Golden Temple

Okay, so that bus ride was even more hellish than the first one. We were crammed in like sardines. Last night we saw the golden temple. It is very beautiful. It is a gold covered temple surrounded by a holy lake. There were thousands of people making their pilgrimage there. It is so busy that it is open 24-7, and they feed and house people for free. The Sikh people are collectively the nicest people I think i have ever met. A cornerstone of their religion is to be open and helpful to all people, especially of other religions. Since we were foreigners, they let us go around the giant line of people to see the inside. Then we got shown around by another man with missing teeth who did not speak English. We had to take off our shoes, wash our feet and cover our heads. as you leave the temple, you are supposed to take a sip of the water from the sacred lake which is supposed to have healing properties. Cara pretended to drink it, but i took a big gulp. At night they wash the marble floor with milk. Today we are going to see the border ceremony, which is a show they do on the Pakistan border where they stamp their feet and glare at each other or something. I guess we will see what that is all about. We also bought train tickets from a very helpful Sikh man who was from San Fransisco! Small world. We leave tomorrow morning for a two day train ride to Junagadh, which is the launch point to the tiny island of Diu. -ashby