiana. I stopped to ask for directions to a hotel.

Have you experienced the Wild Wild Punjab? Tell us your craziest road trip story in the comments below. #PunjabTravel #WildWildPunjab #IncredibleIndia #RoadTrip #Amritsar #FoodTravel

Here is what the "Wild" actually looks like. First, forget the desert. The "wild" here is green. Ferociously green.

The man I asked—let's call him Gurdeep Singh—did not give me directions. He gave me a room. He gave me his wife’s homemade makki di roti with ghee dripping down my chin. He brought out a bottle of whiskey that cost more than my flight ticket. By 10 PM, we were singing old songs, and by 11 PM, his neighbor had arrived with a goat to barbecue.