Armristar & Attri Border Crossing...

We made a quick trip up north to the Punjabi province in a city called Armristar. It is predominantly Sikh, and we LOVED it up here. Not that the Hindu's aren't friendly, but the Sikhs seem to especially friendly, humorous, and kind. The Golden Temple in Armristar is an important monument in which the Sikh make pilgrimages to come and see. They bathe in the waters for religious reasons and visit the Golden Temple in the center of it's water where they do their 'religious stuff' and give money like we've never seen! What impressed us most about the Sikhs is that at the golden temple, there is no admission (unlike all other major sites in India), they offer free accommodation for anyone visiting including us travellers, and there are even free meals given around the clock, with never a cent asked for. It is all run on donations... Pretty impressive considering we're in INDIA!

There are 3 rules in the golden temple, you have to cover your head (men and women), no shoes, and you wash your feet on the way in... This is Jillene walking through the little pools of water provided on your way in to wash your feet...
Just a few of the men whom stripped down inside to bathe in the waters... I won't speculate its exact purpose, obviously something along the lines of washing away the sins. Women had a private chamber to do this if they'd like...
Remember... I HAD TO COVER MY HEAD. I'm not a poser ~ this was not worn by choice, but merely provided to me free of charge by the friendly Sikhs! :)
The Golden Temple, and as you can see people line up in droves to see it. I couldn't venture a guess how many people would visit the temple in a day, but we came twice during our time here; once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and we never saw the lines go down at all. There was a steady flow of traffic through the temple and always several hundred behind them waiting for their turn.

The next highlight was the India/Pakistan border in which we visited for the closing of the border ceremony they have EVERY DAY! Several thousands of Indians show up, and hundreds of Pakistanis as well. A big show is made of it as both sides scream and chant at each other, people run at the gates (as above) with their countries flags in hands, and there is much posturing of the military to show how tough they are. All in all it is just a riot, and amazing considering it happens everyday. Again, the pictures don't do it justice. But when we get home, you'll have to checkout the video...
Women at the border closing ceremony putting on a little show for the crowd doing a Bollywood dance...
India's crowd... I love the stadium seating at the border!
Pakistan's side... this is the women. Of course leave it to the Muslims to separate the men and women in their stands!
The mens side of the crowd in Pakistan...