The main event for today was to visit the Wagah Border crossing between India and Pakistan. While the border between these two countries is one of the most volatile in the world, this particular crossing has become a tourist attraction with both armies facing off in a ceremony of silly walks that even John Cleese would be impressed with.
Crowds from both countries turn out to see the closing of the border gates and lowering of the flags each day. They patriotically wave flags and their cheers get loader the higher the guards kick their legs. If you haven’t heard of this before then just google “Wagah Border” – it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
I was just as fascinated with the people actually crossing the border. Most were rushing to get themselves and their luggage through the gates before the ceremony began. Each had to lug their suitcases and boxes of possessions into no-mans-land between the two gates before being allowed to cross the border themselves and then lug everything through to the other country.
On the way home from the ceremony we settled on the first part of our ‘Team Carter’ travel uniform – a cap – I Love My India. A quality item that cost just over one NZ dollar.
Earlier in the day we’d taken a tuk tuk into the town centre to walk around some of the markets. I got a demonstration of how to make the local speciality Kulcha – absolutely delicious.
While the boys were buying knives, Bryce and I wandered around the corner and came upon the Community Kitchen from which nearly 100,000 people are feed at the Langar Hall in the Golden Temple each day. Visitors to the Golden Temple are offered a free meal which comes from donations of cash or in kind and many hours of volunteer time. The kitchen operates 24/7 and about 3 years ago it went completely organic in an effort to encourage local farmers to reduce the chemical products used.
We watched for a while as the Sikh men ferried the vessels full of rice pudding from the kitchen to the Temple. BJ & Bryce took off their shoes and joined in. One of the guys took off his scarf and wrapped it around Bryce’s head like a turban so he could enter the kitchen (heads must be covered, shoes off and hands cleaned). The local men were so welcoming and friendly – something I’ll never forget.
On the way back to meet our tuk tuk driver we took some of the narrow alleyways we’d walked last night on the way to dinner. In the light of day they were filled with textile stalls and many locals. At one point we got trapped in a ‘traffic jam’ of people, most just calming working their way through the crowd but a few pushing and shoving. It took us about 10 minutes to get through a matter of metres and I was starting to get a bit anxious – the locals however seemed to just take it in their stride.
Amritsar gets just a small mention in most tourist guides but in my books it’s a ‘must do’. This is the India I wanted to see – busy, colourful, friendly but still gritty and a bit dirty – we’ve had an amazing time.
A few photos from the day …..
Checking out the kulcha cooking in the tandoori oven
Community Kitchen
Ministry of Silly Walks
