Sikhs & Indian Border @ Amritsar

Luckily, i did get up at 4am and caught my taxi by 4:30am. When i arrived at the bus station, i was delighted to find that i had friends for my bus ride- Australian Derek and Kiwi Scott. They made what turned out to be the 5 hour bus ridea lot shorter (it was supposed to be 7 hours but miraculously we arrived 2 hours earlier- which never happens in india- it's always late. Derek had travelled extensively and it was interesting to hear him say that when he went to Lhasa several years ago, the Tibetans didn't seem to mind the Chinese too much and they were living harmoniously, and that the Tibetan museum in Dharamsala had exaggerated the Sino-Tibetan relationship. i still thought that the Chinese had done Tibetans a lot of harm but i have never been to Lhasa and it was interesting to hear opposing view. The bus ride passed by a lot faster thanks to Scott and Derek, and when i arrived at the Golden Temple's free guest house (hospitality is a big part of Sikhism and Sikhs let everybody who wants get free housing and food), i met two 18-year-old Mexicans Alan and Dexter. Alan was staying in India for a year and Derek three months, and they were both amazing musicians with some middle eastern drums so we jammed together me playing the harmonica. Alan said he was spending his gap year learning various musical traditions in india, sort of what i wanted to set up, and they were both kind and cool to hang out with. We visited the famous Golden temple, Sikhism's holiest pilgrimage site, and it was certainly very beautiful, the golden temple surrounded by the cleanest pool of azure water i've seen in India and white architecture. There was a service and chanting going on inside the golden temple almost 24/7 it seemed like (i had visited there 10pm and 4:30am, and there were a lot of people worshipping at both times). Their chanting was quite trance-like, especially with their use of tabla and harmonium. The Lonely Planet said that some compare the Golden Temple to the Taj Mahal, and although i think the comparison is a little stretched, the Golden Temple was certainly beautiful and it was more beautiful at night tand in the morning when lights shone against it. in the afternoon, Scott, Derek, Damian, Lucy, Alice and i (all Aussies except Scott and me) got a taxi down to the Pakistani/ Indian border where they were holding a marching ceremony. it was pretty hilarious to see the soldiers from the two countries try to march better than the other country and there was a huge crowd cheering on both sides. The soldiers were incredibly tall (i don't know naturally or they were wearing something at the bottom of their feet), and walked swinging their arms and legs 90 degrees. I didn't think it was that great but the crowd went hysterical. I wondered if it was good to foster such raw nationalism like this, but it was entertaining and it was probably better to have some humor than South Korea and North Korea where everything was so serious. Once we got back to the Golden Temple in the evening, we walked a long way to the city in search of Amritsar specialty fried fish and i had a chance to talk with Damian, who had biked from Malaysia through Southeast Asia and was now in india en route to Europe. He had quit his job as an engineer and had been on the road for a year and half, and he said he will probably take another two years or so to bike all the way to Europe and across North America before going back home. He was also a vipassana alum, and he told me during one of his meditations it occurred to him that he wanted to be a teacher when he got back home. He certainly had the vipassana vibe- he was very relaxed, exuded peace and compassion, and was very gentle. As i am sick & tired of riding buses and trains, i wish i could bike to Delhi like Damian does but i also did not have several years unfortunately. But i'd definitely like to bike across something some time. Although we ultimately found the fish restaurant that the Lonely Planet recommended, it was ridiculously expensive at 180 rupees/ 300g so we could only eat a little bit. So i just filled my stomach with some cheap street food on my walk back. Once we got back to the temple, Damian and i went back into the temple and we ran into a Sikh person who was very well educated and spoke fluent English. He explained to us basic tenets and doctrines of Sikhism, and contrary to its militaristic and imposing appearance with swords, turbans and long beards, they were very pro-peace and accepting of all religions, and he said Sikhism emphasized faith not rituals, sort of like Protestant Christians. The Holy Book was written in Punjabi, and most believers lived in Punjab (which was 90% Sikh) but as the richest state in india, there were also Sikhs who emigrated to Western countries as well. (Current Indian PM Dr Singh's a Sikh btw) As i left the Golden Temple for the train station the next morning, i could not get over Sikh's sick hospitality- free housing & food even for non believers? i hoped Catholic and Protestant churches who would not lose to Sikhs in terms of financial and political clout could do the same. And it was also a shame to hear that although Damian had stayed at a lot of Sikh and Buddhist temples for free, the priests at churches and monasteries did not allow guests to camp out at their places. What happened to Jesus' love and charity? But I have to admit that on my train-ride back to Delhi I did meet a Sikh person who offered me his lunch- curry with nan which was extremely good.