Hotel Sun City Towers Amritsar

... in Pakistan turns out to be one of the best! Sharing a meal with the PTDC staff, talks in the special smoke room, milk tea with a feel good teenage movie, a Punjab breakfast and hot water shower the next day! Only after several milk teas and another border-almost-closing warning we make it just in time to cross….going into India, our final destination. After 13.820km and 14 countries it is time to discover this spiritual country that I have heard so much about…

... for photos started!<br>Decided to join the queue for the visit to the sacred book which is housed in the golden building - they reckon the roof has around 100kgs of gold (wouldn't be a Carole blog without these kind of details would it!) Didn't take too long to reach the building but it was very peaceful standing there listening to the singing and the people joining in, standing inline with their offerings. The book is on a throne in a room decorated ...

... the Indian Army to start strutting their stuff. <br><br>Loud music bellows out and crowds cheer and dance and the army guys, there were about 10 of them adjust their long french like moustaches and then what I can only explain as a John Cleese impression march up to the border gate throw their legs as high as what the limitations of a mans groin area will allow only to be met by the Pakistani boys doing the same, it is hilarious... I swear I have not seen ...

... lowest price. Unfortunately, this low price meant that we were stuck sitting around in a hot van for about 45 minutes, while the driver found more people to pack in. I was getting frustrated because I knew that we would never make it to the border before the ceremony started. Then as we were finally leaving, an Indian man in the back row started having a seizure, and we pulled over so his friends could carry him out, but no one seemed too concerned except for the group ...

... with a huge, square pool of water in it that takes up all but the edges of the courtyard. In the center of that pool sits the aptly named Golden Temple. It was just after mid-day and the sun was shining brightly causing the gold covered temple to gleam. Supposedly, the temple is gilded with over 750 kilograms of pure gold. It certainly looked it from where I was standing. <br><br>In addition to being impressed by the architecture, I also ...

... 100 kilos of pure gold.All visitors are allowed to enter the premises, after washing the feet, and covering the face with a headscarf.People are sleeping already, some of them around the pool, entire families, just on the floor or on thin mats.Also foreigners are welcome, they provide special dormitories.<br>But we already had reserved a room in another Amritsar ...

... Zindabad!" (long live India), and they sounded so psyched up and crazy. But on the Pakistan side it sounded like the guy who was leading the chant was having a hard time getting the same energy out of the substantially smaller crowd of Pakistani's, and there was of course no dance off happening on that side of the gate. <br><br>There's really not much else that can be said about Attari-- it's a small town that has been somewhat cursed by the burden of having this border closing ceremony ...

... dura (marble inlay work) flower designs, a silver ceiling (most removed by the Mughals) and fabulous designs on the arches, ceiling and walls. It used to be resplendent with a solid gold ceiling and a jeweled Peacock Throne, but the Persians nicked it in 1739.<br><br>There were amazing Royal Baths (hammams). Like other buildings, they were shut, but I was able to look thro' windows at the front and back &amp; was blown away by what I saw. It was like going back ...

... match between the Indians and the Pakistanis. We arrived about 1.5 hours early, so we sat until our butts were sore, on ********crete seats. For the entire time before the ceremony, there were patriotic songs being blasted through loudspeakers. Anyone would have thought it was a rock concert. As the flags were being taken down, evenly, there was much shouting of patriotic phrases, such as "Hindustan zindabaad! (long live ...

... a hello, and then move on. One eager young man spent 20mins trying to convince Charis to arrange a marriage for him with one of her friends in Canada. Even after the 100th handshake it still makes us smile, but check back in 1 month to see how we feel then. Our last full day in town we had some Pizza at a vegetarian Dominoes and moved north to the new city to be closer to the train station, as our return train to Delhi departed at 5:00am ...