Amritsar, the golden temple...and a few last pics from Rishikesh

Here are a couple random shots from Rishikesh

Most worshipers of Shiva are not potheads I don't think...but these guys are funny to see....

Even funnier to see was this guy! Enlarge and look at his logo! (you will understand better if you are form Montreal!) It was just pointed out to me that it says Foxboro, I read it as Roxboro which is next to where I grew up....oops.... as Obiwan Kenobi said..."your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them";

Here is the Golden Temple of the Sikhs.... I had a magnificent time here...I only ended up in the city of Amritsar becasue there was no bus that day from Rishiklesh to Dharamsala and instead of an extra day in Rishikesh I took a night train to Amritsar and I am lucky I did...

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To get into the temple you need to wait in a long line walking on the walkway...it moves slow and it is crowded but everyone is so excited to get inside.  It took me a few tries to find someone who spoke enough English to tell me about what is going on inside...From what I gathered there is the original copy of their bible that is being read all day every day and it takes 3 days to read it all...the men switch every 2 hours...I got to see the book,....it is 1341 pages long or so and the pages are huge! so is the writing....its the biggest book I have ever seen, almost 2 meters wide!

Take a moment and imagine this at night with lights twinkling off of it

Even more beautiful were all the Sikhs who were visiting, by the thousands!  They are all housed for free....tourists like me too...and all fed for free in a giant kitchen....hundreds of people volunteer to peel veggies, serve food and do dishes....

Upstairs in the temple there was a man reading another copy slowly, it was beautiful and I sat for a meditation to his singing...I was peaceful all that day...he also came to talk to me when he switched off..I think he was excited to see a westerner stay longer than just a peek in the room....He was pretty swell....The Sikh seemed very open to all religions...the idea of one god and many ways to go there...that's a little like the Hindu philosophy....

There is a ceremony at the Indian Pakistani border every night where they close it until the morning.  It is supposed to be quite the show, and it was...  Getting in meant 3 security checks and body searches, and then we were seated at a grandstand...here is one of the flamboyant soldiers...

In the back you can see Pakistan, and in the front me having a moment for my father!  They were selling cold diet coke and I wanted to have that fatherly connection.  In the yoga universe they say everything is one and one is everything, and we are all connected, and since my dad has replaced most of his blood with diet coke, by having some I was one with him for a while :) 
Happy Father's day!

The soldiers were all dressed with funny hats and did some crazy marching to and form the border...and the poeple all wnet nouts, treying to outdo the Pakistanis on the other side...At one point the commanders of both sides shake hands and then walk away, each stepo sending their feet so high they almost touch their foreheads, and arms swinging wildly...This was quite a presentation by 2 countries that are not exactly peaceful neighbours!

Afterward I went to a bar with two friends I met on the trip to the border.  It was a bit of a shock to me, and one of those 'you don't know what you've got till its gone moments'...After living in Rishikesh and the ashram I had forgotten that there is alcohol and meat in the world.  The bar was a beer and chicken bar...according to the menu...  Rishikesh is a dry town and restaurants can't sell meat...  I found it quite nice...no drunks wondering the streets, and the restaurants don't even have to say they are 'Veg'...(Interestingly, in India if a restaurant serves meat they have signs saying "non-veg"  Its the opposite of home...)
We had some fun table neighbours....

The next pics are form the journey between Amritsar and Dharamsla...

These are two bycicle porters...one for parcels and one for people....I like this dude's uniform...

 

On the way we passed atleast 10 army bases, they were hugs fomr the road and probably much bigger in what you can't see...they had gate posts with armed guards and it reminded me of how nice it is to be in Canada most of the time...'

This is the wildest vehicle I have seen...either a 3 wheeld car or an extended tuk-tuk....  The wheel is only attached on one side, not both like a motorcycle and the whole thing can be described as being Bad Assed!