After visiting Jallianwala Bagh we did some shopping. Like any other girls of 25 years, we were crazy for shopping and bought a lot of items from the market. Street shopping is another thing that we loved most. After spending two hours on shopping, we went back to the hotel and had lunch. Having rested for a while, we went off to Wagha Border, which is the only road border between India and Pakistan. The border is on the G. T. Road, between Amritsar in Punjab, India and Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. It is 27 km from Amtitsar and 29 km from Lahore. It is open on all days of the week from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm. You need not pay any entry fee to visit the place. We had a cab to take us to the border. The cab was stopped about 500 m from the border and we had to walk for the rest of the distance.
A lot of people had already gathered to view the flag lowering ceremony conducted at the border every day at sunset. As we reached early, we got seats in the visitor’s gallery and sat down at the Ladies Exclusive area to watch the ceremony. Soon all the seats were filled and a lot of people were standing in small crowds. As cameras were allowed, I had my camera ready in my hand to take photographs. The flag ceremony started at 5.50 pm.
First there was a parade by the soldiers from both the countries and then the iron gates are opened. One soldier stands at the iron gate of each country. As the sun sets, the gates open and the flags are lowered simultaneously and folded. After the flags are folded, the soldiers from either side of the border shake hands brusquely and then retreat, closing the iron gates. Lots of people from India and Pakistan, and also international tourists, come here to witness the ceremony. It was a spectacular sight and I took many photographs of the ceremony. As we walked back to the cab, we had tea and snacks from the roadside restaurants. We got in to the cab and were soon off to our hotel.