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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

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.
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A short break from the routine…


School closed for the year, and has begun again, bringing with it the prospect of changes and something new. The vacation in between was too short to be considered a real vacation, for it was just a week long. But we made the most of it, packing into the short week a few days of relaxation in a pleasant place far away from the madding crowd, as well as a couple of days as part of the crowd, visiting relatives galore and eating like there was no tomorrow!

You can look forward to reams of writing about my vacation, as well as lots of photos, for I used up 2GB of memory clicking away to glory! However, the beginning of the new term has ensured that I have little time to write, so it will take some time to put down all that I want to.

Let me begin by telling all of you where I went for the vacation. Our first stop was Delhi, where I have hordes of relatives, whom I haven’t visited for over 10 years! After spending half a day rushing from one house to another, we managed to reach Old Delhi station in time to catch the Ranikhet express to Kathgodam. From there, we hired a car for the three and a half hour journey to Binsar, or rather more accurately, the Club Mahindra Valley Resort at Binsar, where we spent 5 days in bliss, enjoying the serenity and visiting just a couple of places. Our return journey brought us back to Delhi, this time to the house of a cousin, where we spent the day chatting and catching up, while Samhith got to know his cousins, who look and behave incredibly like him! We also caught up with another cousin who joined us there, and it was a riot with 5 kids between the ages of 6 and 8 let loose, having the time of their lives! Dropping all other plans, we let the kids enjoy themselves, and rushed directly to the station to catch our train back, bringing a memorable vacation to a close.

While I collate the thoughts I jotted down during my trip into a semblance of order, take a look at the slideshow of my photographs….. or for a more leisurely stroll, go to the album. 



Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 7, 2010 at 12:04 PM

    Itz good to know you had good time on a 'short vacation'

    Some of the photos really awesome.

    Keep up, good going

    Jay :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. MridulaApril 7, 2010 at 4:11 PM

    Good to hear about your vacation. Waiting for the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lotus ladyApril 8, 2010 at 8:18 AM

    clicking away to glory it is, wow how many pictures :)Wow, you guys are going to lots of cool places, we should do such trips together sometimes.

    padma.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anuradha ShankarApril 9, 2010 at 1:34 PM

    @Jay: thanks....

    @Mridula: thanks....see the pics on picasa meanwhile...

    @Padma: thanks... would love to do it together..... but times wouldnt match, at least right now..... lets see how things go.....

    ReplyDelete

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