On January 26th, Dad and I attended the Republic Day Parade. The crowds to reach the enclosures were huge and quite frightening, but once we were sat down everything was peaceful. We saw cultural floats, various regiments (including a camel-mountain bands) and military vehicles, among them the Agni-4 nuclear missile. It was strange to see this and to hear the applause from the crowd.
Next day we set off to Amritsar. While the Golden Temple itself was beautiful and worth seeing, the city itself was busy and noisy, filled with aggressive traffic. We attended the Wagah Border Ceremony which is often recommended because of the pythonesque military drill preceding the closing of the India-Pakistan border. While it was amusing, the trip was 5 hours and seemed a little much. One of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, since I can't see myself repeating it.
It was a relief to set off for the mountains of Shimla. It's cold up here, but the views are incredible. I've been on some great walks, including a climb up to the mountain-top Hanuman temple yesterday. The only downside is that, while there is very little traffic in Shimla, I had an awful run here. I did 3 miles yesterday that felt harder than the previous week's half-marathon. I suspect that is because of the altitude (about 2000m).
Tomorrow we return to Delhi where I will be downloading some more books on to my Kindle ready for the epic 30 hour train ride to the other side of India.
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