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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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2011 - A Retrospective

2011 has been a memorable year in more ways than one. It brought me not just more opportunities for travel, but also brought me some much needed boost in the form of recognition as a travel blogger!

I brought in the new year with a visit to Hampi, Badami and Pattadakal......




Our preoccupation with World Heritage Sites continued with a visit to Ajanta and Ellora, and soon after, to the Elephanta caves.



April brought an unexpected trip to Delhi, and May a veritable deluge of travel.... Coimbatore, our home-town Nainar Kovil, Madurai, Pondicherry, Kanchipuram, and then Mount Abu, Udaipur and Chittorgarh!



The next few months I was busy with festivals at home - Varalakshmi Vratham, Ganesh Chaturthi and Navaratri.



And then came the trip of the year - an invitation to the Club Mahindra Bloggers Trip to Corbett. Over 4 days at the Club Mahindra Safari resort at Corbett, i got to interact with fellow bloggers Lakshmi, Shivya, Neelima , Deepak and Karthikeyan, and also Akshat, Sourabh and Arun Nair, while taking in the sights and sound of Corbett National Park and its environs.



I had scarcely returned from Corbett that it was time for another trip - this time to Karnataka - Sringeri, Udupi and Kollur, followed by a couple of days of complete bliss at the Jungle Lodges' River Tern Resort at Bhadra.



Back home once more, we made a short trip to Bhimashankar, a much planned trip which finally happened!



This year also marked another first - Samhith's first 4 day trip from school - the Shivaji Trail, where they visited Raigad, Pratapgad, Panhala and Lohagad. En-route, they also visited Mahabaleshwar, Kolhapur and Bhaja Caves. 

So much travel has also brought along with it, the consequences, such as work at home never getting completed, and lagging behind with my posts on this blog! It took me months to complete my Hampi series, but I am yet to complete writing about the trip.... Pattadakal is still not done, and I have yet to begin writing about Delhi and Rajasthan! 

On the other hand, this year also brought me my first guest posts, and also paid articles on other sites! 

I wrote about Pondicherry and Corbett for the Club Mahindra Blog....


Munnar for the Mahindra Homestays Blog...

and Bhimashankar for Spice Flair

I also became a contributor for Pocket Cultures,

and wrote a couple of articles for Urban Leaves. 

and finally, my tips about travelling in Mumbai with kids was published in the form of an interview on Women's Web!

It has been an eventful and exciting year, and I can only hope that the new year turns out to be as good or better! Meanwhile, the year promises to begin on a hectic note. Even as you read this, I am packing my bags for my annual trip to Tiruppur to visit my sister in law. Usually, the trip is to give Samhith some time with his athai (aunt) but this year, I have work in store. We are planning Samhith's Upanayanam (Thread ceremony) at Sringeri in Jan, and much work needs to be done! Those of you who are wondering what this is all about, you can read about it soon enough right here on the blog!

I will be back only in the first week of the new year, and hope to get back to writing as soon as possible. Meanwhile, you can read all my posts of this year.... Simply click on the locations in this post, and you can read all the posts tagged with it....



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Comments

  1. Mridula DDecember 24, 2011 at 11:08 PM

    And may you travel even more in 2012 Anu.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anu ShankarDecember 25, 2011 at 10:28 AM

    Thanks so much, Mridula! hope the new year brings more travel to all of us!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ArtiDecember 25, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    May you travel more and more and blog about it too in 2012. Also you forgot our collaborative post on Ganpati!!! Hosting it was one of the high points of my blog:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Santosh bsDecember 25, 2011 at 7:27 PM

    was waiting for this and was sure would be quite envying for others...but not to this extent LOL :)
    you sure had a great travel year and hope 2012 is much more bigger and better for you and your family!
    and wishes to Samhith on his Upanayanam. 

    ReplyDelete
  5. ZephyrDecember 27, 2011 at 6:17 AM

    My! That's a lot of travelling! wish i could do at least a fraction of it. All the best for a better and more lucrative and satisfying year :) A very happy new year to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nav BajwaDecember 28, 2011 at 9:17 PM

    very nice blog, thanks for sharing such a wonderful information and your thoughts with every one! holiday homes uk

    ReplyDelete
  7. NishaDecember 29, 2011 at 6:26 PM

    Hey Anu,

    May we all travel more in the year 2012. Same here with travel writing experience. I have been travelling so much that I either decline writing offers or put them on hold.     
    Your interview on women's web was quite good.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anu ShankarJanuary 6, 2012 at 11:08 AM

    Thanks so much, Santosh!! wish you too a great year ahead and wish we all travel much more in the coming year and those ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anu ShankarJanuary 6, 2012 at 11:08 AM

    Amen to that, Nisha!! and thanks so much! 

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anu ShankarJanuary 8, 2012 at 12:15 PM

    Thanks so much, Zephyr!! Wish you too a great year ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  11. ArtiJanuary 9, 2012 at 3:41 PM

    Just WOW! So much travelling, its a dream for any travel lover! May you travel more and more so that we can travel along too!

    Wish you and your family a very happy nad prosperous new year :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anu ShankarJanuary 10, 2012 at 1:06 PM

    Thanks so much Arti, for posting the comment again and for the comment itself! Wish you too a great year ahead!

    ReplyDelete

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