DAY 103: KARNAL TO ATTARI

The high-kicking border ceremony at the Pakistan/India border in Attari.

After a few hours sleep in the abandoned waterpark hotel, we were back on the road at 5am in order to push on to meet Paul and his Dad, ‘The Big Serge’ in Jalandhar where the Sokhis are orinally from. After a much needed breakfast and shower in their hotel, Serge brought us with his cousin to do a fit-job on our broken wing mirror. Using a bathroom mirror, duck-tape, a few pieces of metal and a cordless drill, Sokhi’s uncle did a remarkable MacGyver-style DIY job that should last us until we get to a Hummer garage in Dubai.

Serge and his cousin check out the Hummer's Mirror

With the Pakistan border closing at 4pm, we were in a bit of a dilemma. If we took a trip to the Golden Temple, the glorious home of Sheikh religion and probably one of the most beautiful structures in the world, we would probably miss the border crossing. We couldn’t miss the opportunity to see the Temple as Dave had promised his mate Ish (who’s also Sheikh) that he’d make a trip there.

Paul and Serge at the Golden Temple

After removing our shoes, washing our feet and covering our heads, we caught our first glimpse of the incredible structure. Glistening at the centre of a sacred pool, the marble temple is coated with 750kg of pure gold. Devout Sikhs travel from all over the world to visit this site and we were genuinely moved by its spiritual atmosphere.

The boys at the Golden Temple

From the Golden Temple we hopped back into the Hummer and legged it to Attari in a last-ditch effort to get across the border in time. Attari, only 30 kms from Amritsar is the only border crossing between India and Pakistan. However, we had arrived way too late for the crossing but luckily just in time for the border closing ceremony.

The border closing ceremony at Attari

The extraordinary ceremony is a bizarre battle of bravado as soldiers from both sides engage in a theatrical routine involving marching, stamping, high kicking and even a yelling contest. This daily ritual has become so popular with both locals and tourists that grandstands have been built to watch the ceremony. We headed back to Amritsar after the ceremony and found a hotel for a good rest before heading into Pakistan tomorrow.

DAY 103 Routemap: Click on pointers for details

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