Leapfrog

Day One:

We woke up at 6:20 on Saturday morning and ate breakfast in the quiet way two people who woke up just a little too early do. We walked to the end of our short road and climbed into the waiting car, ready for the 5.5 hour drive to Amritsar, a city close to the Pakistani border which is home to the Golden Temple. The drive was lovely, as we left the mountainous area we are staying in and slowly watched the landscape turn dry and arid, rivers turning into riverbeds and forests turning to scrubby brush.

When we got to our hotel in Amritsar (a very plushy Best Western) the first order of business was, of course, to get connected to the wifi. After sorting out a little bit of nonsense we settled in for a quiet early internet afternoon. I started the long process of downloading various content and we both stayed plugged in for awhile.

We then headed to the Pakistani border in order to watch the guard changing there, which was apparently an event. I can now say I’ve seen Pakistan, which is cool, I guess. It turns out the change really is an event and we walked into a stadium full of people who all seemed to know perfectly clearly what was going on. There was lots of music and cheering and dancing, and eventually, guards in giant hats shaped like fans started doing high kicks and quick step choreography. At the same time, the Pakistani side was doing similar maneuvers with different music. Eventually the gates were opened and the  flags were lowered and everyone danced back to their original places. The place emptied out, and we were able to use our pale pale faces to walk on the foreigner side, which was much less crowded. We had been able to get in this way too with our American passports.

We then began the journey to the Golden Temple, even though it was already after 7pm. It was going to be a long night. It was a stressful drive, including a dust storm, and we were stuck in the kind of traffic that is more of a parking lot. We finally got the the parking lot, our driver guided us down the stairs and stuck us in an auto rickshaw and sent us off into the unknown. He drove us through the dark and incredibly busy streets for a little while and then pointed forward and said “There.” We paid him and walked with the giant crowd toward the temple. Getting into the temple was a process, and we were turned away twice, the first time because we tried to carry our shoes, which wasn’t allowed, the second time because we hadn’t washed our hands. We got in the third time. It was beautiful, night is really the time to see the temple, as the lights reflect on the dark water surrounding it and the people seem calmer. The crowds on the way back were even more overwhelming, it was like a moving human wall, made worse by the fact we were being followed by a young sikh boy that earlier helped us wash our hands and now wouldn’t leave us alone. We lost him as we drove away in the auto rickshaw, which took us back to the parking lot, where we met our driver and made our way back to the hotel.

Day Two:

We spent a calm morning in our hotel and enjoyed a full breakfast at the hotel. We were then driven to the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, a lovely garden and memorial in honor of the non-violent victims of a British firing squad. We then walked back to the Golden Temple, as it was quite nearby, but I decided not to go back in and just waited for Caitlin in the beautiful white marble courtyard watching the many visitors, most, of course, sikhs.

And then we began the long drive back, stopping only for some lunch, and napping much of the way.