His moustache will BLOW YOUR MIND!!! May 15, 2008

09.May.08

We headed to the Sikh Golden Temple today which was extraordinary. Both of us had to cover our heads in Sikh fashion and take off shoes before entering the massive marble complex with floating golden island. A quick religion lesson: The Sikhs are a small minority in India, but the majority in Punjab. They are historically persecuted for having really open-minded and tolerant ideology, much like the Jews. When you see an indian man wearing a turban (often vivid, and colorful), he is most likely Sikh (or just fashionable), many are able to come to the West and live because Sikh’s have a lot of wealth as they are terrific in business and are known to help out other Sikh’s. Sikh’s carry a small ceremonial dagger at all times, which is traditionally used to protect the weak from tyranny, though it is supposed to be a weapon of peace keeping and not simply violence. They worship a very holy book and the original is kept here at the holiest Golden Temple. Okay, if you want to know more, look Sikhism up on Wikipedia. So the whole temple complex is gorgeous white marble and bronze coated in real gold and prayer is spoken through a speaker in the form of music and song from 4am to 10pm every day all day. The music is gorgeous and the whole place, though filled with people walking around the complex or bathing in the holy waters, is very peaceful. The main central golden temple is covered entirely in gold, over 100kg’s in total (200+ lbs). Inside is three floors of people relaxing and reading from small versions of the holy book, or watching and praying as the men chant and play music. Inside no pictures are allowed so we cannot show the fine detail in gem and gold work unfortunatly, but we got great shots from the top of the temple. It truly is a magnificent structure. They also give really tasty free food to all visitors in the form of a sweet mush made of wheat, nuts, and raisens; there is also cold purified water being given at all corners of the temple. If we were not staying with a Couchsurfing host, we could also stay in the dormitories for nearly free (50 rupee donation expected). Supposedly the rooms are nice, though a friend of ours did get bed bug bites during her stay. Gotta love the generous Sikhs though!!!

After the golden temple we had a tasty Thali with one unbelieveable curry that was cashews, raisens, paneer, and some delicious sweet yet savory yellow sauce. We took a shared jeep to Wagha the border of Pakistan and India where we witnessed probably the funniest thing we have seen on this whole trip; the closing of the India/Pakistan border. It was like a massive party. Along the road before the border people were selling popcorn, drinks, food, souvenirs, etc. We approached the border and were ushered to special tourist seats (close up to the action). The whole scene was nuts! Hundreds and hundreds of Indians gathered and were all in terrificaly bright colors dancing and singing to blasting bollywood music. The indian border guards were in absolutely fantastic uniforms and some had hysterical moustaches (just see the pictures). The Pakistani side was quite sad. The men and women were sitting on complete opposite sides (though India is pretty similar too, and women did have a seperate section though they were not forced to sit there) and the men were all wearing plain white and none were as pumped up as on the India side. The Pakistani guards look rather awesome in all black and red, but also eerily like members of the SS or Imperial Stormtrooper captains (same thing right?). The whole ceremony lasted two hours and involved grosely overexagerated marching and stomping by the guards who at times seemed like peacocks showing off to other alpha males. The crowd went nuts with “Hindustan Zindabar!” over and over again (long live India), and likewise on the Pakistani side, who eventually got (more conservatively) fired up. The guards took down the flags on both sides, and dramatically shut the gates with well-timed coreography. The whole scenario was AWESOME. It is certainly not meant to be taken too seriously, as the guards themselves play into the silliness of it, though it is meant as symbolism of the heated fued between the two countries, though expressed in a light and fun way.

After the terrific border closing we returned to Amritsar and after crappy pizza dinner, went once again the the Golden Temple to await the ceremony of putting the book to sleep. At 4am every day the book is awaken, wrapped in a rich purple cloth with gold, placed in a shrine and carried by a group of chanting men from a large white temple to the Golden Temple, where it sits all day until the same ceremony is done in reverse at 10pm. It was a fun ceremony complete with horns, drums, and cool chanting. Everyone was really excited to see this book carried all of 300 or so feet to it’s resting place at night. We took a rickshaw afterwards to the train station where we got picked up by our host. We hung out with him and his family for awhile, drank more whiskey, and slept.

10.May.08

Today we left the house for only about 20 minutes to get groceries to cook dinner. Otherwise we spent the whole day hanging around the house doing laundry and relaxing. We made our best attempt to cook mexican for the family. The Pico de Gallo turned out really well, and the Quesodillas I always make were great, aside from the mediocre processed cheese (all we could find at the market). The family loved everything however and all was well! We had a great night of chatting, eating, drinking, and slept well.

11.May.08

Woke up super early today to catch our train to Haridwar. Spent hours on the train until the afternoon when we arrived, hopped on a bus and then rickshaw to Rishikesh. At first sight Rishikesh was quite dissapointing. The city is at the begining of the holiest river in India, the Ganga (remember Varanasi?), but it is very brown and ugly when we expected it to be much prettier. Later we found out is usually is prettier, but in the dry season it gets too much sediment and not enough fresh water from the mountains. The city seems kind of bleh, but it is unusually quiet and quite clean for an Indian city. Most people come here seeking “spiritual enlightenment” from the many ashrams, yogis, and brahmans that fill the city offering yoga, meditation, palmisty, reiki and other spiritual bullshit. I say bullshit because Jess and I don’t care for anything past maybe some nice yoga or a massage, and even at first glance one can’t help notice the plethora of “enlightened” westerners with their long dreads, spirit beads, and cheesy “Ohm” clothing (damn dirty Hippies!) Our hostel room is in a great spot overlooking the Ganga, very reasonably priced, imaculately clean, though also above a taxi stand which generates a fair bit of noise. The hostel offers italian food which sounded (and tasted) great to our stomachs which are needing a bit variety from Indian food. The pizza isn’t just good for India standards, but Italian standards! After some wandering and internet we went to bed.

12.May.08

We woke up very early and went on a much longer than expected hike today. It is generally a pilgrim path for Hindu’s who hike to some monasteries in the hills. People were very surprised to see us honkeys on the trail as well. The hike got better and better as we ascended as light rain trickled and lightning and thunder boomed overhead. Along the way were many spots of tasty cold spring water to quench the heat and thirst and we saw great views of Rishikesh below. After around 10km or so of many many monkeys, birds, and all around scenic nature we reached our destination of a large Shiva shrine where many worshipers were…well worshiping. Tons of incense, fire, and water as usual, and some really neat statues. Being worn out from the hike we took the lazy way down in a jeep, which in typical Indian fashion they well over packed. Anytime Jess and I think, “no, there is no way more people could fit in,” they always manage to, even if they hang off the back and simply hold on tight (mind you this was a policeman performing this feat). We spent the rest of the day doing nothing special, just hanging out and eating more western food which feels great on the intestines for a change.

13.May.08

We made a trip upriver to a nice private spot along the Ganga to swim for a bit. They boldly stated “no bikinis” aloud on the beaches, but we argued that if men could wear gross speedo’s in the river, and women can bath in Sarees with their guts flabbing out, it’s simply prude if they forbid bikinis because they show too much SHOULDER!!! Sometimes the hypocrisy in this country is overwhelming. After some nice relaxed bathing, drip castle making, and monkey viewing, more westerners had our same idea and found our secret spot, showing off their bikinis too (I guess we aren’t the only one’s who think the weird Indian double standard and sexist rules are ridiculous). Once we started to crisp from the sun we headed back home, hung out with a cow along the way, and spent the rest of the day wandering around and hanging out.

14.May.08

We discovered (MUCH too late) and awesome restaurant down the street which serves AVOCADO!!! A delicacy we haven’t seen for months and have been craving like crazy. Our worries of it being old with that fermented taste were instantly dispelled upon first succulent bite of the Avocado sandwich!!! SWEET DECADENCE!!! Enjoy avocado back home people, you’d miss it while abroad, AND good Mexican food! After that we spent some time bartering with a tough business lady over some terrific souvenirs/gifts for friends & family. We both got a good deal methinks, though everything in this country is a good deal (unless it ends up being fake and falling apart; hasn’t happened yet as we always thoroughly inspect).

After all that we packed up and took Taxi and bus to Haridwar again, this time spending the night there for the early train in the morning. It was obnoxious finding a good/cheap place in Haridwar, which were so readily available in Rishikesh so we wandered for awhile before settling on a nice room up 4 floors in a hostel tucked away in an alley. We then roamed the city and were pleasantly surprised to find some amazing stuff in Haridwar! The Ganga runs here too, and people here are even more excited about it. Not just bathing in it, but allowing the super swift current to tear them downstream to a series of chains which catch you to prevent drowning. It was like a massive water park, inner tubes and all. Nearby was a HUGE bronze statue of Shiva which I got some great shots of, and at dusk thousands of people gathered for a Pooja involving lots of fire and music. It was an awesome time had by all, and very pretty to watch all the floating leaves filled with flowers and flame flow down the river! We roamed through the streets after getting only mildly accosted by beggars and lazy Swamis (Hindu priests) wanting free handouts (we just tell them to get a real job; that usually stops them following us around if they speak English, otherwise “Bhaago!” works well too). Then sleepy time, having to wake up SUPER early for tomorrow’s train to Delhi!