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<\/p>\nIndia Part X<\/p>\n
Shaking off the continual feeling of being around rats, we began a 4-hour drive to Amritsar.\u00a0 It was crucial we get there early, as our plan was to Uber 45 minutes to the Pakistani Indian border for the closing ceremony.\u00a0 From what I had heard, it was just an insane spectacle to witness.\u00a0 Our ride was almost uneventful this day.\u00a0 Almost.<\/p>\n
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Around 10:00 a.m., we were still within the state of Rajasthan and we pulled over in a bustling city for a coffee break. It didn\u2019t take too long before we were surrounded by locals wanting selfies of us and asking a lot of questions.\u00a0 This was mostly normal for us although it did seem at this particular stop there was an alarming amount of people surrounding us (not just the usual five or so).\u00a0 Within a few minutes, three serious looking men sat at our table and began asking some deeper questions than the normal chit chat.\u00a0 They asked to see our passports and stated they were Indian Federal Police.\u00a0 I am not sure why but I replied with \u201cShow me yours first.\u201d\u00a0 Which they did.\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 It seems we were in a tourist forbidden zone as we were just a few kilometers from the Pakistani Border, which in Rajasthan was not a good thing (in Amritsar this was a non-issue).<\/p>\n
Not wanting to lose physical control of our passports we chatted them up and in unison began to de-escalate the situation.\u00a0 This took about 10 minutes of back and forth as two more Federal Authorities joined in the questioning.\u00a0 There had been no signs or warnings stating this was a non-tourist area.\u00a0 I guess it was just common knowledge to most (the common knowledge we sort of lacked).\u00a0 Eventually the situation worked itself.\u00a0 They offered to buy us another coffee, but we thought it best to continue to Amritsar and not test our luck any further.\u00a0 We mounted our Royal Enfields and were on our way.<\/p>\n
Shortly after we arrived in Amritsar without any further issues, we parked the bikes and paged an Uber to go to the Pakistani Border.\u00a0 Along the ride my riding friend in the front seat ate what seemed to be his baked goods from the Bhang shop (he bought these two days ago).\u00a0 He was talking to the Uber driver about pretty much everything under the sun as he wolfed down his pastry or whatever it was. I found it odd yet entertaining and his banter helped pass the drive until we pulled into the parking garage and began our short walk to what looked like a giant stadium.<\/p>\n
There were thousands of Indians entering the long tunnel to the stadium interior.\u00a0 The really cool thing about this experience is that as foreigners we were treated as VIPs and given the best seats in the house. We were only 10 meters from the Pakistan border.\u00a0 This was after three different security and passport checks.\u00a0 Once we were seated we noticed it would be more than an hour before the ceremony started, but that made no difference to those on the India side as music was thumping through the speakers, and people were selling popcorn, sodas, Indian Flags, and all kinds of souvenirs. It was like being at Fenway Park but with much more going on in every direction.<\/p>\n
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As the time drew near for the ceremony, we could see through the fence that the Pakistani side was filling up.\u00a0 They had their own music thumping.\u00a0 Meanwhile, on the India side, there was a \u201cring announcer\u201d riling up all those on the India side to include hundreds in a massive mosh pit on the stadium floor.<\/p>\n
While these pre-ceremony festivities were occurring, I kept looking to my friend on my left.\u00a0 His eyes seemed a bit\u2026well, off, and he was acting a bit freaked out.\u00a0 I nudged him to ask what he thought of the show.\u00a0 He could barely reply.\u00a0 He finally said, \u201cThere sure is a lot going on here.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took me a bit to finally pull out of him what was going on.\u00a0 The Bhang shop pastries were a type of legal edible marijuana, and he had consumed a rather large portion during the Uber ride in. My friend was higher than a cat on acid, at the India\/Pakistan border, while all these activities occurred. Oh, man, it must have been a hell of a show for him.\u00a0 For me, even without the pastry, it was probably the craziest thing I have ever witnessed.\u00a0 Each stadium grew louder and louder.\u00a0 The only analogy I have is this:\u00a0 Picture Giants Stadium cut in half with two football games going on simultaneously, and being on the 50-yard line.<\/p>\n
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Fortunately for loaded friend, once the actual border ceremony began the ambiance began to tame down somewhat as the soldiers each performed their border closing duties (to include a halftime moment of them shaking hands with a short bow to one another).\u00a0 The flags of each country were lowered, carefully folded, and the ceremony came to a close.\u00a0 My friend\u2019s eyes were about as wide as you can imagine throughout it all.\u00a0 We made our way back to the Uber for a relaxing 45-minute ride back to our hotel.<\/p>\n
The day was far from over as we were to have dinner at the Golden Palace that evening.<\/p>\n