Good Fences make Bad Neighbors

Another occasion of the last week was my visit to the Attari-Wagan border crossing between India and Pakistan. This is one of the main tourist draws of this area, and surely with Pakistan still in a state of martial law, and India the world's most populous democracy and religious hotbed, this would be a sober and weighty affair. Quite the contrary, it was simply a big dance party.

Sure there's a big fence with barbed wire (electrified), and it's exciting to be only a few yards from Pakistan, but the action was very slow, and mainly people just shouted slogans, cheered, and danced. Also, I don't know where they learned this style of martial parading. I think the British might have been playing a big joke on colonial India by 'teaching' them that this was the way real troops behaved...and dressed.


It was actually an enjoyable atmosphere, but nothing like what I expected. When I visited the North/South Korea border four years ago, it was decidedly more tense. There, the positive spin they tried to put on the DMZ was how many native plant and animal species had flourished with no human interaction in this zone for fifty years. Yea right, squirrels with shrapnel vests are not exactly 'flourishing'.

Once again, I was grateful to ride to this landmark with my ragi, instead of being swindled and cramped with other tourists (mainly British). As it was, when we arrived, their was a special VIP seating, apart from the masses of domestic tourists, where I was cramped with other tourists (mainly British).