Amritsar and the border ceremony

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That was a bloody awful night bus, it was 5am somewhere on the outskirts of Amritsar. We jumped into a tuk tuk to the Golden Temple and after much walking around asking about accommodation, and dealing with Storms lost sleep deprived, hunger driven wobbly she was throwing, we bunked down in the free Temple accommodation for a few morning hours kip.
Lunch was on the house (of god), you have to give it to the Sikh’s, they know how to run a large operation. The Temple kitchen ran 24/7 and must have fed a 1000 people an hour. Hundreds of devotees contributed cooking and washing up. And the thali was pretty damn good, and the rice pudding had us craving for seconds.
The Golden temple itself is an amazing piece of devotion, gold sparkling in the middle of the lake bordered by white marble, pilgrims surround it 360 degrees, kept out of the water in non-designated areas by bearded men in cloaks wielding their tradition daggers and spears.
In the afternoon we teamed up with some other backpackers sleeping at the Temple and took a taxi ride to the India-Pakistan border at Wagah for the border closing ceremony. Like a group of horny peacocks strutting their stuff, trying to get the upper hand on their opponents, the guards on each side puffed their chests out and stomped around with straight legs and serious faces. Supporters chanted and cheered from each side. Indian tourists/supporters ran toward and away from the gates carrying their flags and all the woman danced to the music. On the Pakistani side it almost seemed like they had brought in a small rent a crowd to show face, as no town lie along their side of the border.
Upon returning to the Golden Temple, we enjoyed another delicious temple dinner and then marvelled at the temple in its night time splendour, and watched the Sikh holy book be taken from the temple across Gurus bridge and put to bed for the night, bed time 10.15pm.

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