Waghah Border.

The last day we were in Amritsar, we found a REALLY nice restaurant, which more than made up for the dive of a hotel that we stayed in the night before. I don't think I'm high maintainance by any means, but no hot water, dirty sheets, a dirty floor, a dripping tap, and some kind of fungus growing on the walls from a leaky pipe is just not my idea of a nice hotel, REGARDLESS of price! The only upside, was the cable, which for TV starved girls is pretty nice. We left the hotel early, to eat at the nice restaurant and relax before having to bargain for a taxi to take us to the border and then back home.
We finally got the price we wanted- this is when learning the national Language come in extremely handy. Flattered, and amazed I think we were actually able to get a decent price for our taxi, and the drivers were excited to take us. We arrived at the border early, and were attacked by a bunch of kids wanting to give us visors and flags. We caved and each bought a flag for 5 rupees (10cents) each. The gate finally opened and a bunch of over eager nationals started pushing toward the border area. We arrived and seemed to be waiting around, finally we decided we would try to push ourselves to the front when an Uncle that we were indeed in the middle of the men's section, and if we crossed the street we could follow the women and get seats first!- the one time when being a woman in here pays off!We took our seats in the VIP section (being white ALWAYS pays off here, except when trying to bargain) and waited for the fun to begin. The only way I can describe what happened next as similar to some kind of sports match in the States. There was jeering on both sides of the border, and thousands of people showed up for the event. There were even snacks!!! We waved our flags and tried to join in the cheering, but we couldn't understand what was being said! On the right was India, and on the left, Pakistan!!! Then the guards started, what I can only describe as an extreme display of manhood or something. Each border's guards would do some fancy display of shouting and leg flailing! It was pretty impressive. Then they took down the flags and everyone rushed towards the border shouting. We thought about making a run for the border, since we were so close, and it would be a cool story to tell, but the guards on the horses with big spears were kind of scary enough to make us change our minds. After being harassed a little bit more by little kids wanting to sell us things, and being hit on, and stalked by some guys we ran back to the taxi, jumped in and started the long journey back home.