Welsh Davids Travel Blog: 6 and 7 June – Lahore (Pakistan) to Amritsar (India)

The departure from the hotel in Lahore was delayed so as to give the Wilde’s more time to rest and because we were not too fussed to look at the old fort in the extreme heat of the day having been told that there was not much to be seen there. Leaving the hotel at midday we headed for the Pakistan/India border arriving at the border a little over an hour later. It must have rained somewhere nearby as the canals were full of a muddy brown water with the local boys taking the opportunity to go swimming and playing in the canals. What women that could be seen, and there were not many, were washing clothes in the canal. The one thing that was obvious seeing the local women was that their clothing was brightly coloured with hardly any black clothes to be seen.

At the last police post before the border we were asked if there were any Japanese, Chinese or Americans on the truck! Why the first two we do not know! There was no electric power at the Pakistan Immigration post so we sat and waited for a while until power was resumed, computers booted up and our passports and visas checked. Then it was off to the Indian Immigration and customs post, clean, looking better and with power. Also, some of the group that had flown to India, not having been given visa for Pakistan, were waiting for us at the border while others were at the hostel in Amritsar. We were whole again.

The Indians took their time over everything even though they were polite all the time. At 1715 hours we were told to take all our bags off the truck to have them checked, this after sitting there for more than two hours and having been told previously that our bags did not need to be checked. A mad scramble ensured, the bags taken into the terminal and no-one looked at any of them. It was a complete farce! We then scrambled again to pack everything away as we wanted to see the sunset flag lowering ceremony at the border we had just come through.

When we came through the two borders there were practically no other people going in either direction but now it had completely changed. There were hundreds of people on the Indian side of the border walking up to the actual gates that closed the crossing, all in a happy mood, with plenty of stalls selling food and drink. The area round the gates has tiered seating on the side of the road on both sides of the border. As foreigners we had a specific seating area and there were a number of others there besides ourselves. Before the actual ceremony there were ‘cheerleaders’ winding up the people for both sides in a very nationalistic way inciting the Indians to chant ‘Long Live India’. Other people and children run up and down displaying the national flag. Music is played and a lot of people got up and danced in the street, quite a sight and an experience really.

People going to the ceremony

Running with the flags

Dancing in the street (with Libby and Steph)

Move over please

Two women of the Border Guard paraded first and marched up to the gate. Then the men, sometimes singly and sometimes in pairs, (all trying to look fierce) marched about throwing their feet higher than their head, much to the vocal approval of the crowd. They looked as if they were strutting cockerels much as the ones that used to be in the garden at home. The atmosphere is tremendous and everyone is for their own country. The Pakistan side had far fewer spectators but they did shout and clap when required, their guards being dressed in black and difficult to see from where I was sat. The guards controlling the audience were insistent that everyone be kept sitting down so that everyone had a chance to see what was going on. This was a good idea, and it worked as much as it was practical to do. This certainly beat the Changing of the Guard in London! It is much better in real life than on television as well. One had to be there to feel the atmosphere, it was really something.