India - Day 2 - Saturday 5th November

A relatively leisurely start as we have to meet our guide at 9am, so we have time for a good breakfast in the hotel. Then back into the cars for the trip to the temple area. Traffic is worse than ever, but we arrive safely and walk towards the temple. Dilip takes us to a small shop where the men all get turbines, and the ladies an orange temple headscarf. The turbans prove a great success, and all the men (especially Will who is very tall) are in demand for selfies with other visitors.

The temple is amazing!! A huge area surrounded by white marble buldings, with a big lake/tank in the centre. In the middle of the lake stands the golden temple. Originally in white marble, it is now covered in a thick layer of gold. The gold was a gift from a ruler to feed the farmers in times of need, and it was deemed the safest place to store the gold was on the outside of the building. It has never yet been needed for the farmers, who are apparently very well off in this area (the Punjab). 

We took numerous pictures, then visied the kitchens where all visitors can eat a free meal. All food and labour is provided by volunteers, and they feed around 100,000 people every day (up to 250,000 on festival days). We saw the dining areas, then the food preparation areas, where we joined in with the chapatti making.

Finally we all queue up to visit the actual temple (no photos allowed).

Next visit is to the martyr's garden where hundreds were massacred on the orders of a British general in 1919. Back to our rendezvous with our guide, sadly with no time for shopping, the its back through even more chaotic traffic to the hotel.

Just time for a quick lunch (we opt for the hotel pastry shop) then it's off again to the border post. As foreign visitors we are one up from the general visitors, and, after going through strict security, get an area of our own to watch the ceremony. It's a strange mix of a ceremonial beating of the retreat, and a pissing match between two nations, with lots of orchestrated shouting and fist waving on both sides. The Pakistani side of the border is an exact mirror image of the Indian side, and both groups know all the prompts and timings (apparently the ceremony has been going since 1959). The rabble rouser on our side even tells the crowd when to be quiet so the other side can yell their challenges across the border.

Much exaggerated marching, then the gates between the two countries are opened, and more fist waving goes on. Eventually the two flags are lowered, the gates are firmly closed again, and the two sides go home. It would be a fine thing to watch if you didn't know the strife is real, and young soldiers on each side get killed every day along the border. Good thing the security is good, apparently there used to be the occasional potshot across the gates, and a suicide bomber in Pakistan killed 16 in an attack during the ceremony about six years ago.

Back to the hotel, and only four of us opted for the optional trip to see the book being put to bed. (The book is the 11th guru, written when the 10th guru couldn't find a worthy successor, and is considered as a living person, who needs to sleep at night). We get a quick meal in the food court in the shopping mall in the same complex as the hotel, then travel back, through much less traffic, to the temple. The trip is worth it so see the temple at night, but it is hard to see the palanquin used to transport the book from its daytime position in the temple to its bedroom. Many Sikhs try to touch the book, or the palanquin, or even it's carriers as it goes past! Journey back to the hotel is remarkably fast due to the low traffic levels, then it's off to bed ready for an early start in the morning.