on the border of pakistan

when i read about it in lonely planet i didn't believe it. as you may know, india shares the border with pakistan, and from my small understanding of india i know that the two countries do not like each other at all. during the cricket game between the two countries i swear india just stopped because everyone was watching. i was told that if pakistan lost, which they did, the team could not return to their country, and also that some of the team members and the coach of india got a raise from the government.

during our stay in amritsar we were roughly a half hour from pakistan, and for 100 rupees (you should pay about 80,) you can go see the border. but this is unlike most of the border, which contains mostly barbed wire and i bet land mines. here at this spot near amritsar, there is a stadium looming over the line.

when our van arrived, we walked about 300 yards down a road and got patted down by the military, and i was personally asked a few questions. then we ventured another 100 yards or so to the stadium where we were patted down a second time in a line just for foreigners. we got a awesome kulfi there too.

we climbed into the stadium with 2000 or so indians who were already going crazy. the military began playing music, and people (all women except for one 12 year old boy!) jumped out of the stadium into the road that leads to pakistan.

across the road here in the white stands are the pakistani people. they were not nearly as many and they certianly did not seem as enthusiastic as the indians.

suddenly they threw the gate open on either side:

then there was a lot of yelling, marching, cheering, and music. on either side of the border they did a similar show of aggressive marching and yelling. as it progressed they became sycronized.

 

basically about six guards on either side marched and almost danced as aggressively as possible. i will post a video of it later. then finally, at the very end, they lowered the flags, there was a hand shake, and they threw the gates shut.