Amritsar and the Pakistan Border
- Jul 10, 2016
- 4 min read
At 6am there was a sharp knock on the door, bleary eyed we looked at the clock, at each other, then back at the clock. Definitely 6am. Greg answered the door and there was our driver, the one taking us to Amritsar. He had a piece of paper with Mr Sophie Lane and 7am written on it. What we had organised with the tour company was 8/8:30 leaving time, what the driver had decided was that he would like to leave at 7, so would need to wake us up at 6 to make sure we were ready. Oh no, no, no. No. More out of principal than actually being able to sleep we stayed in bed until 7:30.
The drive was pretty uneventful and we were in Amritsar in about 7 hours. Wow. Amritsar is intense. Everywhere we have been in India there are “beautification works” in progress which means everything has been dug up with no signs of it being put back. I wonder, if we came back to India in a few years, if all the towns and cities would be beautifully remade, or the constant state of India is in progress?
Anyway, Amritsar was made up of huge half built roads with a craziness to them that was kind of intimidating. Our hotel though, it was a thing of beauty. Hotel Hong Kong was down a dusty side ally. We were ushered inside into the AC and given glasses of Cola to cool off with, it was about 38 degrees outside.
Our room was beautiful and we got a little excited:
The big thing to see in Amritsar is the Golden Temple, one of the most holy sites in the world for Sikhs (according to Lonely Planet).
The spiritual focus is on the tank that surrounds the main shrine. The Amrit Sarovar (Pool of Nectar) which gave Amritsar its name and supposedly has healing powers (also according to Lonely Planet). Warning, the following video contains some swearing, but the guy was pretty awesome.
The energy there was so lovely, it was a great place to sit and watch the guards patrol the tank. The etiquette was to cover your hair and sit crossed legged without putting your feet in the water, guards with huge spears patrolled up and down to make sure you were behaving properly. At one point a local was being told off for putting his feet in the pool and the guard gestured at us, the impression I got was “even the westerners are sitting properly, get yourself together”.
Lots of people asked for selfies but were so polite we didn’t mind, one guy said he had never seen a white person before and looked so excited we couldn’t say no. This was a nice change as in previous places people could be very rude when asking for photos, if you say no they just don’t give up!
Although Amritsar was a crazy busy place, the vibe was so welcoming and friendly. An old man told Greg off for having his camera bag behind him and made him put it round his front to keep it safe.
One day, the heat was too much so we stayed in the hotel room, but I wanted to go for a walk around the hotel just to get outside for a minute. In the space of 15minutes we got lost and adopted a guard dog, or more a guard dog adopted us. We walked by a workshop and a dog was sat in there next to an Indian guy, the dog ran straight over to us and asked for tickles. As it was a pet I happily obliged and gave him some fuss, after which it wouldn’t go back to the workshop and followed us around, growling and barking at anyone who came close. It properly chased off a poor Indian man who dog decided was a threat then trotted happily back over to us, looking proud of himself. Perhaps we looked so helpless it decided we needed a bit of protection?
Eventually we got back to the hotel and ran inside whilst dog was distracted, feeling pretty guilty about it. The next day we drove past the dog rooting through some rubbish and realised it wasn’t a pet, just a friendly stray. I like to think it was India’s way of looking out for us in a big city.
The other main attraction of Amritsar is going to the Wagah Border to see the border closing ceremony between India and Pakistan. It was SO HOT. I can’t express to you how hot it was, so maybe this video of me looking downright traumatised will get my point across.
The ceremony is so popular on the Indian side that you have to get there two hours early and sit in the sun to keep your place. The seats were concrete steps and had no shade so they were a tad warm, so warm in fact I actually burned my bum. Not badly! Not at all badly but it was definitely marked for a few days after. So to sum it up, it was hot.
What I hadn’t expected was how absolutely joyous the atmosphere would be. To keep people entertained for two hours they had a presenter, who was wearing cricket whites, gearing everyone up. They also had a small, happy procession where women and girls of all ages came down from the stands and ran the length of the stadium holding Indian flags. Along with several impromptu dance parties!
The Pakistani side seemed subdued in comparison. The stands were half empty and no music played, everyone was in dark colours and waited quietly. The Indians on the other hand, were a riot of noise and colour, chanting, singing, dancing. Men walked around selling cold drinks and ice creams whilst crowds gathered outside the stadium to watch the ceremony on screens in the car park.
By the time the ceremony came around I was knacked, but it was as crazy as I hoped it would be. Ridiculously high goose stepping, huge fans in their hats, and literally flexing their muscles at the Pakistani counterparts on the other side of the gates:
We were getting a night train to Haridwar to get to Rishikesh, so hurried back to our hotel to pack.
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