It has been a busy week, trying to pack in as much as possible as my time here is coming to an end.
Went to Amritsar on Tuesday to see the Golden Temple. Caught the 7:30am train from New Delhi Station.
Train was excellent although negotiating the platforms and locating the correct place to board the train proved a bit of a challenge! Thankfully I found a helpful passenger who directed me to the correct train. 400 trains pass through New Delhi station everyday.
I booked an air-conditioned coach, just make’s the journey that bit more comfortable and as it was a six-hour train ride was well worth it. It was great to get out of the hustle and bustle of Delhi and get a chance to see some of the countryside.
Amritsar is set in the Punjab, situated right on the border of India and Pakistan, 60% of the population in this area are Sikh. Throughout the Punjab agriculture is the main source of income and work, lots of large open spaces and a lot less traffic.
I was picked up at Amritsar station by my guide and driver and taken to the hotel to freshen up before heading off to the border area to see the changing of the flags ceremony performed daily every evening.
It is a theatrical spectacle! The ceremony was originally started in 1947 when both independence and partition split former India into India and Pakistan.
Hundreds of people gather on both the Pakistan and Indian border to glimpse the ceremony.
Guards in their finery and colourful headdresses on both sides parade up and down to the gate getting the crowds in a bit of a frenzy before the flags are lifted.
From what I can gather the banter is all good-natured between the crowds on both sides, it has a celebratory and carnival feel to the ceremony. It has only been abandoned in times of war and although tensions remain between the countries the ceremony continues.
