The Golden Crazy Temple and India/Pakistan border
Trip Start
May 11, 2005
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Trip End
Ongoing
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Amritsar,
Punjab,
India
Saturday, May 9, 2009
With no time to shower after the heat of the desert and the rat excrement still firmly in place on our collective bodies, rushed out to the bus stand to catch a ride to Amritsar, home of the Golden Temple. Amritsar is also the jumping offf point for Attari, the only land border crossing between India and Pakistan. This is a minor side stop on the tourist trail here because the pomp and circumstance of the daily border crossing is suppose to rival that of the Vatican changing of the guard or the Beefeaters in London.
Now let me give some perspective of time. Two days earlier, the Government of Pakistan officially declared war on the Taliban. 1day earlier, the U.S. promised over 600 million in financial aid Pakistan to help the war effort, a number they would triple within 72 hours. So, as we boreded our bus, we were mildly concerned with personal safety/judgment of two blatantly obvious American tourists and their kiwi buddy. Then we noticed something--Nearly a dozen of the men boarding the bus were Sikh soldiers. They were not in uniform, but the baggage (mostly camo) and their overall mannerisms in general, left very little doubt as to why they were headed to the border. So, as we crawled into our sleeper bunks, were were left wondering..."Are we on the safest bus in all of India, with our own military escort? Or, with all the guns and ammo stored in the luggage compartment, simply the softest target imaginable?" I also forgot to mention that upon boarding, we noticed that only our bunks were covered by a white woolen blanket, clearly indicating us as foreign tourists.
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Thanks India, you're awesome!I decided not to worry too much and took another mellow yellow muscle relaxer. My accomplices opted for Xanax, being the overstressed, battered little boys they are. The road ahead was meant to be rough, and we were going to need the help sleeping. 20 mellow yellows and all the xanax in the world wouldn't have gotten us any sleep. I am pretty sure we weren't even on a road. Our driver, who was driving something other than an ox cart for the first time in his life, decided it was most fuel economical to slam the accelerator to the floor, honk the horn, and hit the brakes. Repeat. Repeat.Repeat. You get the idea. Around or over pot holes, he didnt care. One pothle...i swear to god...i woke up mid-air screaming in terror. Ben and my bunk (insert homo innuendo here) was so small we couldn't stretch out our legs..and ben is a tiny little man. Hooper was continually woken by random hand checks and near falls from his bunk.
Around 2:45, at what we thought was a rest stop, we all three deboarded to get water...and were promptly left--nearly--behind as the bus closed its doors and headed off in the opposite direction. But finally, at 4:25 in the morning, we safely arrived at amritsar and checked into a hotel.
The whole point of coming here was to see the Sikh Temple...the Golden Temple...and check out the border closing. The temple will rank among the top five temples i have ever seen. Beauty, layout, ease of access and open acceptance, all were unparalleled. But what really sets this place apart is the free food. 24 hours a day, the temple feeds any and all pilgrims. Any religion, any race, either sex, all castes. Estimates put the number at over 40,000 pilgrims fed EVERY DAY. We went twice. It was only simple dall and some Chapati (and some sticky sweet shit that tasted just like the rat temple smelled), but the experience was crazy. Nearly 500 of us were admitted, fed til our bellies were full, and let out in under 20 minutes. WE all carried our dished down to the washing area, were they were taken, cleaned and reissued in about the same time. Then we drank huge bowls of chai, all the fresh water we wanted, and wandered around til we were ready to leave. No hassle, no "baksheesh," just "Welcome. How can we help you? Enjoy!" Even outside the temple, free food was on offer and people everywhere were smiling, helping, and...well, just being civil. Totally not India. Did I mention we went twice?
As for the border crossing, it was like a local disco, followed by a pep rally complete with a crazy flag racing (yes racing) ceremony and then high kicks and group cheers led by a male cheerleader. Kinda the Indian version of Will Ferrel as Craig the cheerleader..." My name is Craig, I did drugs once.I am a spartan, so check me out! " Totally crazy. It was worth going, but I would not do it again...unless I could sit on the Pakistan side.
