The day started well with a filling breakfast of tasty dosas in a small restaurant opposite the hotel. We then caught a tuk-tuk to another temple in the old part of the city, which the Sikh we had met the previous evening had encouraged us to visit because that day was the birthday of the Guru to whom the temple was dedicated. As we arrived the street was full with pilgrims entering and leaving the temple. This should have been a warning for what was to come.
An interesting addition to the traffic, especially at a roundabout
Trying to extract my scarf from the rickshaw's wheel
Arriving at the temple we had a feeling it might be crowded
We entered, took off our shoes and socks, and tried to get closer to the main prayer room. The crowd of people was very dense and it was nearly impossible to make it through. People were getting impatient and were pushing past. After receiving a few elbows to the hips and having our feet stepped on a few times (one kid actually jumped up and down on John's bare foot), we decided that it was time to retreat.
Coming at lunchtime was probably not a great idea
Prayer before lunch
We walked back to the hotel and had lunch in another restaurant nearby (nothing memorable but it did the job). We then paid another visit to the Golden Temple to check out the early-afternoon colours and soak up the peaceful atmosphere. The huge crowds to cross the guru's bridge filled us with relief that we had been able to enter the temple the previous evening, when there were far fewer people. We (and our cameras) greatly enjoyed the beauty of the temple and the colours and customs of the people circumambulating with us.
Blending into the streets of Amritsar
Afternoon bath
Looking even sillier than usual
Looks cold
Golden Temple bathing in the afternoon sun
Queue to enter the temple
A temple guard
Shoe deposit
It was then time to catch our taxi to the border with Pakistan for the ceremonial closing of the border. We could have taken a public bus, but we thought that it would be a good idea to hire a taxi because it was India's Republic Day, and we were right: the number of people was quite extraordinary. Kids were selling Indian flags and pleaded with us to buy one to participate in the flag competition against Pakistan. We suspected that they did not need our help. The taxi had parked close to a stall selling snacks along the road; we memorised its name before being consumed by the crowd. Everybody had to go through a security check (women separately from men), during which I was very sad (and surprised) to be parted from my cookies.
When we arrived, the main stand in this strange semi-stadium was already completely full, and there was a huge crowd pressing to get in. Thankfully we had been advised that with your passport you could get access to a separate stand on the side for VIPs and foreigners. We were more than happy to use any privilege offered to us. We passed through security again and the women in charge were very intrusive about my relationship status; bizarre.
Anyway, we found ourselves two spaces to sit on the steps among other tourists. On the Indian side, dance shows performed by children entertained the visitors. I turned to the Pakistani side and was surprised by its emptiness. It gradually filled up, women on one side, men on the other. The Pakistani stand however never became nearly as full as India's side. The Pakistani crowd was entertained by men marching with the country's flags.
Party on the Indian side
Empty stands on the Pakistani side
One side of the packed stadium on Indian territory
Pakistani side slowly filling up as the sun sets
The children's dance show stopped, a trumpet sounded, and some of the soldiers started chanting in a microphone. On each side an MC was working the crowd, his scream of "Hindustan" (or "Pakistan") being answered by the masses, competing in volume with their rivals. Suddenly we saw an Indian soldier darting off towards the barrier separating the two countries and, once there, kicking his boot up towards his face (presumably this is supposed to be intimidating). Their costume, and in particular the hat that resembled a rooster's head, contributed to the burlesque scene. The same move was repeated a couple of times, sometimes solo and sometimes in groups. The border gate opened for a while, and we could see the Pakistani guards doing exactly the same moves. Their costume was very much alike the Indian one, but dark blue and green instead of beige and red. Finally guards from each side grabbed the ropes of their respective flags and slowly pulled them down.
The marching Indian Rooster
The Pakistani rivals
Watch that leg-kick
By then one of the barriers of the Indian stand had been opened (deliberately, I presume) and a huge crowd advanced towards the border gate, stopped a few metres away by a couple of guards. We thought that it was time for us to go in order to beat the crowds on the way back. We managed to find our taxi and drove away before the traffic became heavier.
We asked the driver to drop us at a restaurant called Crystal. There are two Crystal restaurants next to each other, but he very deliberately showed us towards one of them (whether because he thought this one was better or because this one gave him a better cut, who knows). The restaurant was very smart, and we clearly did not fit in with our backpackers look. We nevertheless had a really nice dinner. We had tried to be reasonable and order only one main dish and a starter, with a naan and a paratha, but it still ended up being as much as we could squeeze in. After such a feast we decided it would be a good idea to try to walk back to the hotel. Unfortunately we had some difficulty finding our way; the man whom we asked for directions simply stopped an autorickshaw and told us to get in. This was a wise decision as it turned out to be much further (and more complicated to get to) than we had expected.
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