and then, back the way we came
As we made the mad dash for the border before it closed, dodging vehicles of all kinds, horses, donkeys and a bomb site, tim spotted this decal from the taxi and found it amusing.
we reached the border about half an hour before it closed. i think we were the second last group to pass through. as we cleared pakistani immigration, we noticed a group of female travellers behind us. they stayed at the guesthouse where we were.
the line that divides india and pakistan beckoned for a photograph and we could not resist.
the pakistani border guard looks very smart and fierce in his black uniform. he is tall and strapping, like most of the pakistani border guards are. it's not a fun uniform to wear in the blazing heat, fortunately he gets to hide in the shade of the wall. but he doesn't get much space to move around. you can just see the white line of the border between me and him; if the guard steps over, he'll start a war.
we took a picture with the indian border guard, just 5m away, for contrast. the uniform is not as fierce though i'm sure he does his duty with as much pride as the pakistani one. he has a bit of a paunch though, which detracts from the imposing image he is meant to make.
we crossed indian customs at 1630 IST and hung around till 1700 IST at a small diner. after customs closed, we joined hordes of indians to go back into the border area to catch the border closing ceremony from the indian side. this ceremony is performed everyday with much pomp and a bit of pageantry by both countries on their respective sides of the border. it seems a bit childish to me really but i imagine it's good fun for both countries and allows the people to vent off some of their nationalistic fervour.
we were tourists so we got to sit in a special section nearer to the border, where the exciting action (like flag lowering and gate slamming) takes place. observe the throngs of locals on the other side of the fence, packed together like slurpee in a seven eleven cup. this photo was taken at about 1715, a good 1.5 hours before the actual ceremony began. sitting on the hot concrete, our asses burnt.
as part of the pre-ceremony festivities, nationalistic music blares over the PA system and an emcee leads the crowd in cheers. "Hindustan. Zindabad!" (loosely, hindustan FTW) was the most recognisable one. at the same time, his pakistani analogue on the other side of the border, about 100m away, does the same for his country's side. the pakistani side was nowhere near as packed as the indian one. both sides hurled cheers at each other for a good 1.5 hours. just imagine any b division final in singapore between arch rivals. it's something like that. women and children can queue up to run with the indian flag for about 20m over to the border and back. it's a very popular activity, as you can see. the pakistanis are more dignified (or perhaps their women more demure) so they do no nonsense of this sort.
patriots with the indian flag get to stand. the rest of us heathens burn our asses off.
after the activity with the flags, the women are bored so they start some communal dance. some of them actually dance pretty well. the nationalistic music was pretty catchy too, so it lent itself to good hip-shaking. i don't think the same can be done in singapore; can you imagine singaporean women dancing to "count on me singapore"?
apparently they play icebreaker games in india too.
you can just spot two angmoh women in black in the centre of the foreground of the picture. the indian women welcomed them as one of their own and they partied together festively.
the heroes of the show, the border guards who will march out, look on seriously. they have flamboyant headdress which requires adjustment from time to time.
as they march, they swing their hands and kick their legs so high it seemed that they might knock themselves out. the photo doesn't do justice to the amount of stretching they must have done to be so flexible; youtube wagah border closing ceremony to see what i mean.
the action takes place at the actual gate. the commanding officers, almost perfectly synchronised, march and shake hands at a rapid beat and the flags of both countries are lowered together. then the gates are slammed shut and the sweaty guards get to retire and do the same thing all over again the next day. the whole thing was quite a spectacle. i thought only non-humans like peacocks strutted and flared so much but from this ceremony, i learnt otherwise.
crowd control in action as we leave with 5664984651 other spectators.
lahore days
We had a few days in Lahore, and hence also the luxury of taking things easy. This was particularly welcomed because of the suffocating heat and smog.
We visited the Lahore Museum during the first full day after our arrival. There are about 20 galleries inside, and the collection was good, ranging from Gandhara Buddhist pieces to even Jain architecture.
Subway was our most frequented eatery during our stay at Lahore, largely because COLD drinks were free flow and the sandwiches were probably the only food you could find in Lahore with plenty of veggies in them. Also, 179 PKR (about slightly more than 3 SGD) gets you a 6 inch sandwich of the day with a bottle of juice. The outlet manager seemed to be the only competent person at the eatery; it took a while for our sandwiches to be served.
The "out of order" labels pasted over the drinks labels at the drinks dispenser were amusing.
After dinner, we had faluda, a local dessert which is essentially vermicelli with ice cream, in a sweet milky syrup that is flavoured with spices. It was very novel.
The next day we visited Lahore Fort, and the majestic Badshahi Mosque. Here are some pictures of the mosque's exterior. It was surprising to find such grand architecture in Lahore.
The insides were coooool because of the marble tiles used. Intricate designs were carved into the ceiling tiles. It reminded me of a movie set.
This is Lahore Fort itself...
This security guard was the ONLY person in Pakistan to guess our nationality correctly on the first try. He was at the exit and immediately after I passed him, he asked if I was from Singapore. I was quite surprised. A mandatory photo was taken with him.
We visited a Sufi shrine for live qawwali music. Our guide brought us there from Regale Internet Inn, together with a few guests from the same Inn. The people at the mosque were really interested in us, and in the Caucasian woman that was with us particularly, as can be seen in the photo below.
The music was trance-inducing, and the old man in the picture below was dancing to the music in the centre square. The legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan played here before, and apparently it is an honour to play at this place. People went around periodically to collect money from the crowd, which was later thrown like confetti over the musicians.
We visited the Lahore Museum during the first full day after our arrival. There are about 20 galleries inside, and the collection was good, ranging from Gandhara Buddhist pieces to even Jain architecture.
Subway was our most frequented eatery during our stay at Lahore, largely because COLD drinks were free flow and the sandwiches were probably the only food you could find in Lahore with plenty of veggies in them. Also, 179 PKR (about slightly more than 3 SGD) gets you a 6 inch sandwich of the day with a bottle of juice. The outlet manager seemed to be the only competent person at the eatery; it took a while for our sandwiches to be served.
The "out of order" labels pasted over the drinks labels at the drinks dispenser were amusing.
After dinner, we had faluda, a local dessert which is essentially vermicelli with ice cream, in a sweet milky syrup that is flavoured with spices. It was very novel.
The next day we visited Lahore Fort, and the majestic Badshahi Mosque. Here are some pictures of the mosque's exterior. It was surprising to find such grand architecture in Lahore.
The insides were coooool because of the marble tiles used. Intricate designs were carved into the ceiling tiles. It reminded me of a movie set.
This is Lahore Fort itself...
This security guard was the ONLY person in Pakistan to guess our nationality correctly on the first try. He was at the exit and immediately after I passed him, he asked if I was from Singapore. I was quite surprised. A mandatory photo was taken with him.
We visited a Sufi shrine for live qawwali music. Our guide brought us there from Regale Internet Inn, together with a few guests from the same Inn. The people at the mosque were really interested in us, and in the Caucasian woman that was with us particularly, as can be seen in the photo below.
The music was trance-inducing, and the old man in the picture below was dancing to the music in the centre square. The legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan played here before, and apparently it is an honour to play at this place. People went around periodically to collect money from the crowd, which was later thrown like confetti over the musicians.
