On the morning of the 3rd we set off for Amritsar on an early train. After reading Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States, it was very interesting to observe the behavior and mannerisms of Northern Indians and compare them to those of Southern Indians. Annabel and I felt like we could distinctly tell the the difference and noticed many aspects Bhagat mentions in his novel.
In the afternoon we arrived in Amritsar: home of the Golden Temple— the famous pilgrimage site for Sikhs in India and all over the world.
We stood in line for a while before we boarded a packed, public bus to the temple. I had to stand for 30mins with my gigantic/ heavy backpack carrying both of our stuff—we condensed our luggage into one bag for the second part of our journey.
When we arrived we awkwardly entered the temple grounds in search of a guard who could point us in the direction of the “Foreign Tourist Rooms”. Like the Sikh Temple in Delhi, the Golden Temple provides room and board for pilgrims. They have a small section of beds in a room off to the side for foreign tourists on a first come first serve bases. The main room has a communal mega bed— consisting of around 10 beds that are connected— and three small rooms with 3 or 4 beds in each. Luckily Annabel and I got their in time to claim two beds in the large room.
After signing (an making sure that I was in fact a tourist) we set off to explore the compound and locate the communal dinning hall, which serves free food 24/7, before heading to the boarder.
Around 3ish we hired a taxi and joined the crowd people flocking to the India-Pakistan boarder for the closing of the boarder gate.
Every day at sunset both counties put on this fantastic show/ competition while they close the gate and lower their flags. It basically turns in to who can dance, yell, sing, march, and kick the best. My writing can not do it justice, but it was an incredible scene.
After the ceremony we headed back to the temple for dinner and sleep.
The next morning we work up early to tour the temple and left Amritsar to head even more north.
In the afternoon we arrived in Amritsar: home of the Golden Temple— the famous pilgrimage site for Sikhs in India and all over the world.
We stood in line for a while before we boarded a packed, public bus to the temple. I had to stand for 30mins with my gigantic/ heavy backpack carrying both of our stuff—we condensed our luggage into one bag for the second part of our journey.
When we arrived we awkwardly entered the temple grounds in search of a guard who could point us in the direction of the “Foreign Tourist Rooms”. Like the Sikh Temple in Delhi, the Golden Temple provides room and board for pilgrims. They have a small section of beds in a room off to the side for foreign tourists on a first come first serve bases. The main room has a communal mega bed— consisting of around 10 beds that are connected— and three small rooms with 3 or 4 beds in each. Luckily Annabel and I got their in time to claim two beds in the large room.
After signing (an making sure that I was in fact a tourist) we set off to explore the compound and locate the communal dinning hall, which serves free food 24/7, before heading to the boarder.
Around 3ish we hired a taxi and joined the crowd people flocking to the India-Pakistan boarder for the closing of the boarder gate.
Every day at sunset both counties put on this fantastic show/ competition while they close the gate and lower their flags. It basically turns in to who can dance, yell, sing, march, and kick the best. My writing can not do it justice, but it was an incredible scene.
After the ceremony we headed back to the temple for dinner and sleep.
The next morning we work up early to tour the temple and left Amritsar to head even more north.
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