After a nights rest in Gandhinagar, we were to head straight to Amritser. Amritser was a very busy city and arriving late afternoon meant that we only got to see its two major attractions, the Golden temple and the closing of the border with Pakistan.
Firstly, was the border closing which was a very dramatic ceremony with crowds gathered on either side of the gate from both India and Pakistan. As soon as we arrived we were ushered to the VIP section along with the other westerners. The Indians gathered were certainly enjoying the celebrations and chants rose up from both sides of the border along with dancing and racing. Yet again as white women we received a lot of unwanted attention from the crowd gathered, however as a child tried to sell me unwanted goods a guard ran towards him and smacked the back of his head, quite shocking but then I wish I could take him everywhere with me in India.
Next was the golden temple, the holy place for the Sikhs. Pretty amazing both inside and out, yet again our experience was a little tainted as a Sikh claimed to our guide that as non Sikhs we 'shouldnt be in their heaven', this fuelled a heavy debate between our guide and the man, and we decided to leave as soon as possible. Next was another lengthy drive to the Himalyan area, first stop there Dharmshala.
Firstly, was the border closing which was a very dramatic ceremony with crowds gathered on either side of the gate from both India and Pakistan. As soon as we arrived we were ushered to the VIP section along with the other westerners. The Indians gathered were certainly enjoying the celebrations and chants rose up from both sides of the border along with dancing and racing. Yet again as white women we received a lot of unwanted attention from the crowd gathered, however as a child tried to sell me unwanted goods a guard ran towards him and smacked the back of his head, quite shocking but then I wish I could take him everywhere with me in India.
Next was the golden temple, the holy place for the Sikhs. Pretty amazing both inside and out, yet again our experience was a little tainted as a Sikh claimed to our guide that as non Sikhs we 'shouldnt be in their heaven', this fuelled a heavy debate between our guide and the man, and we decided to leave as soon as possible. Next was another lengthy drive to the Himalyan area, first stop there Dharmshala.
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