Patriotic moments at the Wagah Border

                         Our first day of the ride started from Delhi at 5 in the morning. The target for the day was the Wagah Border, to attend the ‘Beating Retreat ceremony’. We took the New Delhi – Karnal – Patiala – Ludhiana – Amritsar – Wagah route, and it was absolutely thrilling to throttle the bike at 3-digit speeds through the wide and smooth NH44. It started raining from Ludhiana onwards, and the rains continued till the end of the day. We were a bit worried on whether we can make it to Wagah before the parade begins. But, we reached Wagah by 4PM, and immediately got our passes and entered the venue. 
The closed gate. View from Indian side


The BSF man who cheered and entertained the crowd throughout

The one-legged man who was entertaining the Pakistani crowd
                         The atmosphere there was electrifying. People cheering and dancing along with the patriotic songs played in the loud speaker, people irrespective of age proudly running with the tricolor flags.., felt like we were on a sports stadium. 

                         The ceremony started by 6PM, just before sunset, with the parade of soldiers from both sides, followed by the opening of the gates at the Wagah border, which is part of the iconic Grand Trunk road. The flags of both sides were lowered in tandem, which was followed by a brisk handshake between soldiers from both sides. After that, the gates were closed again.


                         This auspicious ceremony was truly something that took the emotions of patriotism to a higher level. The whole crowd gathered were enjoying each moment of the ceremony, without even caring about the rain. The friendly behavior and cordial hospitality of the BSF men towards the visitors needs a special mention. While, leaving the venue we met a military man, who was on leave for a couple of weeks and going to Srinagar to join back to his battalion. We had a very fruitful chat with him, when he shared his experiences and gave us tips to be followed on our ride.



                         We ended the day at Amritsar. We had the luscious typical Punjabi food for dinner that night, and went for an errand in the town. The street food options were plenty, and we finished off the day with the sweet hot Jilebis. It was around 10 PM when we retired to bed to give ourselves the much deserved rest after the ride of more than 500kms, also to keeps us charged for the long ride to be continued...

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