India is Great ... Yeah!

After my quick trip to Chandigarh, it's off to Amritsar, known as the heart of the Sikh religion and home to the Golden Temple.

I needed to get to the bus station at 5:15 am, but fortunately it's only a five minute walk from my guest house. How nice... an AC, deluxe, private bus ... and it really was deluxe. The bus stop bathrooms were even spotless, with western toilets, toilet paper and soap. Gasp, did I fall asleep and wake up in another country?

I do believe my cranky mood has vanished. I get a rickshaw and he takes me to a similarly-named hotel on the other side of Amritsar. What to do, but laugh! He tries again and my karma must be improving. Another nice room ... hot water and towel (no TP though).

First to see ... the Golden Temple. I haven't been paying too much attention to what day of the week it is since I've been travelling, but I realize with the masses of people that today is Sunday. The place is packed to the gills!

The things you have to remember when entering the temple area. First, I notice everyone has taken their shoes off ... OK and I stuff them in my backpack. Then I get stopped at the door ... everyone needs their head covered. OK, I pull out something from my bag, but the guard spots my shoes ... no shoes, Madam! He points me in the direction of shoe check. Now I'm ready ... barefeet (ready for the ritual washing), head covered.

The place is unbelievable. It may not be one of the wonders of the world, but sure qualifies. I start walking (clockwise, of course). There's so much to take in ... the bathers, worshippers, chanting, not to mention the shimmering gold beauty. The Temple never closes and is completely free of any charges. There is always a loudspeaker with chants being sung from their holy book that you can hear from far away (I can speak on that with authority since my guest house is close by).

This is a day-to-day temple for the people, regardless of caste, economic means, or religion. One person explained to me that although it is a Sikh temple, it was built with four entrances demonstrating there is only one god, regardless of religious beliefs ... Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian.

And to make certain all can avail themselves of the temple, there is a dining hall serving food 24 hours a day (simple, but I heard quite tasty) and dormitories ... all free. Now the Indian dorms are a bit more primitive than that for the foreigners. Theirs is a mat on cement underneath an overhang. The foreigners have a room with cots and blankets ... none too bad. The squat toilets are simple, but surprisingly clean for the gazillions of people coming through every day (or could it be that I'm getting used to this).

Awestruck, I wander around several times ... spectacular!

Then it's off to catch a share jeep to Attari, smack-dab on the Pakistani border. There's only two reasons to go to Attari ... to cross into Pakistan (I'll pass this trip) or to enjoy the nightly "closing the border" ceremony. I find a share jeep near the Golden Temple and off we drive (about an hour's drive from Amritsar).

Every evening just before sunset, the Indian and Pakistani military meet at the border to engage in a truly extraordinary 20 minutes of pure theatre. There's machismo, pride, and posturing. There are thousands of people on both sides chanting at the top of their lungs, trying to out-scream the other side ....... India is Great, Yeah!

There is a squad of soldiers stomping and goose-stepping up and down in front of the crowds (how on earth do they not dislocate something with those moves?) The gates are flung open and the guard parties of both sides stand scowling shoulder-to-shoulder while lowering their flags ... carefully to make sure neither flag is ever higher than the other. The flags are folded, marched away, and the gates slam shut.

The Indians take this ceremony very seriously. There's much fist waving, hollering, and storming the border after the ceremony ... the guards keeping a tight reign over it all. Amazing!

Quick street food find on the way back to our jeep ... corn on the cob that tasted a bit dried, hot from the coals and rubbed with lime and salt. Quite chewey, almost like chewey corn nuts. Yummy!

Back to my guest house ... and at sunrise the next day, I visit the Golden Temple again. There's just so much to take in. And on my way back for breakfast, I bump into really the first westerners I've seen. Surprising for what seems to be such a tourist site. Turns out the restaurant isn't open yet, so we wander about having chai and biscuits. Finally, it's time and we all try the masala dosa's ... sort of a crepe stuffed with kinda spicy potato filly. Yummy!

Kevin (from Florida, but traveling the world for the last 22 years), and Michel (from Holland) are in desperate need of a shave. So off to the barber shop. Quite the lathering, straight razor flourish, and lots of drama ... but I will say they look like new people!

By now it's pouring rain, so we all decide to hunker down for the day ... me on the internet, with plans to meet up for dinner at 5 pm at the dorms where everyone's staying. After a dinner full of laughter, stories, and some likely tall tales, we head back to the dorms for a "party". (Just for the record, I surprisingly wasn't very hungry and didn't eat much.) It was Michel's birthday and someone had bought a bunch of cake slices (another note, that I still wasn't hungry). How enjoyable to spend an evening with such a diverse group with one thing in common ... a love of travel! Our homes spanned the globe, Japan, Italy, Holland, UK, Germany, New Zealand, Argentina, and some I probably missed. And as Monday night drew to a close, we say our goodbyes and off to bed.

Amritsar and India are Great ... Yeah!