Amritsar is home to one of the most beautiful temples around. The Golden Temple. Its also home to one of the most outrageous border crossings around. The Wagah Border between India and Pakistan. We endured another long hot and loud bus ride from McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh to Amritsar in Punjab. We only planned to stay for one day in Amritsar because we only wanted to see the Golden Temple and the Wagah Border Ceremony. Fortunately for us, there isn't too much to write about from that day in Amritsar but there are a lot of pictures, so this is going to be more of photoblog! The Golden Temple is a very well known place of worship for Sikhs and upon entry it's immediately obvious why. The temple's gleaning golden domes shine in the sun and its white marble walkways and outer buildings are just as stunning. We quickly became a crowd pleaser upon entry into the Temple grounds, where many Indians asked to have their pictures taken with us. In Shimla only a handful of people asked to have their pictures taken with us, but in Amritsar, we lost count within minutes of being there. In fact in order to get around and see the temple we had to keep moving with purpose otherwise we would be asked for a photo op; it was a blast! After the Golden Temple we split a tuktuk with three other foreigners to go to the Wagah Border to watch the ritual changing of the guard ceremony, which over the years has become more of a sport than a solemn military event. Guards from both the India and Pakistani side march and kick their way to cheers from the massive onlooking crowd. We were lucky that we brought our passports (yeah we almost forgot to bring them to the border) and we were given VIP seating as foreign tourists, which got us closer to the action. As the crowds swelled the celebrations began with music pumping through loudspeakers and women dancing on the road that connects the two countries. In the distance we could see the border guards stretching and practicing their moves and we knew it was going to be one heck of a show. We'll let the pictures and the videos do the talking for us though!
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