Today was a low mileage day, I believe only about 60 km. But, border crossings always take time, especially when there is a lot of tension between the two countries involved. We did not have an early wake up call, as when we went to bed Nick was feeling less than stellar. Nick was still feeling bad in the morning, and unfortunately in the course of the evening, whatever Nick had crossed the hall and infected Doug. When we woke up in the morning Doug was found seeking refuge in the bathroom. However, I am sure it is nothing that time and a lot of fluids won't cure.

Anyway, Amritsar is the home of the Golden Temple, which is a sacred place for the Sikhs. Since I did not know much about the Sikhs, I really did not know what to expect when I visited the temple. I read what I could to get some background, but I had only limited information in the first place. All of this to say, if my research is faulty please correct me, as I am very eager to learn whatever I can about this intriguing religion.

Guru Nanak, founded Sikhism in early sixteenth century in hopes of uniting Muslims and Hindus of all castes into one brotherhood, under the rule of one true and universal god. Although, his goal has not been achieved the Sikhs have fought many battles to preserve their identity, their dream and Ultimately their religion. They are very well known and highly respected for the valorous military service and tenacity. They are easily spotted throughout the world by their distinctive turbans, (the above symbol represents bravery and spiritual power). They work on self-improvement and are very community conscious. I have been told that you will very rarely, if ever find a Sikh begging, or very poor Sikhs. Sikhs are very conscious of their family and obligations to other Sikhs, which is apparent in their strong and united communities.

As I was interested in seeing the Golden Temple of the Sikhs, Earle and I jumped into a rickshaw and went downtown. It was a wild ride that took us down crowded streets and congested roundabouts. After a fifteen minute ride we arrived at what looked like a shopping district or a business district. I was a bit confused when the rickshaw driver appeared to be dropping us off at this point. We did what we were told and got out of the rickshaw. At this point our driver instructed us to remove our shoes. Always looking for a con game, Earle and I weren't sure what to do. We knew we could not enter the temple with our shoes on, but where were we anyway? We removed our shoes gave them to the driver and followed the end of his finger to a rope matted walkway, towards a sink.

Before entering this holy place one should prepare himself/herself by washing their hands and face, a ritual that prepares both the body and the mind. We received cleansing instructions from several young men standing near the entrance. They guided us to the foot pool where we cleaned our feet and then to a sink where we washed our faces and hands.

After completing the cleaning ritual we descended down a flight of stairs, through a hallway and into the outer ring of the temple; it was beautiful! In the center was a small ornate building topped with multiple golden domes. A walkway encircled this center building and spanned a body of water to connect the inner walkway to the outer. A large pool surrounded this center temple, I am not sure of the dimensions, but it must have been larger than 50X50 meters square. It was tiled with white tiles and even had fish. We saw people bathing in this as well as people cleaning it, I am not sure what the cleaning regimen is, but the water seemed fairly clean. The outer perimeter was covered in white marble flooring with a carpet (Astroturf) running down the center, I believe this was for traction, damp marble tends to be slippery. On the outside of this walkway were white buildings that enclosed the square. Hallways leading to the outside stood at the mid- point between the corners on all four walls. The entrances all had golden domes; this truly was an impressive creation.

Earle and I strolled along the perimeter observing, being observed, and listening to religious chanting that was echoing from the central building. People were extremely friendly and seemed genuinely happy that we had come. At first we were very skeptical and standoffish, as the previous week we had been hounded by hawkers, taxi drivers, and I am not sure what else. But, apparently people just wanted to say hello and ask where we were from. When conversation ceased they would go and finish what they had been doing before we came along. It was nice to be treated like a person again.

As I said earlier, I wished I had known more about the Sikhs, their beliefs and practices, while I was there. Walking around I wanted to see and learn as much as I could, but at the same time not get in the way of what was going on. As we made our way around the outer perimeter towards the walkway that bridged the water between inner and outer we became more and more excited, the music and the chanting, created a wonderful feeling.

Crossing over the water took us straight to the heart of this religion. Many people filed in and out of the center of temple. In the middle of the temple a band was playing while a cantor was chanting. All around us people were listening, praying, watching and reading. It seemed like a great place to go for reflection, meditation, learning, and thinking, it had a great vibe. Upon exiting this inner sanctuary we received a sort of sweet coos coos, it was given to us as a blessing from god. The Golden temple was a great experience that made for a delightful morning. I have new found respect for the Sikhs and a desire to learn more about them.

Just as we were leaving we saw Jeff walking up to the temple entrance. This was all the incentive we needed to stay a little longer. We again strolled around the outer walkway and I bought a few books about Sikhism that I look forward to reading.

As I mentioned earlier, Jeff, Doug and Earle had become huge cricket fans, so on our way back to the hotel we stopped to outfit Jeff with cricket equipment. We had a great time shopping and learned some of the finer points of salesmanship. However, we also learned that in order to have a successful shopping experience we had to donate a great deal of our time. The outfitting took over and hour and a half, and was not limited to the review of merchandise. In the course of the deal the storeowner had sat us down, bought us Cokes and told us many stories about his family, particularly the cricket exploits of his late son. Tears welled up in his eyes as he spoke of his son, for whom the shop was named. He made such and impression on me that I owe him the honor of thinking of him whenever I play cricket. This might sound a bit sentimental and strange, but it was an experience, and a neat one at that.

When we returned to the hotel we gathered up the sick crew, settled our bill, and proceeded to the border. The border stop was fairly uneventful, although quite long, (especially for Doug who was barely keeping his cookies down). We had some carnet troubles but after a while things were worked out.

This border was not very busy and probably the most exciting event was the fact that a huge crate fell off a truck right as it was squeezing through the border. This is just the sort of uncanny material that makes a trip an experience; this is the sort of thing you would never dream of planning for. We did not see or hear the accident we just saw the large and seemingly heavy crate where it had come to rest, blocking the entrance to Pakistan. It was large enough to completely block the narrow gateway between the two countries. It made us a bit nervous in light of our last border crossing, the last thing we wanted to do was spend the night at another border. People were working on the problem as we stood there in disbelief at what laid before us. The crate was finally moved out of the way with some clever uses of simple machines.

In this part of Pakistan, one of the most populated areas, driving was a mad house, complete and utter Chaos. It seemed as though everyone was looking for that narrow spot in which to pass or get around, in other words you have to be aggressive, defensive, and aware. Unfortunately, I experienced a lapse of one of these characteristics somewhere and managed to tattoo Alaska (the '62 Land Rover) with a yellow mark from a Rickshaw. We got lost finding our hotel in Lahore, but eventually made it to our destination safe and sound. We contacted the American Consulate where we are setting up a meeting to insure our safety throughout Pakistan. We are all tired so we are crashing out until tomorrow which promises to be another new and exciting day in Pakistan. Todd signing off.