Gallivanting the globe 2019 - RTW and then some

[JohnM]

Some of the bread was rolled by hand and the systematic manual cooking was a sight to behold. Everyone pitches in incredibly industriously.



Dining is done in batched groups. The hall is cleared and cleaned, then the doors opened. Everyone files in, plate in hand, sits on the floor and then the servers come out.



Judging by the large number of people wearing the cheap orange kerchief like I bought, many were not Sikh. That does not matter. I could have eaten, but I needed to keep moving.



Time to wash up – going in reverse as I walked out through the washing area. The din from all those metal plates was incredible.



People hand in their used plates as they exit and a chain-gang funnels them into the washing area.



Sitting on the steps, digesting the sensory overload and watching the passing parade before leaving an extraordinary place.

 

[RooFlyer]

Amazing behind-the-scenes. Never thought of that when thinking of Amritsar.

 

[Antoallison]

Thanks JohnM ....Great photos and a very interesting TR.. by you and previously Michael Portillo.

 

[JohnM]

Aaahh - that reminded me.



I'm dripping wet not because of taking a dip in the pond but because of the heat and humidity.

 

[JohnM]

I just discovered that I had taken pics with my phone inside the Guru-Ka-Langar with its poor light that are clearer than many of those from my camera.

Not meaning to be repetitive, but I’ll pop some in.



It truly is an amazing experience that I highly recommend.

Not far from the Golden Temple is Jallianwala Bagh, the infamous site of a massacre of Indians in 1919 when a British officer ordered his troops to fire on unarmed protesters against the Rowlatt Act, which gave British authorities to imprison Indians suspected of sedition without trial.

Amritsar became a focal point for the independence movement. There’s an eternal flame of remembrance and sections of wall with visible bullet marks have been retained.

 

[JohnM]

That afternoon, it was time to drive the 30 km to the Attari-Wagah border with Pakistan for the border closing ceremony (Wagah-Attari border ceremony - Wikipedia). Every afternoon just before sunset, members of the Indian and Pakistani border guard forces meet at the border post between Attari (India) and Wagah (Pakistan) for an extraordinary (and I mean extraordinary) highly theatrical display of military showmanship and one-upmanship to lower the national flags and formally close the border.

What actually occurs is a bizarre mix of pseudo-formal and competitive marching, flag-folding, chest-beating, tough-guy behaviour, forceful stomping, exaggerated high-stepping, all in front of crowds in stadiums either side of the border that are wound up to a frenzy by the para-military border forces comperes and entertainers.

BSF stands for India’s Border Security Force, which is a police-based para-military organisation (Border Security Force - Wikipedia.

This is truly an amazing and unique sight to behold and absolutely should not be missed when at Amritsar. It truly rounded out an amazing day.

Nothing can prepare you for what awaits. Foreigners get special treatment for entry and a reserved section of seating near the border gates. TKWIA.



The crowd build-up starts very early on the Indian side and the Indian stadium dwarfs the Pakistani effort.



Just when I was beginning to think the Pakistanis had no patriotic fervour, they started dribbling in.



Women in uniform…

(turn up the volume…).

Even as a DYKWIA in the foreign section, they could give me orders any day…



This NW part of India is characterised by very tall, statuesque people. I think they make a point of hiring such folks for the BSF – or at least for this border gig. It really does look the goods. The Pakistanis were similar.

And promo time gets under way to start the Bollywood windup.

 

[JohnM]

Meanwhile, the opposition is starting to show some enthusiasm. But is it enough?



A couple of suitably mean-looking dudes ‘guarding’ the entry to the locker room. I have a passing interest in firearms and what they were toting was unfamiliar to me. A little Googling and I had my answer: the Israeli Weapons Industries (IWI) Tavor assault rifle.



This guy was the compere. Looking benign in the first pic at the start, but wow, did he get hopping and bring in some direct crowd participation and rouse the crowd to a frenzy through booming speakers that pretty much drowned out Pakistan’s effort.



The Pakistanis had their own way of doing things. A guy who had lost a leg was their winder-upper-in-chief, bounding around energetically and doing a very good whirling dervish act. Impressive.

 

[JohnM]

C’mon LOUDER – we’re about to get this show on the road! Let’s show those Pakistani cough some real power not to be messed with! (And that is, simply, what the whole thing is about – a grandiose patriotic, mine-is-bigger-than-yours performance).



Here come the Mean Dudes to take up position at the gate (I did, however, think that their Bose-like, non-camo headphones looked out of place and weakened the macho image).



The ceremonially-attired people march along the road so fast and in such an exaggerated arm-swinging style that it was almost impossible to get a clear pic in the fading light with my dinky camera.



The other side had a different style, but their supporters went suitably wild.



Phwoar…

 

[JohnM]

The gates are opened and what I guess to be the opposing RSMs brusquely shake hands and then it’s a bunch of gesticulating and fist-shaking at each other and take-it-in-turn ultra-fast high-stepping performances. The non-performing side basically stands at ease and yawns while the wusses on the other side do their thing. It’s an absolute blast and hilarious.

The Big Dude Pakistanis – and they had their own eye-candy-in-uniform…



Then time for lowering the flags. This was done in steps perfectly simultaneously. Clearly no one-upmanship is allowed during the actual draw-down but pauses in the process allow identical macho displays. Symmetrical style was clearly paramount. Nice.

 

[JohnM]

Then some forehead-kick marching away with the flags.



One last fist-shake and brusque handshake before shutting the gates.



Just do not miss this if you are ever in the area! It happens every day of the year.

 

[VPS]

Is that a cat just wandering through all the noise

 

[drron]

Thanks JohnM some wonderful experiences there.
And I turned up the volume.

 

[JohnM]

Is that a cat just wandering through all the noise

I didn't notice the cat at the time - only when I was going through the pics. I wonder if it was a Pakistani infiltrating India?

 

[JohnM]

Thanks JohnM some wonderful experiences there.
And I turned up the volume.

And, knowing @mrs.dr.ron's career history, we clearly share the same preference @drron - but who in their right mind doesn't?...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Just do not miss this if you are ever in the area! It happens every day of the year.

I agree the border ceremony is not to be missed. Something +1 and I enjoyed very much.

Only downside for us was a couple of clowns in the crowd (on both sides of the border) who were doing their best to start another war before the night was over.

 

[JohnM]

The crowd both sides was very cheerful when I was there. Plenty of boisterous enthusiasm but no inkling of any aggro.

 

[JohnM]

Next day it was a long drive NE and into the mountains of western Himachal Pradesh to the small town of McLeod Ganj, a former British colonial hill station but now significant as the location of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and the home of the Dalai Lama.

It was mid-September and the cereal crops were coming to maturity in this region. Good dual carriageway road before getting into the hillier country and the inevitable eucalypts.



The Dalai Lama’s temple and residence across the valley.



A walk amongst some traditional housing. Humans above the livestock below.

 

[JohnM]

Giant slugs.



The Shiva Temple and a walk up the valley to Bhagsu waterfall.

 

[JohnM]

Then to the Tsuglagkhang Dalai Lama Tibetan temple complex.



The Dalai Lama’s residence.



From the balcony of my hotel.

 

[JohnM]

Next day starting to head SE in the direction of Shimla, but first a visit to the Norbulingka Institute. It was established to teach and preserve traditional Tibetan art forms. There are various buildings in the extensive grounds where artists and crafts folk practice different specialties.