Amritsar

We went 1st class on a fancy express train to Amritsar - very comfortable with loads of space and legroom. The price included food - afternoon tea at about 5pm (Bombay mix, a chocolate bar and a slightly odd cheese sandwich accompanied by ketchup), tomato soup at about 6.30 followed by a full meal at 8pm - curry, bread, rice, daal and ice cream for afters. The train station in Amritsar was our first really shocking sight since arriving in India - the platforms and huge concourse were completely covered by sleeping people, possibly pilgrims for the temple?

The next morning we went to the Golden Temple complex - truly spectacular and Colin found it rather uplifting. The whole complex is made of white marble and the temple itself is set in the middle of a lake of holy water (the Amrit Sarovar from which the city gets its name). The temple shimmers in the lake with fabulous reflections. The lake had koi swimming in it - there were also lots of people bathing from the ghats (bathing steps). We had a look in at the huge dining hall, staffed entirely by volunteers, that can feed thousands of people but decided not to try it ourselves. We queued up in the heat to visit the temple itself where the Sikh holy book is kept during the day. Throughout the day priests chant prayers which are broadcast around the complex. All in all hugely impressive, very spiritual and not at all like the mosque in Delhi where everyone seemed to be trying to extract money from us.

Next stop was the Jallianwala Bagh - a memorial park commemorating one of British empire's less glorious moments when troops opened fire on a peaceful protest in 1919 killing hundreds of people.

The traffic in Amritsar is manic like everywhere else - took our first bicycle rickshaws which felt very vulnerable. Saw a motorbike get wedged between a car and a cart loaded with blankets.

We then went off to a most bizarre spectacle - the closure of the India/Pakistan border at Attari/Wagah. It's about 30km from Amritsar and every day thousands of people go to see the ceremony. We parked about 15 minutes away and rushed to get seats in the grandstands. We missed the foreigner enclosure so ended up with the locals - it was just like being at a football match and we were definitely on the terraces behind the goals. There were a smaller contingent of Pakistanis on the other side - taking the part of the away fans. The crowd was fired up by a compere cum rabble rouser leading chants of "India Forever" and general whooping, ululations and anti- Pakistani sentiment. Then the ceremony began - all the guards are over 7ft tall and able to do a sort of glorified goose stepping - able to march with a high step almost to head height (very much the Ministry of Silly Walks). They raced up to the border where the Pakistani guards were doing the same thing and gestured at each other in a "come on here if you're hard enough" manner. This went on for about 20 minutes then the flags were lowered and it was all over. An amazing display of jingoism. Obviously choreographed between the two sides - we imagine they practice together at night and apparently once the border is shut the guards trade Pakistani food for Indian alcohol.