My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
Wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!!
For the last few years, we have brought in the new year at Puttaparthi, Prashanti Nilayam, the abode of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, and this year was the same. We spent a week there, and sorry, again no photographs. We spent the whole day at the ashram, and left the camera behind in the room!
The collage above is my first attempt at one, since wanted to do something new this year, and I eagerly await your comments and suggestions. These pics were taken from the train on our way back.
The river you can see is the Krishna, and surprisingly, there was plenty of water, and there were a huge number of water birds too. We saw egrets, herons , sandpipers, and many others we couldn't identify. Among the other birds were the Kingfishers, Bee eaters, drongoes and robins, all of which I am proud to say, Samhith is identifying with ease!!!!
Wish you and your family a very happy 2010 Anu. May you travel more!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you too Anu.
ReplyDeleteI have not done much will collages, so I am last one to comment, but just a little suggestion.
Did you try putting the big picture in the center and the little ones surrounding it?
@ Mridula: Thanks for the wishes... wish u and your family too a wonderful 2010
ReplyDelete@Vam: I actually tried that first, but this seemed a little differnt:-))
May the Twenty Ten decade bring us lots of happy travels...
ReplyDeleteThe collage has come out well...though, to be fair, it lacks flair...Try using Picasa, that is if you upload your photos to Picasa Photo Album...their desktop tool...picasa...offers a great deal of interesting collage options, which you can choose depending on your taste and style...In a nut shell, picasa is the simpleton's photoshop...
To respond to your comment on my blog...Talakad is open year around...Pancha Pathi festival draws in the maximum crowd
@ Sankara : thanks a lot... for the wishes, the suggestion, as well as the information!!
ReplyDeletei actually did use Picasa, but was wary of experimenting too much.. have a lot to learn!!!
i used to think that talakkad was closed for most of the year,. now thanks to you, i can plan a visit sometime...
great pics...
ReplyDeletei love the Picasa collage options too...
Kids are great at picking names and nature..faster than we do
Wish you a happy new year too. May 2010 turn out great for you.
ReplyDelete